trouble with tetra safe start

[debart914]

I set up my aquriam on Saturday & dechlorinated the water. I waited for around 24 hrs. and added tetra safe start. Next day the waer was cloudy. is this normal? I never used terta safe start before. I have been away from this hobby for along time. I remeber when you had the corner filters and is was cotton, charcoal, cotton. My readins were good - ammonia was .25 ph was 6.8 and my nitrites & nitates were both 0.

 

[librarygirl]

I set up my aquriam on Saturday & dechlorinated the water. I waited for around 24 hrs. and added tetra safe start. Next day the waer was cloudy. is this normal? I never used terta safe start before. I have been away from this hobby for along time. I remeber when you had the corner filters and is was cotton, charcoal, cotton. My readins were good - ammonia was .25 ph was 6.8 and my nitrites & nitates were both 0.

I think it's probably normal. Safe Start is hit-and-miss. I've used it twice and didn't work either time. Others have used it and it has worked. Do you have fish in the tank yet? If not, I highly advise a fishless cycle. If you do have fish, you need to check water daily and do water changes (right now, ammonia at 0.25 with fish in the tank would require a water change, in my opinion).

In my signature there are two guides: new tank with fish, and new empty tank. Click on the one that pertains to you and it will help. Good luck.

 

[George9]

Yes, This is normal. I used safestart and it kinda worked. The water is cloudy because your basically pouring "bacteria" in your tank.

 

[joel618]

Worked fine in my tank. I had other media and whatnot that im sure helped it along though

 

[George9]

Worked fine in my tank. I had other media and whatnot that im sure helped it along though

Its like hit n' miss. I guess it could almost be considered luck.

 

[jetajockey]

I wouldn't call it luck. It doesn't have a perfect track record but it does have a good enough one to recommend it as a working product.

Safestart is meant to be used with fish. It also mentions in the directions not to do water changes unless the ammonia gets to a very high level, which it isn't at. It would defeat the purpose of adding it if you are just taking it right back out.

 

[joel618]

Its like hit n' miss. I guess it could almost be considered luck.

I would say luck for sure.

 

[George9]

I wouldn't call it luck. It doesn't have a perfect track record but it does have a good enough one to recommend it as a working product.

Safestart is meant to be used with fish. It also mentions in the directions not to do water changes unless the ammonia gets to a very high level, which it isn't at. It would defeat the purpose of adding it if you are just taking it right back out.

Everyone I talked to didn't recommend it. But I used it and it did work for me. I'm glad too, I paid $20 bucks for a bottle!

I like your signature Jeta Jockey BTW.

 

[jetajockey]

There are multiple other factors that play in to whether it works or not. Obviously there's the handling aspect, since it is live bacteria, and we have no way to know how it was handled prior to getting on that shelf. That aside, though, I believe many people don't follow the directions explicitly either. I've spoken with the Tetra reps and they recommend a small initial fish load and absolutely no water changes for at least a week unless the levels get ridiculously high, they shouldn't though if you followed the 'small initial fish load' recommendation.

What also happens is people end up testing the water after a day or two and see .25ppm or .50 ammonia and freak out and do an unnecessary water change that removes much of the bacteria that was still getting settled in.

 

[George9]

There are multiple other factors that play in to whether it works or not. Obviously there's the handling aspect, since it is live bacteria, and we have no way to know how it was handled prior to getting on that shelf. That aside, though, I believe many people don't follow the directions explicitly either. I've spoken with the Tetra reps and they recommend a small initial fish load and absolutely no water changes for at least a week unless the levels get ridiculously high, they shouldn't though if you followed the 'small initial fish load' recommendation.

What also happens is people end up testing the water after a day or two and see .25ppm or .50 ammonia and freak out and do an unnecessary water change that removes much of the bacteria that was still getting settled in.

I didn't Add fish after safestart. I just continued the cycle and it worked out. I was too nervous to add a fish like Tetra said.

 

[joel618]

I didn't Add fish after safestart. I just continued the cycle and it worked out. I was too nervous to add a fish like Tetra said.

I added 4 to my 75, it seemed to work out well.

 

[fantasyman]

Hello I am new to the forum, I didn’t want to start a new thread since my question is about the same thing hope you lot don’t mind,


I’ve just started up my new 95 litre coldwater tank, this is what I have done so far.

Filled in the tank with cold tap water that has been treated as instructed with tetra aquasafe.

The temperature of the tank was 10 degrees C, as instructed by tetra safestart I waited until the tank was around 21-23 degrees C before treating it with tetra safestart the problem is my water was clear before adding tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ (biological filteration booster) after adding both tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ overnight my tank has gone very cloudy I have not added any fish I’ve left my normal flow UGF running throughout and is still running.


the water was clear before I added the live bacteria so the gravel was washed thoroughly Would this go away after a week or so?



Any advice is appreciated

Thank you

 

[librarygirl]

Hello I am new to the forum, I didn’t want to start a new thread since my question is about the same thing hope you lot don’t mind,


I’ve just started up my new 95 litre coldwater tank, this is what I have done so far.

Filled in the tank with cold tap water that has been treated as instructed with tetra aquasafe.

The temperature of the tank was 10 degrees C, as instructed by tetra safestart I waited until the tank was around 21-23 degrees C before treating it with tetra safestart the problem is my water was clear before adding tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ (biological filteration booster) after adding both tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ overnight my tank has gone very cloudy I have not added any fish I’ve left my normal flow UGF running throughout and is still running.


the water was clear before I added the live bacteria so the gravel was washed thoroughly Would this go away after a week or so?



Any advice is appreciated

Thank you

Hi, yes, it should go away, it's probably from the additives. How are you goign to cycle the tank? There's a link in my signature below: guide to starting a FW aquarium. It covers a lot of things and cycling is the first. You'll want to read both the fish-in and fishless cycle guides and choose one. Good luck!

 

[siva]

Hello I am new to the forum, I didn’t want to start a new thread since my question is about the same thing hope you lot don’t mind,


I’ve just started up my new 95 litre coldwater tank, this is what I have done so far.

Filled in the tank with cold tap water that has been treated as instructed with tetra aquasafe.

The temperature of the tank was 10 degrees C, as instructed by tetra safestart I waited until the tank was around 21-23 degrees C before treating it with tetra safestart the problem is my water was clear before adding tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ (biological filteration booster) after adding both tetra safestart and API STRESS ZYME+ overnight my tank has gone very cloudy I have not added any fish I’ve left my normal flow UGF running throughout and is still running.


the water was clear before I added the live bacteria so the gravel was washed thoroughly Would this go away after a week or so?



Any advice is appreciated

Thank you

Welcome to AA!

It's debatable whether or not you've actually added any live bacteria. The general feeling about these additives is that they are a gimmick, though some do swear by them. I added one once, though a different brand, and my fish became very ill and most of them died. What I can say for sure is if they did contain the bacteria you need, it would quickly die off without a source of ammonia in the tank (i.e. fish waste). I would recommend you do a fishless cycle.
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

 

[fantasyman]

Guys/Girls thanks for the helpful response/links, I can’t seem to find a good place that stocks pure ammonia, I’ve even looked at mail ordering and places like eBay, couldn’t even find a international seller that sells it, any idea where I can get it from, I don’t want to start using shrimps, any of you guys in the US can get a hold of “Ace Brand Janitorial Strength Ammonia” and list it on eBay with international shipping to the UK?

Any advice or help is appreciated

Thank you