tetra aquasafe?

[Tetrastripe2]

I was at a new LFS and they were very knowledgeable, I got into a conversation with the owner about cycling, and he recommended using Tetra aquasafe start and skipping the process all together. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this, and if it actually worked. :huh:
I don't think he was just trying to make a profit, as he gave my friend jessica a $10 rock, for free.

 

[froglover007]

WHat exactly is Tetra Aquasfe? If it is an ammonia neutralizer (which it probably is) it is meant to save your fish from ammonia poisoning, but not nitrite poisoning. So in other words the fish will survive the first part of the cycle but not the second part. I have had success with a similar product which I used to save my zebra danios in my first tank.

 

[Tetrastripe2]

The guy said it was the bacteria in a bottle, but i don't see how live bacteria could live in a bottle, so maybe he meant it is something that promoted the bacterias growth? I'll look that up now.

*EDIT*

I found this:
"TetraAqua SafeStart offers fishkeepers a trouble-free way to enjoy a new aquarium and gets your fish off to a healthy start. Available from July 2006, it is a patented blend of live nitrifying bacteria that allows the safe and instant introduction of fish. The vision of a healthy aquarium is often what attracts new fishkeepers into the hobby but for many the first experience of setting up a tank can take time and be frustrating. TetraAqua SafeStart enables the immediate activation of the biological filter, preventing dangerous increases in ammonia and nitrite, and making it instantly enjoyable for new fishkeepers to set up an aquarium."

 

[thorpbrian]

I believe he was referring to the product Tetra Safe Start. There is also Tetra Aquasafe that is a water conditioner.

Personally I've had great success using Tetra Safe Start to cycle my tanks. I used it to cycle both of my 20 gal tanks and am currently using it to help cycle my 55 gal tank.

While TSS doesn't have a 100% success rate it is the best product on the market for helping to speed up your cycle and is the only product on the market that has the correct type of bacteria in it.

A fishless cycle is still probably the preferred method for most people but TSS can work and when it does it allows you to immediately stock your tank with much less risk to your fish.

 

[fishdudeut]

Do a search and see what comes up. I was looking for this a while back and from what I can see it's a 50 50 shot of it working. Say the money and just do a fishless cycle. Not say the LFS owner / salesperson is trying to rip you off, but I just find it hard to believe that any of this stuff from a bottle can work right of the gate.

Fishless cycles are not hard and they will save you a lot of head ache when seeing some fish suffer from high ammonia.

Anyway like I said, do a search and them make up your own mind. I would not find it locally and I hear if it’s exposed to HIGH temps before added to tank it can mess it up so I did want to maio order and have to pay higher shipping so I cycled my 55 gallon tank with pure ammonia (wal-mart brand) . Just my thoughts.

Robb From Utah

I was at a new LFS and they were very knowledgeable, I got into a conversation with the owner about cycling, and he recommended using Tetra aquasafe start and skipping the process all together. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this, and if it actually worked. :huh:
I don't think he was just trying to make a profit, as he gave my friend jessica a $10 rock, for free.

 

[lookit]

I have a 29-gallon tank that's been established for over 4 years. All of a sudden, the tank went off last week. Don't know why -- didn't add any new fish; do twice weekly water changes; only feed ever other day and all food gone in 5 minutes or less. Whatever the reason, I find myself having to do a fish-in cycle because I have no other tank available to put the fish from my 29-gallon. My lfs guy has me trying Tetra SafeStart to get the bacteria in my tank restarted. So far my fish seem to be okay. Among others, I have a male pearl gourami who's more or less my "canary" in the tank. He's retaining his bright orange throat color and not fading out to the putrid pink I saw when the tank first started going off. Also, all my cories have remained very active, including the three pandas. I'm testing everyday and hoping this condition rights itself very soon. Can't say definitely that the SafeStart is why my fish don't seem to be suffering any undue ill effects, but at least it doesn't appear to have hurt anything either.

 

[13enzene]

Basically it is supposed to start the cycle from the get go, producing a cycled tank environment at the best. At the worst this product will decrease the time it takes for you to cycle your tank.

 

[thorpbrian]

Basically it is supposed to start the cycle from the get go, producing a cycled tank environment at the best. At the worst this product will decrease the time it takes for you to cycle your tank.

Definitely gotta agree with you. I'm not confident enough in the product to fully stock my tank after adding it. However, I've yet to lose a fish while cycling with it and I've not been burdened by constant water changes while using it. I've pretty much put it in, monitored the tank visually with no testing (the readings will drive you nuts) and came out with a cycled tank 7 to 10 days later.

 

[13enzene]

Ya when I got a job at a lfs I actually spent like hours researching these kind of things that are supposed to cycle the tank immediately. Cause like should I sell something like this in good conscious if I know it is BS knowing that they will come back later that week with dead fish. What I found was that the products contain various different strains of bacteria that do the cycle and preform the nitrification. They did lab trials with different products and found that at worst the cycle was reduced to around 3 weeks to complete instead of a normally 5+. I can get really technical but I will save it as you probably don't care much.

 

[Tetrastripe2]

I like technical =)