evo1234

I just set up a new 33 gallon aquarium. I am going to buy safe start tomorrow. Can I add the bottle tomorrow and then add the fish the next day? also i am going to buy a m/f pair of convicts and was wondering how to sex them.

thanks.

pepetj

Hi evo1234: First, welcome to Fishlore!.

I've never used TSS. For what I have read here fish should be added right away. Not sure if there will be a problem if you wait a day or two if you add some source for ammonia (e.g. fish food) until you place your fish. Wait for feedback from those that have used it.

As for sexing Zebra Convicts, it's quite easy. Pick up one with orange spots at the belly area (don't know the adequate anatomic term) and one without. For Pink Convicts it's a bit harder since the orange spots take a bit more time (maturity wise) to show up.

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

iloveengl

Here's the step by step method that worked for my 3 tanks:

1. Add water and water conditioner to tank.
2. Add fish. Wait 24 hrs.
3. Add the entire bottle of TSS.
4. For the next 7 days do not change the water. Do not add Prime or any other chemical or water conditioner. Do not test water (the readings will be wonky and meaningless).
5. Test water on day 7. If not cycled, wait 3 more days. Test again on day 10. You should read 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some amount of nitrAtes.
6. You're officially cycled. ...Or it didn't work, which means you can try again with TSS or fishless cycle.

Worked perfectly for me. Others have had less luck, but that seems to stem from user error or expired bottles. Good luck!

peacemaker92

Hi evo and Welcome to Fishlore!

Tetra SafeStart, how to use

You can check out the link I've given above. It's one of our forums of a member having experience using TSS. Also info about the difference between safestart and aquasafe.

Good luck!

aquarist48

Hello Evo and Welcome to Fish Lore. Great tips above. If you have any questions by all means let us know.
I hope you enjoy the site!
Ken

fishingman001

thanks for the advice everyone. this is helping me too. my sister is starting a tank and wants to use safestart. i heard that safestart can be added directly to the filter. if that is true, do i lift up all the media and dump it in? thanks.

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore Evo1234!

I've attached pictures of a male striped convict and a female striped convict. The female has the orange belly. The first pic is the female. The second pic is the male. The third pic shows them both for comparison. Hope this helps.

Attached Images

	Cleo in New Log 08-15-09.JPG (787.4 KB, 79 views)
	Caesar 08-30-09.JPG (624.9 KB, 78 views)
	Cleo and Caesar 08-30-09.JPG (620.0 KB, 78 views)

evo1234

thanks for the help. i bought a bottle today but it was expired. i guess another trip to my LFS is in my plans for tomorrow.

bolivianbaby thanks for the pics. that really helps with identifying them.

omnitheforsaken

Add it straight to the tank water. I've used TSS on all 3 of my tanks and have never had a problem. IF you decide to add it to the filter (for whatever reason) then I wouldn't think you'd need to lift up the media at all. But I add it to the water directly in the tank. I actually let my fish stay in the tank for about 5 days before I add it but it would probably work just the same if you follow the directions on the bottle. I just like to make sure that there is some ammonia there for the bacteria to feed on but I'm sure the guys at Tetra thought of that too.

jdhef

I would just add it right to the tank and not the water. If I recall correctly, I believe the instructions on the bottle say not to add it to the filter, but I may be wrong about that.

jgon_

TSS, what an amazing product. I've used it on 6 tanks and all worked great.

Meenu

I kept using the TSS wrong, but it is awesome if you use it right.

All the things I did wrong, resulting in using 4 bottles of TSS: Add fish at the same time. Add enough fish. Don't test your water, because you'll panic and add Prime, and then your TSS won't work anymore. Oh, and use a bigger bottle of TSS than your tank size. My 1st 3 bottles were for a 30 gallon tank, and my tank is 30g. I thought that was perfect. Never worked. Then I put in a bottle for a 70 gallon tank, and 10 days later I have a cycled tank.

Craig-D

TSS comes in spore form. It takes awhile for it to activate, so you're supposed to put it in at the same time you put in fish. That way it begins to activate around the tinme ammonia starts to be produced. I would advise against putting it in a tank with fish already showing signs of ammonia. When I used it, I called Tetra and they said not to start with your full stock of fish. Start with a few and slowly add more as the bio filter grows and catches up. I cycled my 12 gallon tank with 2 fish in 4 days with TSS. Then I made the mistake of dumping another 5 fish in there at the same time and created a week-long mini-cycle (it was a small spike though, as ammonia readings never went above .25 PPM).