Tetra Safe Start And Cycling My New Tank

[Prime Ordeal]

What we can't know is whether the TSS was stored outside of its allowed temperature range of 0-30C. This is the biggest drawback, in my opinion, and means you never know whether you've got a viable batch of bacteria or not.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

What we can't know is whether the TSS was stored outside of its allowed temperature range of 0-30C. This is the biggest drawback, in my opinion, and means you never know whether you've got a viable batch of bacteria or not.

That is a veyr valid point. And that would be the one thing to make me mad, especially for as much as it costs

 

[snazy]

I just would have been curious to see it cycle without plants...as "most" newbies start with fake plants.

I had to abandon ALL my 4 cycles due to them not working. They have handled my bioloads straight away with no problems.

Hope you dont get a 200 day'er!! lol x

I have cycled my previous tanks from scratch without plants HayzH. And I am not making it up saying that they did cycle in 7-8 days time. Although the time it took to cycle the tanks was very short, there were readings for ammonia and nitrite during this time though, so I can't recommend to anyone to cycle this way unless they are prepared for risks. I did not experience any issues and my fish are still happy and healthy. But I am still to see if thi s shortened their lifes?

As you have also confirmed in your cycles, that managed the bio load of fish, but couldn't cycle 3-4ppm ammonia at the same time, the load of ammonia used in a fishless cycles is way above what fish would produce for the same period of time, or at least it is released so much slower than the sudden dose of ammonia we put in a fishless cycle.

That is a veyr valid point. And that would be the one thing to make me mad, especially for as much as it costs

Yeah, it's a pity about this as these bottles are definately stored below 20 degrees this time of the year in most LFS. And generally speaking, if not pressed for time, the amount of money TSS costs is not worth it.

 

[afremont]

What we can't know is whether the TSS was stored outside of its allowed temperature range of 0-30C. This is the biggest drawback, in my opinion, and means you never know whether you've got a viable batch of bacteria or not.

We're definitely in agreement on this. My LFS keeps it in a refrigerator just because the original bio-spira product required it. Living in houston, I'm extremely concerned about the shipping conditions that this stuff is put thru on the way to the LFS. It could be 40C outside, inside a truck on the freeway its just gonna be roasting in there. Tetra should include a thermal alarm tag on the bottle that indicates if the temperature range was exceeded. I bought it from a box store once, but I made sure to take the most recent bottle they had. There were others that had been sitting for nearly a year and were almost expired. It worked.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Although the time it took to cycle the tanks was very short, there were readings for ammonia and nitrite during this time though, so I can't recommend to anyone to cycle this way unless they are prepared for risks.

To be fair to the manufacturers of these bacteria-in -a-bottle products though, they don't claim that with fish in, and using their product, you'll get zero ammonia or nitrites. Seachem, who produce Stability, even state that you should use Prime during the first couple of weeks to alleviate any stress due to the elevated ammonia and nitrite. Pity they don't put that information on the bottle though!

the load of ammonia used in a fishless cycles is way above what fish would produce for the same period of time, or at least it is released so much slower than the sudden dose of ammonia we put in a fishless cycle.

And that's just one of the reasons that dosing to 4 or 5ppm is just plain silly. The ammonia level in a mature cycled tank will be 0.001ppm or less, and yet it's recommended to throw 4-5ppm at the bacteria in one go. Crazy!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

the load of ammonia used in a fishless cycles is way above what fish would produce for the same period of time, or at least it is released so much slower than the sudden dose of ammonia we put in a fishless cycle.

But this really depends on the person as well. If a person who knew nothing about fish decided to do a fishin cycle with 5 bala sharks and 2 oscars on a tank with no mature media, and only a bottle of bacteria, they are going to get a huge ammonia spike. While trying to cycle the tank I bought with the fish that came with with, doing water changes 2-3 times a day and still seeing ammonia levels in upwards of 1-2ppm. It took media from all 5 of my other tanks to support the load of those two fish. Now you get some people who will dump 10-20 fish in their 30g tank without knowing better, and not realizing how fast the ammonia builds up. So its not necessarily insane to throw 5ppm of ammonia out there in a fishless cycle. At least at the end you know that your tank can handle anything that is thrown at it.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Tetra should include a thermal alarm tag on the bottle that indicates if the temperature range was exceeded.

You're quite right. But I bet the return rate would be so high that they wouldn't have a viable product, so don't expect to see it any time soon!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Tetra should include a thermal alarm tag on the bottle that indicates if the temperature range was exceeded.

