desireeb

A question. I bought a 10 gallon tank that was supposed to be for a beta but the beta died prior to his big move. The tank came with a product called cycle and the LFS assured me that this was a product that would allow instant cycling. So I (obviously stupidly) believed that they knew what they were talking about and I set up my tank with 3 platys. After having done all this I started looking around on the forum and realized that I had made a grave error and began a fruitless search for Tetra safe start. No one has it and most claim that the cycle product is the same thing even after I explain that it is not.
So here is the question, has anyone ever tried Seachem Stability? The only store where they seemed to understand reccommended the product. Unlike Cycle it does not have to be added forever. It requires a daily dose for 7 days and suggests that it is to be used beyond that if you add new fish or treat fish for illness.
Does anyone know if this will cyle the tank in 7 days or should I just bite the bullet and do constant water changes?

Thanks

kendrid

I have used it but I am just finished with the 7 days so I can't provide any long term results.

My readings as of 10 minutes ago are 0/0/5. I have shown 0/0 since day one and nitrates just showed up yesterday/today.

So I can say that it kept my tank safe for the first week. What happens in the next week I shall see.

I have read quite a few other user reviews of Stability and they were primarily positive. A couple of the users I saw that had issues didn't use it propelry (they kept adding it for a month).

For $6/bottle I'd give it a try. If you can get 0 ammonia 0 nitrites for $6 IMO it is better than daily water changes and your fish living in ammonia and nitrites.

I plan on posting my tank setup/review of the one week cycle in another week when I know more. If my tank crashes I will be sure to let you know. I have to say that I was pretty excited to see light orange (low nitrates) on my test tonight. I have good bacteria in my tank doing their job after one week. That is pretty cool for double the price of a bottle of Ace hardware ammonia.

desireeb

Thanks for your quick response. I will run out tomorrow and get started ! I sure hope that it works long term for you and will be eagerly anticipating your results.

kendrid

Thanks. I hope it works for you as well. From reading many forums over the past month it seems that SafeStart and Stability are the only two products that actually work. I could have purchased SafeStart but since Stability was half the price and had good user reviews I figured I'd give it a try.

CHoffman

Stability does not contain the correct bacteria...It doea have bacteria that will use ammonia, and nitrite that's why your getting the readings you are and that's why you have to keep adding it...But once you stop adding it beware...Watch your levels very closely...See it's a land based bacteria not for water...It's bascially starving the right kind of bacteria so you'll be a square one when all of it dies off....Tetra Safe Start is the ony product that contains the correct bacteria and you only have to add it once.

CWO4GUNNER

If you can find anybody that has a healthy established cycled tank to give you a tablespoon of gravel, used ornament, or piece of filter media to toss into your aquarium, It would be far better then anything you can buy in a bottle and I believe you would see results much much faster. Ask a good LFS if you can buy a sample of cycled gravel.

desireeb

The instructions on the Stability differ from those on Cycle. Stability does not require constant addition of the product. 7 day and then done. They suggest a boost when adding new fish or medicating fish. The fact that they don't require continual application is what made me think it was worth trying.

CHoffman

Personally I wouldn't waste my money..It's just not the right stuff...But if you do decide to use it post your results so we can see if it will work for you and the levels during and after adding...Kinda like a science project..lol..I know it's been done...I'll try to find the thread.

kendrid

Seachem themselves state that it is not the same bacteria that is needed in a cycled aquarium. The bacteria in the bottle helps get the correct bacteria started without hurting the fish. The problem of course could be if there is not enough established "good" bacteria after the seven days.

I will post my post-7 day results to this thread so we can have two people tracking it's usage in one place.

CHoffman

My concern would be if the Seachems bacteria is converting the ammonia and nitrite how would the right bacteria ever grow??..IT would be starved because the Seachems bacteria is using it all...It will be good to post the results so we can see..I would test up to two weeks after stopping the use of Seachems..I'm not certain how long it takes for the wrong bacteria to die off and allow the good bacteria to take over.

kendrid

I understand your concern as it makes sense. Supposedly the "wrong" bacteria don't use all of the nutrients which allow the correct bacteria to establish themselves. If it didn't do that then Stability would just be delaying the ammonia spike a week.

I will be sure to post my test numbers. My next test is Sunday night unless I see odd behavior in my tank.

kendrid

It has been three days since I last add Stability. My readings are 0/0/just below 5 (previous was 0/0/5). I vacuumed the tank yesterday and added 5 gallons of water (29 gallon).

