what kind of salt to lower ammonia levels in tank

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USING HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA FOR HUMANE CYCLING OF A TANK

The conventional method of using a hardy fish to cycle a new tank has some disadvantages. Beginning, subjecting a fish, all the same hardy, to ammonia and nitrite stress may exist unnecessarily barbarous. 2d, you have to have some employ for the fish afterwards the tank is cycled. Third, this hardy fish may bring in pathogens to your aquarium environment.

Originally published as:

Koga, James S. Utilize Household Ammonia to Humanely Cycle a Tank ¹ . Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, 19, no. 4 (December 1996): 213-214.

An alternating method to using a hardy fish for cycling a tank is to move function of an established filter bed from another tank. This is an excellent method, which may reduce cycling fourth dimension down to a minimal time menses. Still, many aquarists do not have the resources or the foresight (you have to have spare media cycling) to practise this method. A disadvantage of this method is that whatsoever pathogens present in the donor tank may be spread to the recipient tank.
. I would like to share what I believe is a better method than using a hardy fish, and one that may also hold some advantages over the donor filter bed method. This method is non of my invention, but I believe I have plant some added practices that make for a fast, convenient, and humane way for cycling a tank. My experience is limited to freshwater tanks, and then I can simply say that this process should piece of work with the freshwater  environment. This commodity is written for the the aquarist who already has some understanding of the nitrogen cycle.

Some time agone, I came across a post in the Aquarium groups on the Internet that mentioned adding Ammonium Chloride to bicycle a saltwater tank, and I believe the procedure is (or was) described in the marine FAQ files. Later on, I came beyond an article on Goldfish civilisation (Meyer). Information technology recommended the employ of household ammonia to cycle the tank. Instead of using a fish to produce ammonia, why not add ammonia itself?.

The basic ingredients for cycling a tank are a starter civilization of nitrifying bacteria (innoculum), ammonia, h2o, oxygen, and a substrate for the leaner. I am assuming that your aquarium has been setup competently, then that information technology has water, biofiltration media (substrate), and aeration (oxygen). This leaves the ammonia and the bacteria.

I use clear, unscented, no additives, 100% pure household ammonia from the supermarket. A quart costs less than a dollar and might last you for years. You volition want to identify it in a container that allows dispensing by drops. An old water conditioner bottle with the right type of top is good: Exist Certain TO Label IT! Go along it out of the reach of children. Alternatively, some aquarium stores have started to sell bottles of Ammonium Chloride for this purpose.

A starter culture of Leaner can exist added by two methods. Some cloth from an established aquarium can provide the needed innoculum: some water, a piece of used filter material, a decorative object, a scattering of gravel. This shares the disadvantage of the donor media method of bringing in pathogens. However, if the donor tank has been in practiced wellness, in that location may be no compelling reason to avoid donor textile. The second method is to use one of the commercial preparations of nitrifying leaner. I take had good results with Hagen'due south Cycle (TM), only I note that in that location are many other products bachelor, with more than coming on the market all the time.

One added factor not often mentioned is the temperature of the cycling aquarium. Both Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter have optimal temperature ranges for growth and metabolism of 30 - 35 C (86 - 95 F) (Lawson, p. 234, and Johnson). Turning the temperature upwardly to this range is not practical with fish in the aquarium, equally it is above the suggested temperature for most tropicals (Mollys beingness one exception). Notwithstanding, since we are non subjecting fish to the rigors of higher temperatures, we are complimentary to crank upwardly the heater to the mid to high eighties (F), which is the range I use, and probably the highest I would ask my heaters to support. I have been able to cycle an aquarium in less than ii weeks at this temperature.
Graphic from: Seachem.com The method also requires some testing kits, mainly for ammonia and nitrite. One very convenient method of testing ammonia is a production from Seachem called the "Ammonia Alert"(TM). Substantially, information technology functions equally an "ammonia gauge" The Alert is basically a plastic card, held onto the glass with a suction loving cup. On the bill of fare is a chemically impregnated spot that turns darker in the presence of ammonia. I apply them in all my aquariums, and have constitute them to work well in my hard, element of group i water; I have had little or no feel with them in other types of water, so I cannot vouch for for them in all weather. The following process is written for the employ of the Ammonia Alert, but you may substitute your favorite ammonia test kit, if you adopt.
Cell-Pore AirStone prototype
from cercona.com THE PROCEDURE

i. Fix the Aquarium: filters, heaters, lights and all. Be certain to dechlorinate/dechoraminate the water.

two. Place the "Ammonia Alert" in the aquarium. It normally needs a day or two to acclimate to the aquarium.

iii. Keep the filter running throughout this process.

four. Provide extra aeration if possible. With an outside hang on-the-dorsum ability filter, a good way to do this is keep the water level a couple of inches lower than usual and then that water falling from the filter makes a bigger splash than usual; the more than bubbles breaking on the surface of the water, the more oxygen is in the water, and the bacteria need oxygen to abound. You can raise the water level when you are ready to add fish. Other types of filters may offering other aeration increasing options. Or, the improver of a elementary airstone might suffice.

