Ammonia for fishless cycling - ooops!

[RogerL]

I have just noticed that when I give the bottle of "Clear Ammonia" (Food Lion) that I am using for fishless cycling a good shake, it does "froth" a bit. I'm concerned that there may be some surfactants present (despite the fact that it's not mentioned on the label). I'll change source, but in the mean time, does anyone know whether adding activated charcoal to the filter will remove any surfactant present.

I'm only 2 days in. Should I do a water change now or wait it out and change once cycled?

 

[Balance]

you would probably be noticing a "froth" in your tank if there were any surfacants in the ammonia.

if its labeled clear ammonia there should not be any additives in it.
my bottle makes a few bubbles when I shake it, but nothing "sudsy"

 

[RogerL]

Definitely no froth on the tank (even though the filter is running at full speed and there's quite a bit of surface agitation).

Think that I'll look for a fresh source of ammonia to be on the safe side but won't take any action on the water in the tank until the cycling has finished.

Roger

 

[Lotus]

When we were looking for ammonia, we shook some of the lemon scented stuff to see how much it foamed in comparison to the clear one. There was definite foam in the lemon, but only a few bubbles in the clear. We found clear ammonia in Walmart as well as most of the supermarkets in our area.

 

[troiusmaximus]

I think I'm in trouble here...

After reading over several fora last week I determined that the Kroger brand clear ammonia should be safe. They sell Kroger stuff at Food 4 Less, I picked up a bottle of Everyday Living Ammonia Clear thinking it was Kroger. Reading the ingredient list, it was advertised as "softened water, ammonia, quality control agent(s)". I assumed quality control agents was another what of saying chelates. No froth/suds when I shake the bottle, only a few bubbles that dissipate after a few seconds. But after adding about 15 drops to my 55 gallon tank, I am concerned about see something that appears to be "froth" at the top on one side*SICK* .

If I disconnect all my poweheads and filters, it seems to dissipate after a minute or so. What do you all think? Has anyone purchased and used Everyday Living brand?

 

[troiusmaximus]

Assuming the worst (i.e., there is some kind of detergent in the mix), how do I salvage this tank? I'm hoping I doing have to start from scratch. I just put about 55 lbs of live sand in there and my tank is built into the wall so taking it out to rinse it would be a big deal.

Will activated carbon remove the bad stuff?

 

[rohnds]

55 lbs of live sand

I am curious. Why would you put live sand in FW tank. IS there something I don't knwo about.

Rohn

 

[troiusmaximus]

It's actually going to be a SW tank (my first). I just latched onto this thread because it seemed to be appropriate.

 

[FroggyFox]

Cycling for FW and SW are completely different...generally with SW you dont want to fishless cycle with ammonia...you want to invest in live rock and let that settle in your tank for several weeks before getting some inverts/cleanup crew...then several more weeks before adding fish. I would start your own thread in the SW section to get some help with that. In answer to your question I'd take all the water out and start over with your tank, dont add any ammonia...if it truly was live sand then the ammonia is going to kill it.