# where to buy clear ammonia in Australia



## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

hi everyone, is there anyone hear in australia that can give me the heads up on where to buy clear ammonia to do a fishless cycle.
i've looked around large grocery stores and they only seem to stock cloudy ammonia. i have'nt had any luck at bunnings(a big hardware come everything store).
is it because of all this terrorist threat stuff?
any help will much be appreciated, thanks in advance :thumb:


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## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

Clear ammonia is hard to find these days for sure. I used Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride to cycle my tank. Not as cheap as store bought ammonia for sure, but you can be sure it's safe. They sell it on ammazon or Dr Tim has his one sub forum here near the bottom. I believe if you purchase his One and Only product for speeding the cycle, he gives you a free bottle of the ammonia.


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## Randy_G (Nov 3, 2003)

There was a thread on an Australian forum about this, but it's been taken down due to a flame-war that broke out between the fish-less cycle advocates and those of the old school (just throw in a fish or dead prawn). You can get 'pure' ammonia from wholesale cleaning supply places, but they usually want you to buy 4L or more. There have been a few on the Aussie forum that have used cloudy ammonia with success. It's not ideal, but it will work, at least that's what I've heard. There are locally produced biological kick-starters available. I believe one is from Aquasonic. As for importing anything like that from the US, I'd check with http://www.aqis.gov.au/ first. :wink:


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks guys, thanks for your replies. re:b3w4r3, that would be great if i lived over there but alas in my country there are very strict rules about what can be imported especially dangerous chemicals.
if i was to order something like that id probably end up on some terrorist list,or drug manufacturing. jeez it's such a shame that ordinary people can't go about their business in peace hey!

randy_G yea thanks for your concern, no i will not buy from the net :-? and i am aware of commercial products that say they can be used for cycling, but i was hoping to do what our american friends do.
a fishless cycle with little complications and at little expence, mmm looks like i don't have much choice at this stage.
thanks very much for your advice :thumb:

best wishes ozman


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## Randy_G (Nov 3, 2003)

ozman check out this thread from a UK forum about cloudy ammonia. http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ne ... c_id=17123 The amount of surfactant/detergent is incredibly low, and as long as you do a water change (they recommend a large one) you will be fine. Depending on the brand it may not even really have detergent in it, but a water softener. If that is the case, merely buffer your water, and check hardness levels. Water softeners are used in areas of hard water to allow detergents to foam up, and are not detergents in their own right (in case you aren't sure what a water softener does  ). An agent that softens water should be fairly easy to deal with, especially in the very small quantities found in cloudy ammonia.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

hi Randy_G, thanks very much for your input and site recommendation, you've been very helpful. i will get back to that, sadly there has been a family passing
and of coarse my mind is in termoil right now. merry christmas to you all, be safe
best wishes ozman


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