Tetra Safestart

[Winterlily]

Can it SafeStart do any damage, or is the very worst it could do is nothing? I was given a bottle (well-meaning friend gave it to me to make things easier!) bought from a fish-only shop that keeps it refrigerated. Shall I go through the hassle of having her return it (doable), or use it anyhow? If it could possibly make cycling worse or do any damage like causing weird spikes or whatever else I seem to remember reading about, I do not want to bother using it. But if the worst it could do is do nothing at all, it's probably easier all around to just keep it. Whacha think?

 

[Curiosity101]

Can't see it doing anything negative to be honest. At the very most it might have an ammonia reading from the decaying/decayed bacteria (if there were any in there in the first place). Maybe do a quick ammonia test on it before adding to the tank.
But even if it contains ammonia that isn't really a problem, so long as you're not adding huge amounts into the tank of course.

 

[indigoj]

Won't do any harm. I've used it to help with (unintentional) fish-in cycling and ammonia spikes with some signs that it helped - certainly less water changes!

 

[Winterlily]

Great! I'll keep it then - glad I don't have to put her through the hassle of returning it! Thank you!

 

[vinylman]

When PFK tested this, they said it still exposes fish to high levels of Ammonia and Nitrites.

 

[Winterlily]

When PFK tested this, they said it still exposes fish to high levels of Ammonia and Nitrites.

It's the "still" in that sentence that gets my attention. So, it's no worse than a regular cycle? Nothing out of the ordinary, weird, whatever? Just that you'll still have those things (so, essentially, it does not work)? I'll be doing a fishless cycle, so I don't care about the presence of ammonia and nitrite if I get them - I just didn't want any surprises from having put it in - meaning, something way out of the ordinary from a regular cycle like big spikes after the tank seemingly cycled (and so, fish put in) or something like that.

 

[Curiosity101]

You shouldn't get any surprises. IF it works, and that's a big if, then the most it will do is speed up the cycle a tad. That really is all it will do.

 

[Winterlily]

Okay great. I really don't *expect* it to work honestly - would not have bought it for myself. I'm getting mature media for the filter, which I DO expect will work, so I'm not too worried about it. Just didn't want to add it and have it do something funky. Glad to hear it won't. Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

To me, this bottled bacteria product just falls into the same category with all the other ones like it that either give you some dead organic material (in various forms of decomposition, depending on the lengh of time its been since it died shortly after being bottled) or some dead organic material and some mixed dead and alive heterotrophic bacteria of various species that do not need lots of oxygen like our nitrifying ones do. You could do some similar things to your aquarium by pouring in some pee or dumping in some yard dirt or other random collections of organics and biofilms and other unknown stuff. My assumption is that this will add to the random organic things you'll then be trying to pull -out- of the aquarium with water changes after the biofilter has developed, lol. My feeling is, why not just keep it simpler, with mature media that's already self-selected for a freshwater environment and is alive to a greater extent? But, who knows, probably most of all this stuff is more harmless, regardless.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Winterlily]

why not just keep it simpler, with mature media that's already self-selected for a freshwater environment and is alive to a greater extent?

Yup I agree with you waterdrop. That's why I said I never would have bought it myself to begin with. But it was given to me by a good friend - she thought she was helping me and felt particularly proud she got it from somewhere that keeps it refrigerated [I'd previously said to her that none of the cycle starters worked, except possibly the ones refrigerated] - and I was just trying to figure out if I ought to use it (expecting nothing, at worst, really), or ask her to return it. I will indeed be adding mature media to the 55 gallon, but the little tanks (three 5 1/2 gallon tanks) have to cycle on their own, so if this could do no harm (most importantly), and since I've got it now and would rather not hurt her feelings if possible, I figured I'd dump some in the little tanks to, at best, either help a small bit, or do nothing.

Course, I could just let her assume I used it and actually just toss it - but not sure that's any more helpful than using it and having it do nothing. In any case, I agree with you completely about cycle starters. But here I find myself with this yellow bottle in my refrigerator and was just trying to figure out if it was likely to do harm, or just nothing at all.

 

[waterdrop]

O heck yeah then, I'd go ahead and pour it in the filters then just so you can have the peace of mind that you are not lying to her. Its an unusual case then and I tend to think the stuff is probably harmless and the important point on our part here in the beginners section has already been accomplished in that you, as our member, clearly share our skepticism about these types of products and understand why we still stick with household ammonia and/or mature media at least currently.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Winterlily]

the important point on our part here in the beginners section has already been accomplished in that you, as our member, clearly share our skepticism about these types of products

You betcha.

 

[Winterlily]

Oh how I don't wanna say this. The stupid stuff worked. In TWO tanks. I've got the two 5.5 gallons set up for a betta each, and one was brand new so was in the middle of a cycle (ammonia had gone up a bit, then down [but never to 0], and nitrite was up a bit - remember, only 1 fish, so nothing went super high). The other tank was new but I moved over a small bit of what I could salvage of the stupid Eclipse's filter floss (from the cartridge). So there was a BIT of "mature" media there. But it was still cycling - ammonia about .25 and nitrite about that or a TAD higher.

I added the SafeStart to the 1st tank mentioned above first. I added it in the evening. By morning, nitrite was 0. Ammonia was still there - but barely. Just SLIGHTLY discoloring the test, but no where near the light green of the .25 result. Just slightly tinged green if you kwim - the color that makes you look at it 5000 times trying to decide if it's green-tinged or not. Ammonia has now dropped to definitely yellow (but not as pale as it is when you first shake it). I waited a couple days, then added the rest of the bottle to the second tank. (I used half a bottle for each tank - it says to use the whole thing, but it says use the whole thing for up to 75 gallons. These are small 5.5 gallon tanks - I figured half a bottle was fine for each, plus I didn't expect it to work ANYhow.) The ammonia and nitrites were (before adding) JUST under .25 - just enough to make me try to decide whether a small water change was in order. I decided not to do the water change, but to dump the rest of the bottle in and see if the other tank was a fluke or just great timing (maybe the tank was right at the end of its cycle or something ANYhow and it was a big ol' coincidence). Poured it in in the morning. Tested at night, and as with the first tank, nitrites were now 0 and ammonia was absolutely negligible (no green, just a medium yellow - though not as pale as when first put in).

I don't get it. I'm really, really surprised. (Happy!, but surprised.) The only thing I can say is that my friend bought it from a shop that kept it refrigerated, and she says they told her that they request it be shipped the same way TO them. She said they even gave her an ice pack for the trip home to keep it cold. (85-90F here lately.) I dunno. Perhaps it's a fluke, and you can bet I'll be testing 1-2x daily for the next week or more, but thought I'd let you know how this one APPEARS to have turned out.

I still don't trust it, and will be doing mature media in the 55 gallon. I think most of the time it doesn't work, and I can't see how it possibly CAN work if bought off a shelf.

Dunno!

 

[three-fingers]

IME Tetra Safestart can usually help a cycle (seems to do a better job than Nutrafin Cycle and API Stress Zyme), but doesnt totally replace the need for one or do as well as it claims on the bottle.

But I'd still recommend it as worthwhile for people who cant access mature media.

In your case, I think the mature media did most of the work though.

 

[Winterlily]

I agree in the one tank (second one mentioned). The first tank didn't have any mature media at all - was a brand new tank and brand new filter.

I do totally agree though - that mature media is the way to go for sure - much better and at least you're sure of it helping!