tetra aquasafe?

[jamiya0727]

My LFS guy swears by the stuff, but it doesn't work for me. I have tried it in two different tanks. One cycled after 6 weeks with really, really high ammonia in the meantime (I didn't know what I was doing as it was my first tank). The other still had not cycled after 8 weeks so I tore it down and am restarting it without the Safe Start. In the meantime, I started a third tank, no Safe Start, and it cycled in 4 weeks.

As for doing no harm, I don't know about that. This guy claims it does do harm: http://www.firsttankguide.net/bacteria.php

So who knows what the answer is, but as for myself I am not going to use it ever again.

 

[Jspigs]

I tried the product just a day and a half ago to try to kickstart my fishless cycle but now after about 1 1/2 days my ammonia is the same level as when I added it.

 

[thorpbrian]

My LFS guy swears by the stuff, but it doesn't work for me. I have tried it in two different tanks. One cycled after 6 weeks with really, really high ammonia in the meantime (I didn't know what I was doing as it was my first tank). The other still had not cycled after 8 weeks so I tore it down and am restarting it without the Safe Start. In the meantime, I started a third tank, no Safe Start, and it cycled in 4 weeks.

As for doing no harm, I don't know about that. This guy claims it does do harm: http://www.firsttankguide.net/bacteria.php

So who knows what the answer is, but as for myself I am not going to use it ever again.

For the most part I think that article is mostly talking about all the products besides Tetra Safe Start.

Tetra Safe Start is the only product that has the right type of bacteria in it and it comes with a expiration date. It also comes with a non-sealed cap which leads me to believe it is vented which could help the bacteria inside live longer. I've now used it three times with success (3 for 3).

Two things generally keep it from working. 1) People don't add any fish. (This is a fish-in cycle product) 2) People test the water for the first week, freak out and start doing water changes thus killing the chances of the product working. This is especially true if you use Prime as your water conditioner.

Two things that will help it have a better chance of working are 1) getting a relatively fresh bottle (far from expiration date). 2) Letting it work for at least a week without messing with the water.

Obviously fishless cycling is still the preferred method BUT there are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of people who find this forum after they've already dived off the deep end with a new tank with fish without a proper cycle in the tank and this is definitely a viable option. Especially when the other option is 50% daily water changes and hope that the fish don't die until the tank cycles after several weeks...

Just my two cents

 

[thorpbrian]

I tried the product just a day and a half ago to try to kickstart my fishless cycle but now after about 1 1/2 days my ammonia is the same level as when I added it.

It takes about a week to work and I wouldn't recommend testing the water in that time because it'll drive you nuts. Water changes during that week will kill the chances of it working also. When I've used it I've just monitored the fish visually and then checked the water after a week. All three times after a week I had 0, 0, 10...

 

[Jspigs]

I guess I posted too early. I am now seeing nitrites.

 

[13enzene]

I tried the product just a day and a half ago to try to kickstart my fishless cycle but now after about 1 1/2 days my ammonia is the same level as when I added it.

isn't the dosage by fish or something like that?

 

[thorpbrian]

isn't the dosage by fish or something like that?

The dosage is by the gallon. They sell small bottles for up to 15 gallons, then mid-size for up to 30 and large for up to 75 gallons. The directions say to use the whole bottle.

I used a whole bottle of the mid-size for both my 20 gal tanks and it worked well.

 

[Tetrastripe2]

What if i just added pure ammonia to the tank instead of fish?
Wouldn't that feed the bacteria until i felt it was safe enough to add fish?

 

[thorpbrian]

What if i just added pure ammonia to the tank instead of fish?
Wouldn't that feed the bacteria until i felt it was safe enough to add fish?

I really don't think you'd be able to do that with Tetra Safe Start. You get erratic readings while the product is doing it's thing with fish so it'd be hard to trust your ammonia readings doing it this way. I don't really know how TSS works I just know I've had success with it while lightly stocking my tank with fish while using it. It seems to keep the fish safe while speeding up the cycle with the bacteria in the product.

So in summary your probably either gonna have to choose to to a fishy cycle with TSS or a fish less cycle with ammonia.

If someone else has used TSS this way maybe they can share their experience but I doubt anyone has used ammonia with it because at that point you might as well do the fish less cycle.

 

[13enzene]

Theoretically it should work with just pure ammonia as long as you don't over power the bacteria, if you know what I mean.