Christian Patti

Well my tank is all setup with 6 cherry barbs. (55 gallons) I added a bottle of safestart rated for 75 gallons exactly a week ago then I added fish right after that. (which is what i was told to do) I was told here that test results wouldnt be accurate untila week goes by but I started testing around Monday anyways. The results are not good. I have .25 ppm of ammonia and 5ppm of nitrates. I'm wondering if its because I used some prime( i read an article on this site that said not to use prime with safestart)

im not really sure what to do and im worried about my fishies

Alessa

HI

How long has it been since you added the safe start?

I believe you read my article and I mentioned it, because there are reports of people that when using bio spira (the old version of TSS) and prime had bad experiences. However, this is not confirmed with TSS, although that might be a possibility.

if it has been more than a week since you added the TSS then I would worry. If not, then I would leave it alone for 7-10 days and go from there.

Christian Patti

Its been exactly a week today.

nitz

Have you done any water changes in between? I know that you're not supposed to and if you did, it could have taken out some of the safe start and reduced its effect. I also noticed that you didn't mention nitrites. A nitrate reading is actually a good thing because you know the bacteria are converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. So do you have a test for nitrite? If so, what is it showing?

I know any ammonia reading other than 0 isn't good but it sounds like you're getting close to the end of the cycle. They say not to test until a week after you've added the safe start and fish because you'll get some readings on ammonia and nitrite and might do something drastic like a big water change.

Christian Patti

I have done no water changes yet and it has been exactly a week since safe start was added. The problem is my ammonia is just increasing and not nitrates(from the looks of it) and I have no nitrites

jdhef

I guess it could be the Prime. It may have locked up the ammonia and made it unavailable to the bacteria, so the bacteria died off. Did you get any cloudiness in your tank that would indicate a bacteria bloom?

I used BioSpira and on the package it had recommended a water conditioner to use. Did the Safe Start have any recommendation on it's package? I had used Stress Coat to condition my water when I filled my tank, then went out and bought BioSpira, so I did not use the recommended water conditioner. At the end of one week I tested my water. I had 0 ammonia, but was showing nitrites, so I had to do daily 50% water changes for about a week until it finished cycling. Luckily it was only a 5 gallon tank so it wasn't too much work.

Alessa

Oh boy, then, maybe the prime did mess with the tss

I'd do a water change now, since it has been a week. Then, get another bottle of TSS and a dechlorinator like aqua+ that does not mess with ammonia.

Christian Patti

i think it recommended the tetra brand water conditioner

Christian Patti

and if i buy more safe start today do i have ti buy another big bottle which was 15 dollars or can i buy the smaller bottle

to be honest im running out of money lol

Alessa

the aqua+ is also good with TSS.

I know how you feel christian..

Christian Patti

ok thanks.. looks like ill be buying the smaller bottle because I only have 10 bucks that i found in my back pocket

Christian Patti

I did a 40% waterchange today and added another bottle of safestart... well see how it goes this time without using any water conditioners

Annadvn

I used Tetra safe start 2 weeks ago to cycle my 125g tank.

The company that i bought through failed to deliver a 2nd day shipment of the stuff so i added the fish on the friday and had to do 50% water changes daily through the weekend. I use Stress coat as the dechlorinator and was also using ammonia lock as i couldn't even with water changes get the ammonia below 4ppm!!

When the package arrived on the monday they had only sent me 1 bottle instead of 2, but i was so desperate i did my last 50% water change added the stress coat and some ammonia lock and added the safe start.

Out of curiosity i measured water levels daily, had a rise in ammonia but NEVER nitrites but ended up by the end of 7 days having .25ppm ammonia and 10ppm nitrates!!

The following day i had no ammonia and only nitrates, so give it an extra couple of days (i did a water change 10 days after adding the stuff).


Anna

( I only used 1 bottle to cycle the 125g tank, despite 1 bottle being good for only 75g - long story never using the company again)

EDIT: i didn't read the link about prime and other products affecting bio-spira/safe start, but i never had a problem maybe i was just lucky?

Christian Patti

Well I waited 7 days had .25ppm ammonia and 5ppm nitrate. I did a water change which lowered the ammonia close to 0. Then I added another bottle of tetra safe start after the water change and I used no prime. Hopefully this time it works. And maybe I should have waited a few more days like you did Anna but I just got worried after looking at ammonia readings.

I'll let everyone know how its going in a few days. Hopefully the cycle will be done.