Disgusting and Gross, but is it possible to pee in your tank?

[plankton99]

I recently did a tear down and started over with Marco Rocks (dry pest free rocks) and dead dry sand exclusively. I am using Prodibio and Special Blend bacteria to start the cycle process. I added a small raw shrimp to let it decompose to add ammonia so the bacterial additives have something to eat.

Then it dawned on be. Fish pee. Well, I was wondering of you pee'd in your tank, would that be a good source of waste products to start cycling a tank?

BTW: I have NOT pee'd in my tank, but I was wonder from a scientific standpoint if it would work?

 

[wdt2000]

I would think it would work.

 

[ibnozn]

Probably wouldn't hurt to do some vodka dosing first. That way you'll expel the excess sugars straight into your tank. More bacterial fuel.

 

[JTR0510]

lol i would stick to the dead shrimp

 

[mscarpena]

Pee has a lot of ammonia and would probably take a long time to cycle down.

 

[AS]

Just make sure it is not too sweet

 

[mike_cmu04]

I know people have done it and it will work with the ammonia spike however there are alot of other toxins in urine that you dont want in your tank.

 

[OwenInAZ]

It's how... my friend... started his tank. No ammonia spike to speak of besides what normally happens at startup.

Plenty of nitrogen in there to get things rolling. Bacteria don't much care how they get it.

The "toxins" argument is kind of silly IMO -- any "toxins" in there will be diluted and taken care of by the growing microfauna. Shoot, I could probably pee in my tank now with no ill effects. But my wife would be really mad if I got on the stepstool and got to work

 

[Fishamatank]

Is it possible to pee in your tank?
Sure, just get a little ladder or step stool and get after it.

lol

I don't think human urine contains much ammonia if any, however. The organics might start a cycle, but there are certainly better ways.

 

[Ninjapotamus]

i pee in my tank every day. great for corals

u can also upper decker your overflow box for improved zoanthid growth.

 

[Fishamatank]

i pee in my tank every day. great for corals

u can also upper decker your overflow box for improved zoanthid growth.

Now that is funny.

 

[dixiedog]

I started a discus tank like that once, years ago (peeing, not taking an upper decker!)

If it weren't for Family Guy, I wouldn't even know what that meant.

 

[geaux xman]

find an old lady with a flaming UTI(urinary tract infection) to pee in the tank for you. that way you can circumvent using MB7 and introduce bacteria the natural way.

 

[JTL]

I did it for my tank and so did a friend of mine. Urine is actually pretty pure stuff, iirc it is sterile when it leaves the bladder and only picks up bacteria as it travels through the uretha.

 

[geaux xman]

i bought this ammonia bottle from wal-mart for $1.50.

added it in my rubbermaid tote that i had some rocks that was already cycled.

 

[mrstihl]

That's how I start every one of my tanks. Just don't add too much or the cycle will take a lot longer.

 

[plankton99]

i bought this ammonia bottle from wal-mart for $1.50.

added it in my rubbermaid tote that i had some rocks that was already cycled.

Thanks for all of the replies... for the Amonia method, how much should I dose for a 55gal tank?

 

[ChuckG]

Do not pee in Ur tank.. The phosphate levels from the urine will be sky high and those dry marco rocks will absorb it all making for many problems down the road.

 

[KafudaFish]

Exhaustive detailed description of the composition of human urine can be found in NASA Contractor Report No. NASA CR-1802, D. F. Putnam, July 1971. That report provided detailed chemical analyses for inorganic and organic constituents, methods of analysis, chemical and physical properties and its behavior during concentrative processes such as evaporation, distillation and other phisiochemical operations. Urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water, with the remaining constituents, in order of decreasing concentration urea 9.3 g/l, chloride 1.87 g/l, sodium 1.17 g/l, potassium 0.750 g/l, creatinine 0.670 g/l and other dissolved ions, inorganic and organic compounds.

 

[geaux xman]

the ammonia concentration in that bottle is 2.5%

55g = 208liters
if you want to achieve 5ppm, use ~41mls

notice in this ammonia calculator its liters not gallons.

http://www.stanlee.plus.com/AmmoniaCalc.htm

Thanks for all of the replies... for the Amonia method, how much should I dose for a 55gal tank?