Review on Efficient Aquatic Cycling with Tetra SafeStart Plus for New Aquariums by Raquel Perkins

I've been trying to fish my 20 gallons with Seachem Stability and Prime Conditioner for 6 weeks and no matter what I've done my ammonia has always been 0.25 (I have ammonia in my faucet), 0 Nitrite, 0 nitrate. . After feeding my fish the ammonia level went up to 1.0ppm, I went insane, changed 30-40% of the water and removed the ammonia with a double dose of Prime. My tank never worked until I bought Tetra SafeStart Plus. Here's what I did. I bought two 8 ounce bottles. I did a 50% water change, took a siphon and hung over the gravel a bit to eat and poop (I didn't really dig into the gravel to keep the bacteria in the gravel). This time I used Tetra Aquasafe for water treatment as I felt Prime would somehow attack the bacteria. I waited about an hour before adding the bacteria. I took one, shook it vigorously and poured the whole bottle into the filter. So far it has worked even though the bottle is 50 gallons and I only had a 20 gallon aquarium with 3 mollies, a swordtail and 2 female bettas. I should note that I have a bio-sponge, a few layers of filter floss, purigen and activated carbon in my filter (Aqueon Quietflow 20). And I filled the bottle with aquarium water, shook it vigorously again to get rid of the remaining bacteria, then poured the water into the filter. Then I didn't do anything for 3 days. During this time I fed flakes lightly once a day. On the 4th day I took a second bottle, shook it very hard and poured about 3 ounces into the filter while it worked. I haven't done anything for 2 days. Then I decided to test the water. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate! Holy shit my tank was up and running in about a week and none of my fish died! So I believed in it. I had to try again. I bought the 3.38 ounce version for the 10 gallon Glofish that I have installed. First I rinsed the aquarium, gravel and decor with tap water and installed the gravel and decor. Then I added dechlorinated water with Aquasafe conditioner. I put on a filter (Aqueon Quietflow 10) and let the water run for 24 hours. Then I went to buy 3 Glofish Longfin Tetras. Came home, acclimatized her by swimming in the bag and slowly pouring water from the aquarium into the bag. Then I fished them out and put them in my aquarium. I turned off the filter. I shook the 3.38 ounce SafeStart bottle very vigorously and poured it all into my filter (I only had the charcoal, filter floss, and bio-sponge this time). I let it sit for 10 minutes and then turned the filter back on. I haven't done anything for 3 days. On day 4 I took my 8 ounce SafeStart bottle that I bought earlier, shook it really hard and added about 3 ounces to the filter. Since this was a new tank I added another 3oz to the filter while it was running at 2 days. Finally I tested the water on the 7th day. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5 ppm nitrate! There were 3 fish alive and doing well in one week. 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 increase the available bacteria. Don't do water changes, don't add prime, nothing. Don't test your water for at least a week, you'll get mad at yourself, tell yourself you need a water change or a dose of Prime and so on. Feed lightly during this time and let SafeStart do the work. Some people swear by Seachem's stability, but Tetra SafeStart Plus is my favorite bottled bacteria. It works if you use it correctly.