# cheap 99 cent store pure ammonia screwed me



## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

ok guys so i've been trying to cycle my tank fishlessly, so i went to vons to try to get some pure ammonia. they didnt have it, and they recommended i go to the 99 cent store next door. i picked up a gallon for 99 cents and when i shook it, it didnt sud up or anything, so i've been putting it in my tank for about 3 days now. and then today i noticed like strange bubbles in the water, it looked like soap bubbles, so when i tried to shake the ammonia again, lo and behold it sodded up. wtf. what should i do now? i just bought a bottle of seachem stablity, can someone recommend what to do?


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## Lowporkwa (Mar 24, 2007)

empty your tank and start over.


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

wut about my filters?


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

and the one that i got smelled horrible, is that pure or non pure?


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## Uncle Jesse (Feb 18, 2007)

why not just cycle it with fish? you know just get some cheep-o fish (not gold fish) then when it cycles you can sell the fish back to the lfs and use that money to buy your ps thats what i did and for 30 bucks in cheep fish i got 75 bucks in ps took about a month to grow the fish out tho


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## Lowporkwa (Mar 24, 2007)

just rinse your filter media under some tap water. fill back up with water, and get some good ammonia.


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

wut about seachem stability, its kinda like bio spira. do i need ammonia if i just use that?

wut about seachem stability, its kinda like bio spira. do i need ammonia if i just use that?

and it sounds like i have non pure ammonia right?


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2007)

Woah, before you do any thing drastic all ammonia smells like crap, your not even supposed to smell it, its that bad. Now when you shook the bottle did the bubbles go away fast or did they stay there? You might be getting bubbles in the tank from your filter. Also im pretty sure I got some bubbles when I cycled my tank. As for your "cheap" I got my ammonia for $0.99. Lets hear from Dr. Giggles or other people that did fishless cycles.
* Another thing, did your ammonia say it was "clear ammonia"?


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

it says pure ammonia on the label


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2007)

ok, when you shook it, did the bubbles go away fast?


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

when i first got it and shook it there were no bubbles at all. today when i shook it, there were loads of bubbles and they didnt go away quickly


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

help?


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

empty all your tank aquarium water,rinse your filter media ,go get some better ammonia that doesnt bubble up,start your tank


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

wut about the seachem stability? do u need amonia if u use it?

ok guys, the ammonia-soap bubble things that i saw in the water went away. should i still empty tank


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## blazednosferatu (Feb 27, 2006)

I think you should be fine, all tanks get the bubbles when you first fill them and set them up. But to be completely safe id just start completely over and buy the good ammonia.


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## joefish219 (Feb 8, 2005)

cycle it with some cheap fish . personnel fav are tetras or danioes. and NEVER buy cheap stuff and put it in your tank. qaulity not quantity


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## Lowporkwa (Mar 24, 2007)

the bacteria in seachem stability eat the ammonia. if there is no ammonia in the tank it does essentially nothing. The stability product will speed your cycle, but you still need the ammonia


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

id empty the tank and start over
just take a bucket of the tank water and put the media in it (if you use tap water it will kill the bacteria on it) and after a couple days put it back in the filter- i would recomend to still run the filter just with no media just for circulation


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

what would happen if u dont empty my tank?


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

?


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2007)

If your tank is fine then your good to go, just keep adding ammona.


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

idk if my tank is fine though, theres no more bubbles in the tank...


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

sean-820 said:


> id empty the tank and start over
> just take a bucket of the tank water and put the media in it (if you use tap water it will kill the bacteria on it) and after a couple days put it back in the filter- i would recomend to still run the filter just with no media just for circulation


Thinking the tank water would kill the bacteria as well.

Empty it and rinse like hell and hope for the best at this point...

(I might dispose of the substrate and the filter pad to make sure that no residue remains behind...)


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## ICEE (Feb 3, 2007)

I think its your best bet to start over and listen to childawg


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

i got a test kit today and it said theres no ammonia in it


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

The ammonia isn't the issue at this point, though, it's the surfactant...the rinsing is necessary and might not even be sufficient.


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

ok let me change my question is my ammonia pure? when i shake it, it sods up but the bubbles go away in like 2 seconds. it smeels horrible


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

The sudsing kind of worries me, but I don't know if pure ammonia has suds for just a few seconds or not. What does it say on the bottle?


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

it says pure ammonia


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

Then it should be fine...as long as it has no surfactants, it's the right stuff. If the test says you have no ammonia, I'd say either the test is wrong or you need to add a bit more.


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

wut are surfactants?


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## ChilDawg (Apr 30, 2006)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/surfactant

(Think soaps and what they do to surface tension.)


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## dangmatic (May 12, 2007)

the test is right cuz i put the test in some ammonia and it went all the way up. if surfactants are like soap bubbles then i dont have any in my tank water


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## Guest (Jul 31, 2007)

You are fine those bubbles are from the air thats why when you shook it later you got them since there is more room for it to mix. All ammonia smells bad I mean it will burn your nose if you keep sniffing it. If I shake my ammonia there are bubbles too, but they go away in 2 seconds. Check your water for nitrites. How much ammonia have you been adding lately?
*If you are still not sure or don't believe me shake a bottle of water and compare the bubbles, I just did and the bubbles turned out similar. So just keep cycling your tank.
*Another thing, if it was like soap you would have non stop bubbles, kinda like when you put bubble bath stuff in a tub or put dish soap into a dishwasher.


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