goggles2

im currently cycling my 5g fishless with a piece of shrimp and seeding with stability as i cant get safestart

now im wondering....

with my last cycle i did on my 10g it took almost a month using stability and fish food

would "pure" ammonia work any faster?

both safestart and stability need ammonia right away or the bacteria starve and die correct?

how much approx? ppm?

really im looking for the fastest possible cycle i can get without using safestart or biospira

Alessa

The main difference is that with safestart you're supposed to be able to add fish right away. Although technically you could use it along with ammonia, i don't see the point, since its supposed to cycle a tank "instantly".

if you're still going to use the stability, I recommend pure ammonia. It is faster, cleaner, and you're able to control what goes in the tank.

I recommend adding pure ammonia daily, keeping it at or below 1.50ppm. When either ammonia or nitrite go too high or off chart, do a water change to keep the levels again at around 1ppm. The reason is, too much ammonia or nitrite can stall the cycle and get you stuck for weeks.

goggles2

now where does one acquire "pure" ammonia?

Alessa

I found mine at the local Hardware store. Just look for something that does not have surfactants or parfumes, the rule is, "if it foams, its no good"

goggles2

whats its non-aquarium use anyway?

Alessa

What do you mean by that?

goggles2

i mean its clearly not made specifically for cycling fish tank so it must have another use and must be sold as somekind of product

Alessa

Ammonia is ammonia, NH3 is the same in fish feces, rotting shrimp, or in pure form in a gallon sold at a hardware store.

as long as it is nothing but ammonia, (no surfactants, soaps, parfumes....) it would be ok for aquarium use.

goggles2

hmmm well i dont think im gonna worry about it i just got a good ammonia spike today so it should be good