# anyone added safestart mid cycle



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

I was wondering if anyone has ever added safestart during the nitrite part of the cylce? Did it help at all?


----------



## slug61 (Feb 26, 2013)

kyle89 said:


> I was wondering if anyone has ever added safestart during the nitrite part of the cylce? Did it help at all?


I'm going to add it tomorrow. I've had my tank and fish up for 6 weeks with no nitrite readings, so i figured it can't hurt.
I'll let you know how it goes.


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

I got pretty good results using Safestart. You really can't go wrong adding it at any point in the cycle. It's virtually fail-safe.


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Should water changes still be performed to keep nitrite levels down or will safestart detoxify them?


----------



## slug61 (Feb 26, 2013)

kyle89 said:


> Should water changes still be performed to keep nitrite levels down or will safestart detoxify them?


Yes, I was wondering about this also. I think you are supposed to just lightly feed the fish for 14 days with no water changes.


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

kyle89 said:


> Should water changes still be performed to keep nitrite levels down or will safestart detoxify them?


I believe the nitrospira bacteria are more prevalent in the safestart, as I had almost immediate nitrate readings. Nitrites were low (0-0.25ppm) for about 2-4 days, ammonia was around 0.25-0.5 for about the same duration, which means the nitrosomonas were a bit "understaffed".

To answer your quesiton though, you should definitely stay on top of your water changes, regardless of using safestart (in order to keep the ammonia level in check). I'd probably do 10-25% water changes every few days until the cycle stabilizes. I'd avoid changing more than 25% or you will risk crashing your cycle... it's VERY delicate, especially with smaller tanks (~5 gallons or smaller).


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Large water changes is the only way to get the nitrite down and wouldn't it be pointless to add safestart if you are doing water changes. Your just removing the safe start?


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

kyle89 said:


> Large water changes is the only way to get the nitrite down and wouldn't it be pointless to add safestart if you are doing water changes. Your just removing the safe start?


The bottle says to wait about a week after adding, in order to allow the bacteria time to adhere to the substrate, decor, and filter media. 

However, you'll want to keep an eye on ammonia levels during that time. If they get out of hand, you'll want to do a small water change to keep the fish safe, regardless of what the directions say (I suppose you could remove the fish too, and avoid changing the water). I didn't have problems with nitrites though when I used safestart, but ammonia was persistent at around 0.25-0.5 ppm.


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

I'm adding during a problem after a tank was cycled with high nitrites


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

If your problem is high nitrites, and low to no ammonia (indicating your nitrosomona bacteria are already pretty strong), I would imagine you will see very good results after adding safestart. You should notice the nitrite levels drop significantly (and possibly go to zero) after only about a day or two.

The nitrospira are strong with this one!


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

Well its experiment time. I got some pictures did a water change and now I'm gonna add safe start. I will report back on how it worked


----------



## Nicci Lu (Jan 7, 2013)

I too had the idea of using SafeStart during a nitrite spike- it was during my cycle. I found it useless because a) you are not supposed to change the water for 7 days after adding and b) you cannot use an ammonia/nitrite detoxifying product such as Prime. It doesn't say so on the bottle, but Tetra's website states that if a detoxifying conditioner is used, you must wait 24 hours before adding the SafeStart. Nor can you add a detox conditioner at any point (they don't specify for exactly how long- I'm guessing 7 days) while SafeStart is 'working.' To me, that's just ridiculous- no way am I going to expose my fish to nitrite/ammonia poisoning so that I will have a quicker cycle.

I guess it's too late, since it sounds like you've already purchased the SafeStart- I know, I'm a big help.:roll: But I would recommend Seachem's Stability for a cycle starter. You can use Prime and do water changes while using it, and it won't impair the product's effectiveness. My nitrite spike was over two days after using it, and my cycle complete. Whether this was due to Stability or simply my cycle's natural timeline is anyone's guess, however.


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

Nicci Lu said:


> I too had the idea of using SafeStart during a nitrite spike- it was during my cycle. I found it useless because a) you are not supposed to change the water for 7 days after adding and b) you cannot use an ammonia/nitrite detoxifying product such as Prime. It doesn't say so on the bottle, but Tetra's website states that if a detoxifying conditioner is used, you must wait 24 hours before adding the SafeStart. Nor can you add a detox conditioner at any point (they don't specify for exactly how long- I'm guessing 7 days) while SafeStart is 'working.' To me, that's just ridiculous- no way am I going to expose my fish to nitrite/ammonia poisoning so that I will have a quicker cycle.


Safestart has a high concentration of nitrite oxidizing bacteria, so soon after you add the bottle to your tank, you'll notice a significant drop in nitrite levels. My tank went from about 1ppm to 0ppm (with a subsequent increase in nitrates from 0 ppm to 5 ppm) overnight after adding safestart. So there's really no need to add Prime or any other ammonia/nitrite detoxifier (I didn't add any for an entire week and my water was fine).

The weird thing is either the nitrosomonas bacteria (ammonia oxiding) in the bottle were dead, or significant lacking in concentration because I had a persistant ammonia level of about 0.5 ppm for about 4 days after adding safestart. It didn't go past 0.5 ppm though which I thought was interesting...


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

So I believe I am good again an here are my results
I came home from the LFS to this








Did a 75 percent change








To get this








I did a 50 percent chance








An than a 25 percent to lower a little more








At this point I added a little of a 1/3 of safestart. I came home to high levels again so I change 50 percent of the water an added the last 2/3 safestart to treat 5 gallons. I came home to a very very low almost light blue nitrite reading. So almost 24 hours latter high nitrite spikes are down. Squirt has also built another bubble nest which he didn't do at all durning the spikes so I take that as a good sign too


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

Glad to see safestart worked. Did you test your nitrates yet?


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

I still have a small amount of nitrites but not the unsafe spikes in was getting. This is manageable now


----------



## ryancalif (Mar 10, 2013)

Hmm, odd you're not seeing any nitrates...

Did you change the water right before testing?


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

No that was when I got home I did a little under a 50 percent water change just a little bit ago.


----------



## kyle89 (Mar 1, 2013)

OK so I came home today to a very hard working fish. He had a full bubble new built and nitrite levels are finally down to 0 but still no nitrate spike


----------



## VincentTH (Nov 9, 2012)

I read somewhere that the BB are in the tank wall and in the sponge filters, and not much in the water. With that in mind, I always do a 25% (or less) water change whenever I start a new tank and the Ammonia level is above 0.50ppm. I add SafeStart every 3 days if the Ammonia level remains above 0.50 ppm.


----------

