TSS start up.

HI all! Nice to be here and nice to be around fellow fish fanatics.

I'm setting up a Betta tank in the next few weeks after I've done all the research I can on the species and their requirements to make sure the fish has a great life and a happy one.

I've kept cold fish for awhile without issues and I've not lost one fish in my three years as a fish keeper (kudos to me!).

When I started out I did a fish in cycle without TSS as I didn't know about it three years ago but obviously now I'm going to use it in the set up of my new tank. But there's so much conflicting advice about to use it. I've read the fact sheet here and even that conflicts with some of the other stuff I've read.

I love to get advice of folks who have used the product successfully and go by what they did.

So this is what I have been advised to do, please do jump in and correct any miss advice:

1. Set up tank and let it run for a week adding one flake of fish food every other day or leave a sinking pellet in a shrimp dish for a few days (three or four days).

2. Test water conditions for ammonia.

3. Add a full bottle of TSS.

4. Wait 24 hours to do PWC (15-20%).

5. Add fish and do PWC two days later.

Another lot of advice was:

1. Set up tank and let it run for a week but add nothing to it.

2. Add full bottle of TSS.

3. Add fish two hours later.

Please do add your experience and correct any thing wrong here, I want to do the set up right for the Betta.

Thanks a bunch!

 

Hi, welcome to fishlore

What I would do is setup your tank, dechlorinate, heat, let it run for 24 hours.

The next day add your fish and TSS+, the start-up bottle, at the same time. Do nothing for two weeks and you'll have a cycled betta tank. Test at the end of the two weeks to make sure you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, do a 40-50% water change after that and weekly.

I would advise getting at least a 5 gallon tank for a healthy environment for your betta. Anything smaller and you'll end up doing twice weekly water changes.

Do you know if you have ammonia or nitrites in your tap?

Do you have the API liquid test kit?
Do you have Seachem prime or Amquel Plus for your water conditioner?

 

Thank you very much, nice to be here.

TSS plus the Start Up Bottle? Sounding like a div but I thought TSS was the start up bottle?

No nothing in the tap water.

Yes I have all the stuff needed because I run a CW tank as well.

I use Tetra Aqua Safe as my conditioner.

 

What a CW tank?

They have two bottles, one says start-up and one says maintenance, I don't know if it's the same stuff labeled differently or ? But I'd make sure to get the start up.

If you have a fully cycled tank why not just take some filter media from it and start your betta tank with a betta with that?

 

Cold water tank.

Oh yes, I have the Tetra Safe Start already so I'll use a bottle of that.

I was going to do that and take some gravel from my CW tank too but the gravel is too sharp for a Bette's fins. The filter media I have in my CW tank isn't comparable with the filter media in the new tank.

I could add a smooth pebble from my CW tank to the new tank, would that be ok?

 

@CindiL definitely gave you some good advice. If you have a cycled tank, like CindiL said, use some of that filtered media into your new Betta tank. This is actually the preferred method.

As far as cycling with TSS+, I actually cycled my Betta tank with it and it was super successful. Again, follow Cindi's advice. One of the mistakes I made is that I added Seachem Prime to dechlorinate my water and then TSS right after. You need to wait 24 hours after you dechlorinate to add TSS+, otherwise it will kill whatever it is that makes TSS+ so successful.

Good luck!

 

Awesome!

Thanks both its really appreciated. I'm super excited about a Betta. Never kept a tropical tank before so it'll be brand new to me.

I'll definitely post some photo of my new fish when I get him.

 

Awesome. Yes, this is my first Betta tank as well and trust me... you will LOVE your betta. They are awesome fish. I wish I had more space to add another Betta tank in my apartment.

 

I'm sure you've already read up on Bettas but just thought I'd mention a couple things. Betta's like a nice warm tank, minimum 78 but 80-82 is better. I'd avoid a pre-set heater and get a 25w-50w (depending on tank size) adjustable heater and a separate digital thermometer.

They are carnivores and will benefit from feeding frozen brine or blood worms daily. You can feed pellets but I would alternate with blood worms etc.

They like places to rest so a floating plant would be great as well as a small betta log or somewhere to hide.

 

I'd avoid a pre-set heater and get a 25w-50w (depending on tank size) adjustable heater and a separate digital thermometer.

Why do you recommend a digital thermometer?

 

Yes I have all that already, I just need to get the tank. Though I was advised to get a Nano heater which is set at a constant temp. I don't think it makes a difference to be honest as long as the water is kept at 26 degrees.

I also have a digital thermometer which I use on my CW tank. Though regular ones work just as well but I do find the digital more accurate to you degree.

 

The problem with nano heaters is that they are pre-set at the factory and cannot be changed so sometimes they are a couple degrees too cool etc and are very weak in wattage. Hopefully yours will be ok.
Mothercrow, just a personal preference. Any type of thermometer is great, I just like the display because it's easy to read . I should've just said, a thermometer.

 

Seems as though I have it now I'll use it for awhile, see how it goes and replace it if need be.

Thanks for your sound advice CindiL.