Tetra Safe Start And Cycling My New Tank

[Prime Ordeal]

Tank: 0.25-0.5
Tap: 0-0.25

Snazy can you sit the vials up on something so that they are adjacent to the nearest colour match please (I mean in general whenever you post a pic - not just this one)? Makes it so much easier to judge.

When using Safe Start I would always expect nitrite on day three at the latest, so somethings not right. Are you making sure the tank is well aerated?

 

[snazy]

Tank: 0.25-0.5
Tap: 0-0.25

Snazy can you sit the vials up on something so that they are adjacent to the nearest colour match please (I mean in general whenever you post a pic - not just this one)? Makes it so much easier to judge.

When using Safe Start I would always expect nitrite on day three at the latest, so somethings not right. Are you making sure the tank is well aerated?

Thanks. It's hard to judge those colours. Nitrite is definately sky blue 0 and nitrate is just useless 5ppm.

I tried to put the vials up, but I couldn't work it out, managed to break one of my 4. . I'll try tomorrow.

The tank is aerated only by the 2 filters outlets at the surface, there is no air pump as I had to use the one I bought on my older tank. I am waiting on a hydor koralia power head which may arrive tomorrow. So I don't know if oxygen is enough..
In relation to the results, I am puzzled too. On day 5 when I cycled my previous tank with fish, the ammonia had dropped to nearly 0 and I had a nitrite reading that day too, which disappeared in another 2 and a half days. So day 8 I was officially cycled as I never detected ammonia and nitrites after.

Something ain't right with this cycle

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I almost bought some of this stuff for my oscar tank as the previous owners through out the filter media. I combined media pieces from all 5 of my tanks trying to suport the bioload of these guys, and it isnt helping. But I am using the biozyme instead in conjunction with my other media....hopefully this keeps the tank safe for these guys. Apparently though, they have changes the filter media monthly for the 6 months they had the oscars....i wonder how much shorter their lifespan is...

 

[snazy]

I just did another test and will take a better pic in 5min.

 

[snazy]

Here it is with the vial up:

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, I do not think that plants can fully cycle a tank. I do think that it helps keeps ammonia and nitrites a little lower during a fishin cycle. I haven't done either so I do no know from experience.

Plants can keep ammonia levels at a safe level, while the bacteria build up. Using plants to "cycle" a tank is discussed in the Plant forum. Generally, its called a "silent cycle" and usually involves planting 75% of the substrate with fast growing stem plants and adding very few fish. At the beginning the plants use the ammonia and slowly as the bacteria starts to build up, the plants more over to nitrates.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi all,

After so many debates over whether bottled bacteria works or not, I agreed to open a thread and keep a log of cycling my new tank.

Now, this is a bit early, as my tank is still in the post, and I haven't bought yet the substrate, filter, etc..but all of us can use this thread for posting their own success/unsuccess logs with Tetra Safe Start, or similar products.

For those that missed it, I have cycled two tanks with Tetra Safe start, via a fish-in cycle and it took a week.
Conditions:
-No water changes during the cycle
-No ammonia removers of any kind, just simple tap water conditioner(I used Api Tap Safe)
-Water temperature between 20-28 max(mine was at 26.5-27)
-Fish and double the recommended dose of Tetra Safe Start go together(My tank was understocked)
-Ph of water apparently has to be over 7.2 to work properly(Ph on both my tanks is 7.6)
-Nitrite spike was achieved at day 5-6 of the cycle and I poured on both tanks a normal dose of Tetra Safe Start at this stage(Nitrites were gone to 0 in just 24 hours or slightly longer as that's when I came back from work to test. Ammonia was nearly undetectable when nitrite spike occured)
-Feeding of fish was normal( I feed them twice a day at least, but smaller ammounts)
-I remember looking at the expiry date on the bottles and all of them had passed over 6 months from manufacturing date , but I bought them from the same shop at different time.

I will be trying exactly the same, but a fishless cycle with ammonia on my third tank, although tetra recommends fish only

In the mean time, please post your opinions and attempts here if you wish. And as soon as I collect everything I need, I will post mine.

Thanks for contributing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I will summarize the results of the tests for each day below
Date I started the cycle: 15th January.
For pictures of the test and other info, read the thread. Pictures will be posted for each day. You can see all pictures together on page 4, under post #61

Day 1: added 3.5 ml ammonia
ammonia-1ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-7.6, temp-26.8

Day2:no ammonia added
ammonia-1ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Day3:no ammonia added
ammonia-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-7ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Day4:no ammonia added
ammonia-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp -26.9

Day5:no ammonia added
ammonia-between 0.25-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Snazy,

I think the issue is that you have changed the conditions of your "test" from what you originally stated in your opening post. Your cited past experiences made no mention of plants, but plants are known to contribute to keeping ammonia in check. If your goal truly is to show how SafeStart works, as you originally proposed, then you must not have any other agent in the tank that is capable of removing ammonia.

Ultimately, I believe that the issue that has come up is that if your goal was to show Safestart to be effective, then the plants would need to be removed. If your goal is just to share your experience using SafeStart in your tank, then that is different.