5. If you can, try to keep the temperature of the water up in the low to high eighties (F) for reasons explained above. Remember to accommodate the temperature back down to a livable temperature for your fish before adding them.

vi. Inoculate your aquarium with bacteria, either past placing some fabric from an established aquarium or use a commercial bacteria culture. I put a packet or two of Wheel"(TM) in the h2o. Wait nearly an 60 minutes.

7. Put iii-5 drops of pure ammonia in the tank, or enough ammonia to plow the "Ammonia Alert" dark. If it doesn't darken, add more than. Look for the ammonia alert to go back to a "rubber" level. This may accept several days. Repeat this many times, each time waiting for the ammonia level to get back to "safe" earlier adding more ammonia...

8. Continue to put ammonia in the tank until the "Ammonia warning" shows that the ammonia level goes to zilch within 8-12 hours later the ammonia is put in. Try putting some in the morning before work and checking when you lot get home. Once the tank shows the ability to lower the ammonia level in this time interval, this ways that a big population of bacteria is resident in your filter. This may have ii weeks or fifty-fifty more (fifty-fifty 4 weeks).

9. While the ammonia level is at "safe", test for nitrites. If it shows zippo nitrites, proceed to the next step. If it does not, go dorsum to step viii and repeat step 8 iii to four more times and then examination again for nitrites.

10. Suit the heater down to a livable temperature for the fish. Do a very big water change (most 90%), and so you lot are ready to add fish: you tin can go to the fish store at present. (Call up, just add dechlorinated water of about the aforementioned temperature to the tank in gild not to stress the bacteria with as well drastic a change.)

. . . There you take information technology: a method that grows beneficial bacteria that does not call for the stressing of a hardy fish. Also, this method can be hands modified to keep a vacant tank cycled. I hope it serves you well in the future.

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REFERENCES:

Johnson, Erik L. July 1993. Turn Up the Oestrus! Tropical Fish Hobbyist XLI (11): 80-81.

Lawson, Thomas B. Fundamentals of Aquacultural Technology. New York, NY: Chapman and Hall, 1995.

Meyer, Stephen Yard. November 1993. Goldfish From the Offset, Role II. Aquarium Fish Mag, 6(two):32-42.

[End Original Commodity]

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Update:

In the time since this article was originally published, I've realized that there are some things missing from this article that would have fabricated it a lot more useful. Likewise, some other experiences with the method have been reported. So here we go:

i. The label on my bottle of ammonia says it contains: "pure ammonia"; despite this, household ammonia in the U.S. is mostly water.  Information technology is a solution of ammonium hydroxide (likewise called "aqueous ammonia"). The strength can vary between 5 to ten % ammonia (that's 50,000  to 100, 000 ppm). Meyer's latest publication about this method (come across beneath) states that since the concentration of household ammonia can vary, it's best to experiment until you bring the initial level of ammonia in the tank to one-2 ppM. He suggests starting out with a 0.25 teaspoons (which would be about 1.25 mL) for a 20 gallon tank.

Graphic from: Seachem.com two. In the article, I stated that I added enough ammonia to turn the Ammonia Alert dark. Although this is what I really exercise, that statement is non exactly way up at that place on the scientific precision scale. In looking at the instructions for an Ammonia Alert, the post-obit concentrations are indicated by the levels of darkness:

SeaChem Ammonia Warning Levels

Status Label	Colour (~)	Free Ammonia Level (ppm)
Safe	Yellow	~0.0
Alert	Green	0.i
Alert	Nighttime Grey	0.2
Toxic	Blue	0.5

The Ammonia Alert, when used as directed,  does not allow y'all to accurately enhance the ammonia level past 0.v ppm. However, you lot can calibrate your Ammonia Warning by counting the number of drops of ammonia it takes to turn it to the "toxic" level.  (Unfortunately, the Ammonia Alert does not respond instantly, and so this may be a somewhat tedious process.) Multiply the number of drops by two to get the number of drops it would accept to attain a 1.0 ppm level and multiply times four to get the number of drops it takes to achieve a 2.0 ppm level. Keep in mind that due to the different net volumes in different tanks, this number of drops might be different for each tank you own.

