ammonia with sulfants

robd225 · 05/06/2016, 12:20 PM

I started cycling my second saltwater fish only tank using the fishless method. I purchased clear basic ammonia and made sure it did not have any added dyes or odors. The tank is 180 gal with another 25 gals of water in my sump. I measured out 3 table spoons of the Ammonia to start the first dose.
I later found out the ammonia I used contained sulfants. The bottle does foam when I shake it.
The ammonia is currently at around 0.50 ppm after 2 days. My question is what should I do or do I need to do anything since the ammonia contained sulfants. I have removed about a half of gallon of the water and placed some copipods from my other tank into the ammonia with sulfants water and they have been doing fine for the last 2 days. 180 gal of water contains over 46,000 table spoons and the amount of sulfants is only a small part of the total ammonia solution. I really don't want to have to dump the tank and refill. I found the product safety sheet for the ammonia I used and it only list 1 to 3 % ammonia with no other chemicals listed. Any advise.

thegrun · 05/06/2016, 05:42 PM

I suspect you will be fine. If you hook up a skimmer it will go crazy but I would still run it anyways to pull out as much of the surfactants as possible but you are going to need to replace the fluid you pull out with saltwater to maintain your salinity.

Dkuhlmann · 05/06/2016, 06:38 PM

For others reading this if you go the ammonia dosing route to cycle your tank make sure you shake the bottle of ammonia, you want the one that does not foam up.

I agree with thegrun the skimmer will get your water cleaned up for you pretty quickly. Good luck on your tank!

05/06/2016, 12:20 PM	#1
robd225 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 6	ammonia with sulfants I started cycling my second saltwater fish only tank using the fishless method. I purchased clear basic ammonia and made sure it did not have any added dyes or odors. The tank is 180 gal with another 25 gals of water in my sump. I measured out 3 table spoons of the Ammonia to start the first dose. I later found out the ammonia I used contained sulfants. The bottle does foam when I shake it. The ammonia is currently at around 0.50 ppm after 2 days. My question is what should I do or do I need to do anything since the ammonia contained sulfants. I have removed about a half of gallon of the water and placed some copipods from my other tank into the ammonia with sulfants water and they have been doing fine for the last 2 days. 180 gal of water contains over 46,000 table spoons and the amount of sulfants is only a small part of the total ammonia solution. I really don't want to have to dump the tank and refill. I found the product safety sheet for the ammonia I used and it only list 1 to 3 % ammonia with no other chemicals listed. Any advise.

05/06/2016, 06:38 PM	#3
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	For others reading this if you go the ammonia dosing route to cycle your tank make sure you shake the bottle of ammonia, you want the one that does not foam up. I agree with thegrun the skimmer will get your water cleaned up for you pretty quickly. Good luck on your tank! __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

05/06/2016, 05:42 PM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I suspect you will be fine. If you hook up a skimmer it will go crazy but I would still run it anyways to pull out as much of the surfactants as possible but you are going to need to replace the fluid you pull out with saltwater to maintain your salinity.