Ammonia test strips

[oo7genie]

Colony by ATM is a product made by a company featured on a TV show, nothing more. On the show, it's clear that they don't always (some would even say rarely) follow proper cycling & stocking procedures, so I'm inclined to think it's something they are counting on fans of the show to buy due to simple name recognition. But that's just me.

That doesn't necessarily mean the product is good or bad, but it's a new product and it's too early to know how well it works. One thing that is for certain, is that nearly all so-called "bacteria in a bottle" (BIB) is useless. Tetra Safe Start is the only one I've heard success stories about (since the original bio-spira was taken off the market), and even that is a hit & miss product. There's as many failure stories as there are success stories. I've tried it twice and it never sped up my cycle. That being said, the odds of the Tetra working are still better than other products, as you rarely ever hear any success stories with any other BIB product.

My cycling advice would be to see if you can get some gravel or filter media from an established, cycled tank to help seed your tank. That helps more than any BIB product. Combine it with time, a quality test kit, and a willingness to keep up on a few extra water changes for the first few weeks, and you will have no trouble cycling your tank naturally, without gambling on expensive BIB products that may or may not work for you.

 

[jpappy789]

I'd be inclined to think that "One and Only" could possibly work since Dr. Tim Hovanec has extensively studied nitrifying bacteria and was behind BioSpira until he left Marineland. That being said I'm not sure if it is sold in stores or just online.

These products are hit and miss as there is always the possibility you end up with a bad batch because of mishandling during the shipping process or at the store or whatever. I'd suggest not putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak.

 

[Nepherael]

I have heard of three products that work, the one and only mentioned by J, safe start (which I've had tremendous success with), and one other that I can't quite remember the name of. The only one I know of sold in stores is safe start though. My LFS had them discounted from 7 or 8 bucks down to 5 bit the same bottle I've seen for over $10 in a big box store so it can be expensive. Ach small bottle only treats 15 gallons. I used 3 of them in my 55g tank that had just about got to the halfway point of a fish in cycle (I was told the second half would be the longest part) and it was cycled in less than a week.

Someone else mentioned this and I think it is worth mentioning. The original biospira (the beneficial bacteria for cycling) was supposed to be refrigerated and is what is in safe start. Safe start isn't required to be refrigerated which has caused some suspicion among people. I've also just recently noticed it does have a shelf life and an expiration date (someone pointed this out to me in another thread). The bottle I just got has 3 months left before it expires and I'm not sure how long it was on the shelf for but it is possible that some of the people that didn't have the best success we're using expired product. (this paragraph is paraphrased from another thread where we were discussing the merits of bacteria in a bottle and thought it was a good perspective on why some have huge success and others don't notice a difference)

 

[MaiaDee]

And avoid Walmart when at all possible.

 

[H2Ogal]

I'm honestly starting to believe that many test strips are manufactured specifically to give false harmful ratings, to encourage sales of their companies chemical water treatment solutions.

A while back, an AC member who was a chemist/scientist explained some basic reasons the strips aren't accurate. The testing chemicals (reagents) are applied to large sheets of paper, which are then cut into strips. If the application and/or cutting is uneven, individual strips will have differing amounts of reagent on them, leading to inconsistent/inaccurate results. Also, once the dip-strip packaging is opened, the strips are exposed to humidity which can affect the reagents, again causing inaccurate results. As I recall, the more times the strips are exposed to moisture and humidity in the LFS, fish room, etc. the more wayward the results.

Just some info that I had found to be usefu in understanding why the liquid tests are more consistent and reliable.

 

[nerdyrcdriver]

Many people like dr tims as well. if there are no fish in the tank you can ask them to send pure ammonia with the bacteria and they will send it to you for free.

Sent from my LG-LS840 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[oo7genie]

Dr Tims One and Only, I totally forgot about that. That's the other one that I've heard success stories with. Again, hit and miss, so use with high hopes but low expectations. Never tried it myself.

 

[oo7genie]

A while back, an AC member who was a chemist/scientist explained some basic reasons the strips aren't accurate. The testing chemicals (reagents) are applied to large sheets of paper, which are then cut into strips. If the application and/or cutting is uneven, individual strips will have differing amounts of reagent on them, leading to inconsistent/inaccurate results. Also, once the dip-strip packaging is opened, the strips are exposed to humidity which can affect the reagents, again causing inaccurate results. As I recall, the more times the strips are exposed to moisture and humidity in the LFS, fish room, etc. the more wayward the results.

Just some info that I had found to be usefu in understanding why the liquid tests are more consistent and reliable.

That makes a lot of sense regarding the actual reasons that they aren't reliable.

But I still think it's pure greed for money that drive the manufacturers decisions to sell strips that they know perfectly well are inherently faulty.

 

[MaiaDee]

OK. I got the Tetra Safe Start and the Prime and the API test kit. My aquarium does still have ammonia this morning after adding the safe start and prime last night. When should I do a water change? I wanted to today, but I don't want to remove all the "good stuff" I just added...BTW: my tap water tested just fine; stupid strips!

 

[Nepherael]

Well I was told to leave it for 6 days and dose prime every 24 hours based on my test readings. I think I left it for 4-5 days and my cycle finished the next day (yours won't because mine was already half done but you could be looking at less than 10 days based on what other people who have used safe start have told me)