This experience will be beneficial for folks, but I don't believe it will do anything to end the debate regarding the effectiveness of bottled bacteria, I'm afraid.

 

[snazy]

Hi all,

After so many debates over whether bottled bacteria works or not, I agreed to open a thread and keep a log of cycling my new tank.

Now, this is a bit early, as my tank is still in the post, and I haven't bought yet the substrate, filter, etc..but all of us can use this thread for posting their own success/unsuccess logs with Tetra Safe Start, or similar products.

For those that missed it, I have cycled two tanks with Tetra Safe start, via a fish-in cycle and it took a week.
Conditions:
-No water changes during the cycle
-No ammonia removers of any kind, just simple tap water conditioner(I used Api Tap Safe)
-Water temperature between 20-28 max(mine was at 26.5-27)
-Fish and double the recommended dose of Tetra Safe Start go together(My tank was understocked)
-Ph of water apparently has to be over 7.2 to work properly(Ph on both my tanks is 7.6)
-Nitrite spike was achieved at day 5-6 of the cycle and I poured on both tanks a normal dose of Tetra Safe Start at this stage(Nitrites were gone to 0 in just 24 hours or slightly longer as that's when I came back from work to test. Ammonia was nearly undetectable when nitrite spike occured)
-Feeding of fish was normal( I feed them twice a day at least, but smaller ammounts)
-I remember looking at the expiry date on the bottles and all of them had passed over 6 months from manufacturing date , but I bought them from the same shop at different time.

I will be trying exactly the same, but a fishless cycle with ammonia on my third tank, although tetra recommends fish only

In the mean time, please post your opinions and attempts here if you wish. And as soon as I collect everything I need, I will post mine.

Thanks for contributing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I will summarize the results of the tests for each day below
Date I started the cycle: 15th January.
For pictures of the test and other info, read the thread. Pictures will be posted for each day. You can see all pictures together on page 4, under post #61

Day 1: added 3.5 ml ammonia
ammonia-1ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-7.6, temp-26.8

Day2:no ammonia added
ammonia-1ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Day3:no ammonia added
ammonia-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-7ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Day4:no ammonia added
ammonia-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp -26.9

Day5:no ammonia added
ammonia-between 0.25-0.50ppm, nitrIte-0, nitrAte-5ppm, ph-8.2, temp-26.8

Snazy,

I think the issue is that you have changed the conditions of your "test" from what you originally stated in your opening post. Your cited past experiences made no mention of plants, but plants are known to contribute to keeping ammonia in check. If your goal truly is to show how SafeStart works, as you originally proposed, then you must not have any other agent in the tank that is capable of removing ammonia.

Ultimately, I believe that the issue that has come up is that if your goal was to show Safestart to be effective, then the plants would need to be removed. If your goal is just to share your experience using SafeStart in your tank, then that is different.

This experience will be beneficial for folks, but I don't believe it will do anything to end the debate regarding the effectiveness of bottled bacteria, I'm afraid.

I Agree.
I got the grief about the plant stuff a couple of pages back. Please read the whole thread as this was already discussed.
At the moment, I am keeping a log of cycling my tank with plants. So far the plants seems to have eaten about 0.75ppm ammonia in five days and don't find the nitrates tasty at all. At the end of the cycle I am expecting some monstrous anubias breaking through the cover of my fish tank

On a side note, how long does it take to do a fishless cycle with ammonia? When should I normally expect a nitrite reading?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Those are going to be some BEAUTIFUL plants though

 

[snazy]

I never realised how beautiful the anubias speces are, considering it's a type of plant that doesn't want too much care. They are really amazing looking, especially the ones that grow big like the barteri barteri(I think that's the name )

 

[snazy]

On a side note, how long does it take to do a fishless cycle with ammonia? When should I normally expect a nitrite reading?

Anyone?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

On a side note, how long does it take to do a fishless cycle with ammonia? When should I normally expect a nitrite reading?

Anyone?

you should see nitrite approx 7-10 days in using ammonia

 

[Prime Ordeal]

On a side note, how long does it take to do a fishless cycle with ammonia? When should I normally expect a nitrite reading?

When you're using Tetra safe start, as you are, you should see nitrite on day two or three at the latest. If not then something is wrong with the tank conditions or you've got a duff batch of Safe Start (and that''s quite possible because it's storage temperature range is 0-30C).

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Good point did you mean a normal cycle or one with bottle/mature media ?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

On a side note, how long does it take to do a fishless cycle with ammonia? When should I normally expect a nitrite reading?

When you're using Tetra safe start, as you are, you should see nitrite on day two or three at the latest. If not then something is wrong with the tank conditions or you've got a duff batch of Safe Start (and that''s quite possible because it's storage temperature range is 0-30C).

That's the biggest wild card in the entire bottled bacteria debate, and why I would personally never trust it until more research (and care on the part of the distributors and vendors) is done to make it truly "idiot-proof".

Improper storage, excessively long storage, etc. are variables that the customer really doesn't have any knowledge of. And if I buy a bad bottle of SafeStart, what are my next steps? Do I buy another bottle and hope that this one isn't crap too? Do I contact the manufacturer? Personally I'll stick to cloning new filters from mature media and not have to worry about this for the future.