Pure ammonium hydroxide cycling aquariums ?
OK I did a search on 'Pure ammonia and fish less cycling' and didn't get anything recent here on TPT.
Lots of jugs labeled 'Pure Ammonia' but they all had surfactants listed as an ingredient or they failed the shake the bottle test. One looked promising as all the bubbles and foam dissipated in less than a minute, but surfactant was the third and last ingredient listed.
Anyone know the exact brand name of truly pure ammonium hydroxide solutions you can get in a retail store?
Lots of jugs labeled 'Pure Ammonia' but they all had surfactants listed as an ingredient or they failed the shake the bottle test. One looked promising as all the bubbles and foam dissipated in less than a minute, but surfactant was the third and last ingredient listed.
Anyone know the exact brand name of truly pure ammonium hydroxide solutions you can get in a retail store?
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Thanx a bunch!
Roughly how many drops/gallon to get a consistent 3-5ppm?
Roughly how many drops/gallon to get a consistent 3-5ppm?
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The absolute maximum strength of atmospheric pressure room temperature ammonium hydroxide solution is ~28%. Get a whiff of that and it'll knock you back a few feet at the very least. We used it as a lab reagent and I remember getting it at the local drug store when I was a kid. Don't think they do that anymore.
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I'm gettin' some tomorrow, wringing out my poly sleeve from my 45 tall into my 20L and juicin' it up with soma dat ACE. 
roud:
roud:
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Thanx. Looks like I'll need only 3.6ml for my 20L.
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You don't want anything above 4ppm. It's toxic to pretty much anything, plants, bacteria etc..
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I've been wondering what the upper limit for ammonia is on the beneficial bacteria. Can you point me to a source for that? For some reason my Google-Fu has failed me.
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I forgot what paper I read it from but 4ppm seems to be the number I remember. It's toxic on plants at that number too.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?h...eria&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0,36&as_ylo=&as_vis=1
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?h...eria&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0,36&as_ylo=&as_vis=1
Dr. Tim Hovanek has shown that 5 ppm is about the upper level for ammonia and for nitrite for the nitrifying bacteria. Google that name and look for papers and similar reports of his studies about the bacteria that are responsible for the nitrogen cycle. Somewhere in that I remember reading it. He also has a web site. Maybe it was in the 'fishless cycle with nitrospira' article at his site.
Also, the scientists that developed the fishless cycle instructions that I keep posting also found that starting with 5 ppm got the cycle off to the fastest start. But the ammonia removing bacteria would grow so fast they would produce too much nitrite before the second group of bacteria were ready, so the nitrite would go too high (over 5 ppm). That is why the method is to provide 5 ppm ammonia for only the first few days. Test daily. At the first sign of nitrite, allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm, and maintain it there through the rest of the fishless cycle.
This was on line quite a few years ago, but that site is no longer there, and I do not remember the names of the scientists who studied this.
Diana Walstad, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, page 20:
Plants differ in their tolerance for ammonia.
Some plants are OK, or just a slight reduction in growth at ammonia levels between 3.2 and 9.6 mg/l (ppm). Some can even handle higher amounts (to 26 mg/l)
Other plants cannot handle even .9 mg/l
Also, the scientists that developed the fishless cycle instructions that I keep posting also found that starting with 5 ppm got the cycle off to the fastest start. But the ammonia removing bacteria would grow so fast they would produce too much nitrite before the second group of bacteria were ready, so the nitrite would go too high (over 5 ppm). That is why the method is to provide 5 ppm ammonia for only the first few days. Test daily. At the first sign of nitrite, allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm, and maintain it there through the rest of the fishless cycle.
This was on line quite a few years ago, but that site is no longer there, and I do not remember the names of the scientists who studied this.
Diana Walstad, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, page 20:
Plants differ in their tolerance for ammonia.
Some plants are OK, or just a slight reduction in growth at ammonia levels between 3.2 and 9.6 mg/l (ppm). Some can even handle higher amounts (to 26 mg/l)
Other plants cannot handle even .9 mg/l
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Thanx Diana. I thought you were Diana L. Walstad when I first saw the intelligence and expertize in your posts these last few weeks, but she lives on the other coast.
I'll start at 5 and let it drop to 3 and keep it there for awhile until the cycle is done. I've got to get a nitrite test kit too, but I'm too broke after spending $$$ so far on this little 20L to get it set up to this point. Maybe I can get some spare change from people who want me to fix their infested computers LOL.
I'll start at 5 and let it drop to 3 and keep it there for awhile until the cycle is done. I've got to get a nitrite test kit too, but I'm too broke after spending $$$ so far on this little 20L to get it set up to this point. Maybe I can get some spare change from people who want me to fix their infested computers LOL.
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^They are the same.
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