Most hospital quality microbiology medias and reagents actually have these alarms systems. As well as reagents for other parts of the hospital. We have had quite a few in my line of work that had to be sent back to the company due to these temperature tanges being exceeded. The problem is though, the cost to do that would outweigh the worth of the product, so unfortunately the likeleyhood of a Bacteria-in-a-bottle company doing it would be non-existant.

 

[afremont]

Tetra should include a thermal alarm tag on the bottle that indicates if the temperature range was exceeded.

Most hospital quality microbiology medias and reagents actually have these alarms systems. As well as reagents for other parts of the hospital. We have had quite a few in my line of work that had to be sent back to the company due to these temperature tanges being exceeded. The problem is though, the cost to do that would outweigh the worth of the product, so unfortunately the likeleyhood of a Bacteria-in-a-bottle company doing it would be non-existant.

At $13 for a tiny bottle, I think that it could be accomplished without adding excessive cost especially by just placing the tag on a carton of product. As for the viability of the company, it seems to me that their reputation would benefit greatly by the labeling (actually protection) since it would remove this "great unknown" about the product. It could be shipped just like any other perishable product putting the burden on the shipper to get it there without ruining it.

So far, in my personal experience, it has been a great product. I never suffered an ammonia or nitrIte spike when using it, even when overloading a new tank. It's not cheap, but neither are nice fish, other start-up costs, or worrying. A bag of gravel costs more than a bottle of TSS. Plus, I don't want to wait for weeks hoping and praying that the cycle will work, I want to spend the majority of my effort into raising fish not bacteria. ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I understand the hidden importance of putting new aquarists thru this procedure. It gives them time to learn about the nitrogen cycle and fish keeping in general without killing fish needlessly and without flooding the boards with "whats wrong with my fish" any more than they already are. But if you just want to start a new tank easily or end a mini-cycle dead in its tracks, TSS is something to consider.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Tetra should include a thermal alarm tag on the bottle that indicates if the temperature range was exceeded.

Most hospital quality microbiology medias and reagents actually have these alarms systems. As well as reagents for other parts of the hospital. We have had quite a few in my line of work that had to be sent back to the company due to these temperature tanges being exceeded. The problem is though, the cost to do that would outweigh the worth of the product, so unfortunately the likeleyhood of a Bacteria-in-a-bottle company doing it would be non-existant.

At $13 for a tiny bottle, I think that it could be accomplished without adding excessive cost especially by just placing the tag on a carton of product. As for the viability of the company, it seems to me that their reputation would benefit greatly by the labeling (actually protection) since it would remove this "great unknown" about the product. It could be shipped just like any other perishable product putting the burden on the shipper to get it there without ruining it.

So far, in my personal experience, it has been a great product. I never suffered an ammonia or nitrIte spike when using it, even when overloading a new tank. It's not cheap, but neither are nice fish, other start-up costs, or worrying. A bag of gravel costs more than a bottle of TSS. Plus, I don't want to wait for weeks hoping and praying that the cycle will work, I want to spend the majority of my effort into raising fish not bacteria. ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I understand the hidden importance of putting new aquarists thru this procedure. It gives them time to learn about the nitrogen cycle and fish keeping in general without killing fish needlessly and without flooding the boards with "whats wrong with my fish" any more than they already are. But if you just want to start a new tank easily or end a mini-cycle dead in its tracks, TSS is something to consider.

I agree, but I am not speaking on those that know something about fish. I am speaking of those who know nothing. It is one thing to know about the nitrogen cycle and know what you are looking for. I tried these products per the LFS when I was a newb at fishkeeping and it did nothing and I ended up with dead fish. I want to spend my efforts raising fish as well, but I have found that my fish raising has gone a lot better when I went the extra mile to spend some effort raising bacteria and not relying on a magic bottle of "may work."

But I am not bashing on anyone who uses these products. To each their own.

 

[snazy]

OK, so it's been about 13 hours since I dosed 3.5ml this morning and the ammonia is down to below 0.25, nitrIte is up to 0.50 and nitrAtes are at least 20ppm.
I have updated with pictures on post1#/page1

 

[snazy]

But there is no way to show that it was the safe start and not the plants helping you achieve these results. I bet your plants are looking very healthy and nice Can we see a pic of them?

You can see for youself how the plants looked and look now.


Here is a picture of the tank now:

That's how it looked a night after the tank was planted:

 

[FishFanatic04]

i really love that wood

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Plants are looking good. Once you get the tank cycles, add some under-substrate ferts and some liquid ferts for the plants attached to the wood and they will grow like chmaps

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I think it looks nice snazy. The tannins add character in my opinion.