3. Russell Taylor and Greg Tong experimented with the method and found that with tank water with low alkalinity^two, the improver of even these small amounts of household ammonia caused pH spikes that retarded the growth of the bacteria. Since my ain water is hard, alkali metal, and of a loftier alkalinity, I did not have the trouble. There are some websites that country that the pH of household ammonia is in the neighborhood of 11 to 12, which is quite alkaline. Hopefully, a good buffering product (say, Seachem's Neutral Regulator, which is quite inexpensive³) would accept intendance of the problem.  Some partial h2o changes after cycling would be gentle enough transition to get the tank dorsum to the desired unbuffered land.

four. Timothy Hovanec'southward recent articles (see below) take pointed out that the common nitrifying leaner in freshwater aquarium systems are NOT Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter.  Johnson's article stated that the optimal growth temperature for Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter was in the 80'southward and ninety'due south (F) and Lawson's Fundamentals of Aquacultural Engineering confirmed this. However, not knowing the exact bacteria involved (and their exact temperature range) does not make a whole lot of practical deviation: I obtained skillful results from turning up the heat, so empirical evidence (at least my empirical bear witness) supports the notion of turning upward the heat speeds up growth.

Besides, the revelation that nosotros are probably non dealing with Nitrobacter or Nitrosomonas throws some doubtfulness on the efficacy of commercial bacterial starter cultures (Hagen Wheel, Fritz-zyme, etc.). However, it is possible that the companies involved are constantly reformulating their products or that their products are effective, whatever bacteria they happen to exist using. Go along in mind that if you exercise choose to utilise one of these products, you are probably non doing much  harm to the process: in view of the fish that you volition not lose due to your cycling efforts, the cost of the products is minimal.

Conclusions:

The method remains viable.  I don't come across any reason for people to NOT use the method if they take the proper precautions. Later looking at the newer material,  I don't see any reason to change the basic procedure, either. What should be added is a warning to buffer your water if you have low buffering capacity (you probably should be doing this anyhow, then?) and to aim for a target level of i-2 ppM ammonia while cycling.

Page Created past:
James S. Koga
jskoga@cpp.edu
Updates:
Major: September 2003
Minor: August 11, 2005
Pocket-sized: February xx, 2015
Minor: April 12, 2011
Small-scale: May 14, 2014
Minor: Feb 20, 2015

LINKS:

In case y'all are not familiar with the nitrogen cycle, here is an first-class explanation:

• Beginner FAQ: The Nitrogen Bicycle

Here are some links to pages that deal with the method:

• Russell Taylor's Cycling a Filter without Fish
• Chow, Chris. Fishless Cycling Revisted
• Algone.com's Fishless Cycling of The Aquarium
• How To Establish the Nitrogen Cycle without Fish (Aqualink Column)
• Greg Agglomeration's Cycling with Household Ammonia: A Success Story.
• Cycling Safely: The Fishless Method
• SUIC Fisheris Message 9A: Basic Principles of Biofiltration and System Design (This describes some calculations about how much ammonia to add in a fisheries situation).
• Curt Lemricks' Fishless Cycling gives a rationale for using Ammonium Chloride vs household ammonia.
• Seachem's production folio for the Ammonia Alert.

A related alternative method: mass seeding of a biofilter (but this requires y'all to accept a large active biofilter on tap):

• Koivet'south Seeding a Biofilter and No More Cycle: How?

Some supplementary pages about Household Ammonia:

• Environmental & Scientific Terms Revisited gives the pH for Household Ammonia as 12.
• Fuming with Ammonia - Folio ii Handle with care says that household ammonia is less then 5 pct.
• Missiippi State Extension Service Household Cleaning Products states that household ammonia is five to ten percentage.
• MMWR Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Ammonia Contagion in a Milk Processing Plant states that household ammonia is 5 to 10 percent.
• Kings County, Washington, Hazardous Waste matter Management Program Waste Directory - Ammonia Solution states that household ammonia is five to 10 percent

Bibliography Update:

Meyer, Stephen M. February 1999. Cycling Fishless [Ponds and Pondfish Column] . Aquarium Fish Magazine, 11 (2):81.

Hovanec, Timothy A.  March 1997. Nitrifying Leaner [role i] Aquarium Fish Magazine, 8 (3):44-52.

Hovanec, Timothy A.  Apr 1997. Nitrifying Bacteria [office 2] Aquarium Fish Magazine, 8 (four):32-43.

Hovanec, Timothy A. and Edward F. DeLong. August 1996. Comparative Assay of Nitrifying Bacteria Associated with Freshwater and Marine Aquaria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 62(eight):2888-2896.

Footnotes:

¹ Or: How to employ Household Ammonia to Separate an Infinitive.

²  The water chemistry definition of "alkalinity" is not, as 1 might assume, how basic the solution is, but how much it resists changes in pH, which is the same every bit its "buffering capacity".

^three And, past the fashion, I failed to mention in the commodity that I habitually utilise this product in my tanks, though I don't think it made any difference in terms of pH spikes, given my h2o conditions.

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Dorsum to Koga's Mywebs Page

marshalleired1968.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.cpp.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html

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