Tetra SafeStart Plus 250 mL, for Newly Set-Up Fish Aquariums

I tried to cycle my 20 gallon, fish in, for 6 weeks using Seachem Stability and Prime conditioner and no matter what I did, my ammonia was always 0.25 (I have ammonia in my tap), 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. After I’d feed my fish, the ammonia would spike to 1.0 ppm, I’d freak out, and do a 30-40% water change and detox the ammonia with a double dose of Prime. My tank never cycled until I bought Tetra SafeStart Plus.Here’s what I did. I bought the two 8oz bottles. I did a 50% water change and took a siphon and hovered over the gravel a bit to get some of the food and poop out (I didn’t actually dig in to the gravel so that I could preserve the bacteria in the gravel). I used Tetra Aquasafe to condition my water this time, since I felt like Prime would mess up the bacteria somehow.I waited about an hour before putting bacteria in. I took one, shook it really hard, and dumped the whole bottle into my filter while it was running even though the bottle treats 50 gallons and I only had a 20 gallon tank with 3 mollies, a swordtail, and two female bettas. I should mention that I have a bio sponge, a couple of layers of filter floss, Purigen, and carbon in my filter (Aqueon Quietflow 20). And I filled up the bottle with tank water, shook it really hard again to get the rest of the bacteria out, then dumped the water into the filter.Then I did nothing for 3 days. I fed flakes lightly once a day during that time. On the 4th day, I took the second bottle, shook it really hard, and put about 3 oz into the filter while it was running.I did nothing for 2 more days. Then I decided to test the water. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 ppm nitrates! Holy crap my tank cycled in about a week and none of my fish died!!!Okay so I was a believer in this stuff. I had to try it again. I bought the 3.38 oz version for the 10 gallon Glofish tank I was setting up. First I rinsed the tank, gravel, and decor in tap water and set up the gravel and decor. Then I added dechlorinated water using Aquasafe conditioner. I put on my filter (Aqueon Quietflow 10) and let the water run for 24 hours. Then, I went out to buy 3 long fin tetra Glofish. Came home, acclimated them by floating the bag and slowly adding my tank water into the bag. Then I netted them out and put them in my tank.I turned off the filter. I shook the 3.38 oz bottle of SafeStart really hard and poured all of it into my filter (this time I only had carbon and filter floss, and bio sponge). I let it sit for 10 minutes then turned the filter back on. I did nothing for 3 days. On the 4th day, I took my 8 oz bottle of SafeStart I bought earlier, shook it really hard and added about 3 oz into the filter. Because this was a new tank, I added another 3 oz into the filter while it was running 2 days later.Finally I tested the water on the 7th day. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 ppm nitrates!!! Cycled in a week with 3 fish, all still alive and well.I think the key is to overdose on SafeStart and add a little more on the 3rd or 4th day after the initial dose to help boost the amount of bacteria available. Don’t do water changes, don’t add Prime, nothing. Don’t test your water for at least a week, you will psych yourself out, convince yourself you need to do a water change or dose with Prime, and so on. Just feed lightly during this time and let SafeStart do the work.Some people swear by Seachem Stability but Tetra SafeStart Plus is my go-to bottled bacteria. It works if you use it correctly.

The media could not be loaded. I found out about Tetra SafeStart Plus on some aquarium forums while searching for tank cycling and beneficial bacteria.I found out that Tetra SafeStart Plus was one of the only products recommended over and over by fish keeping enthusiasts.I have a new 75 gallon tank that I've been cycling for a few weeks. I started with new fine gravel substrate and three large pieces of driftwood. I am running a large HOB filter filled with sponge, ceramic media and polyester filter fiber. I also have two very large sponge filters that are filled with ceramic media.I used API Quick Start three weeks ago. I didn't want to do the ammonia cycling procedure, so I just added a tiny bit of fish food flakes (instead of using a small piece of raw shrimp) to the tank for the beneficial bacteria. I know that there are different ways to cycle a tank, and I am not saying that I did it the best way, or the only way, but this worked for me. One thing for sure is that different people have different ways and opinions of cycling a tank.The tannins from the wood made the water look like coffee. I used a couple of packs of PuriResin, one pack a week for two weeks, and did only one 75% water change. The water was now crystal clear.Anyway, my nitrates and nitrites were zero after several weeks. Not a surprise as there wasn't any livestock in the tank.So, I bought this Tetra SafeStart Plus and put it in yesterday. I put in the whole bottle as directed.I then added one male Koi Betta and two mystery snails for starters. I also added three Java Ferns, three Amazon Swords, and three green Cryptocoryne Wendtii. I did also feed the plants with Seachem Flourish root tabs.(Look at that absolutely Koi Betta! He will give any saltwater fish a run for their money color wise!)(I should add that I bought ALL of my filters, chemicals, bacteria, lighting, substrate, heaters, food, test strips, nets, accessories and even the live plants here on Amazon, so this whole process was very easy. Oh yeah, I bought the Workpro work table that I am using as a stand here on Amazon as well. Not a plug for Amazon. Just to let you know that other than the Aquarium, which I bought, locally you can have all of this delivered. Even healthy beautiful plants!)Anyway, back to Tetra SafeStart Plus. The tanks looks great. Betta's color and behavior look great. Snails doing their thing like snails do.Oh yeah. I regarding the snails and their food. Yes it's a new tank. No algae yet. However, the drift wood is COVERED with clear biofilm. Snails and shrimp LOVE that stuff! Plus, I have algae wafers to supplement if needed.I will definitely update this review as I go, with updates on water testing, plant and livestock health, any algae growth or anything else I discover as I go.Finally, the last reason for choosing the TSSPlus is that I have 12 Kuhli Loaches and 6 Panda Corys being shipped to me. They'll be here next week. I want to give them the best chance possible to arrive to a super healthy tank. I truly believe that I made the right choice on the TSS Plus.I guess we will see what happens next. I am confident that I made the correct choice using Tetra SafeStart Plus.