I am very lightly stocked right now with 1 dwarf Gourami, 1 molly and 1 platty. After one week my sand had quite a bit of fish waste.

My next addition is going to be a school of Rummy Nose Tetras. The final stocking level will be 8. I am planning to add 4 then 4 the next week. Lets assume my tank is cycled. Would 4 be ok to add this week or should I do 3/3/2, 3/6? What is the normal procedure to not introduce too much new ammonia to a new aquarium?

desireeb

Hip Hip Hooray! Sounds like your tank has cycled! That is great news for us both. I'm not experienced at this so hopefully someone else can advise you on how to go about adding fish.

CHoffman

I would to be safe, add 3 3 2....Looks like your good to go so far.. Just keep an eye on things...Are you using a QT before adding the fish or just adding them.

kendrid

Thanks for the information. I don't have a QT tank so they will be straight into the 29 gallon. They will be from my LFS which seems on top of things and gives pretty much the same advice as this forum (I'll ask them about the Rummies but I bet they agree with your 3/3/2). They are on top of their tanks and always seem to be testing them, cleaning them, etc. I go there all the time at lunch and I've never seen a dead fish which of course they get but they quickly take care of them. I know they can still have sick fish but right now a QT tank isn't in the budget. I guess I should watch craigslist for a 10 gallon setup.

CHoffman

It's great that you have a LFS that gives great info..It seems like they are far and few between so that's awesome you have one!!..Kinda jealous..lol....I understand about the budget issue..lol...You could look on craigslist or somewhere here there is a QT tank taht someone made for super cheap..I'll try to find the thread.

CHoffman

Here it is
Quick and dirty quarantine setup

kendrid

Thanks for the info on that setup.

I've heard my LFS on multiple occasions tell people to not get a fish because their tank wasn't cycled yet, the fish wouldn't fit/be compatible, etc. It seems that they are not just after a sale.

kendrid

A quick update:

I added five rummynose tetras two days ago. My ammonia and nitrites are 0 so things are still working well. I even have small diatom patches on the glass (woot). Today my tank is two weeks old and I am cycled. Not bad for $6.

Yana

Just want you guys to know that my 'Stability' experience wasn't successful at all.
I thought that after 2 months my 400L aquarium cycled but it was only illusion. Having readings 0/0/0 for more than a week I decided to add more fish: 4 rainbows and later 2 perl gouramis. They are babies so their size for my 106 gallon tank wasn't too much. I don't overfeed my fish and the tank is quite well planted.
So it's nearly 2 weeks and ammonia is still raising...I have to do wather changers the every other day to keep it under control. I'm affraid my tank is going through another...or rather a proper cycle but with more fish. I don't know when it finish...I'm very sad upset because I was so stupid and trusted salepeople from the LFS to start my tank with stability and adding more fish.....I should wait at least a month after using this product to see a result.
Worst of all that in two days I'm going on holiday for a week and I don't know what to expect to see on my return......

janiskfp

Here's what Seachem says I know, it's the company, but they say it's an appropriate product for starting a tank. They seem to have some gaps in thier product line, so I feel like they don't attempt things they can't support (loosely like Apple vs. Microsoft). I think it's the SafeStart that Seachem is talking about on their product page.

In my little experience, the SafeStart does grow fast, particularly if you're dumping an ounce into a 2.5 gal tank every day. The guy who sold it to me also told me I just needed to get my ammonia readings "up there" to feed the bacteria. Well, I let them get there (3 6pmm readings after 3 water changes, but all NH4. 18ppm NH4. He was an idiot.), and it killed the SafeStart bacteria. It stopped growing, started changing to nasty, rotty-like dark gray, black colors, and my ammonia was so high I decided to pretty much start over, anyway. I also noticed what looked like some kind of plant growth in my filter with it (green, until it died, then it was brown.) but no phosphates or anything else in my water. The place I bought the fish is immaculate, and with the rapid growth I got and the timing, I'm suspecting the SafeStart, but I'm just suspecting, and that's me.

I've switched (by inheritance) to the Stability, and growth seems to be slower, but the elevated NH4 readings I have haven't seemed to hamper growth. (I have a tiny, easily visible filter. It shows.) I have yet to see what happens with cycling. I've pretty much got a double-stocked tank (could use some advice), so this is really an acid test for any product, so to speak.