The 8.45 oz.bottle pictured states it treats up to 500 gallons but you state it only treats 70 gallons. Which is correct?

On the product information page, http://www.amazon.com/Tetra-77962-SafeStart-70-gallon-8-45-Ounce/dp/B002DZNP3E/ref=cm_cd_al_qh_dp_t, it states that the 8.5 oz bottle will treat up to 70 gallons. When I used it, I just dumped the whole bottle into my tank (a 44 gallon).

So would I add this entire bottle to my 3 gallon aquarium even though it says it's recommended for 15 gallons?

You can, if you wish to, but it is not necessary. I would recommend using 1/3 of the bottle, cap the bottle tightly, and store it properly. It will be good for up to 6 months afterwards. Since the tank is new, you may want to add more when you add an additional fish, or after your first water change. For more assistance, please call the Tetra Consumer Relations Team at 1-800-526-0650.

What are the exact steps i should take to cycle a ten gallon tank using this product?

This isn't that unusual, thanks to our friendly water company trying to protect humans - not fish. If your tap water contains chloramines either instead or or in addition to chlorine, when your treat with your water conditioner (like prime) to get rid of these, the chloramines will break down but with a by-product of ammonia. Since you've already added fish, the fish will continue to produce ammonia (due to their excretions as well as any left-over food that will break down in your tank. I would go ahead and do about a 50% water change (don't forget to add Prime or something similar when you replace the water) . Do not add any more fish (you didn't say how many so I hope it's very few) . I would also add about 1/3 to 1/2 bottle of Tetra safe start to replace the bacteria you lost with the water change. Test your ammonia daily. Anytime it goes over 1 ppm then do another water change (ie., repeat the process again), the idea is that you SHOULD start to see higher readings of nitrites and ammonia readings of zero (this means the bacteria is working), within a week or so the nitrites (which are also bad) should convert to Nitrates and your tank will be cycled. If you get really high nitrite readings you'll need to do another water change etc. Add more Safe Start. but hopefully by that time your tank will have grown enough bacteria to convert all garbage into Nitrates, at that point you can simply return to doing weekly to bi-weekly water changes from 50-70% with little fear of losing your bacteria. BUT I would not add more fish for a couple of months (and periodically test your tank to make sure the bacteria have not died off and you're getting high ammonia or nitrite readings again. Google "cycling an aquarium" and you can see the classic way to cycle an aquarium - safe start just cuts that time down considerably but when you added fish when there were still ammonia readings you didn't have sufficient bacteria grown yet. Hopefully safe start covered you within 24 hours (it should) and you won't have to do what I've recommended. Just remember anytime you add new fish you want to make sure you have plenty of bacteria to cover the extra strain on the aquarium - unfortunately we have no way of measuring the amt of bacteria. My first cycling adventures took about 60 days of adding ammonia and food and waiting for bacteria to grow. The classic fish people probably still do it that way (or use some cheap fish to produce the ammonia risking their lives and confort). But I think if you read up on the classic way you'll have a greater idea of what you are trying to achieve with Safestart - which is a great shortcut but not 100% perfect. My problem is that thanks to our city the PH is 9.4 - way too high for any fish to live in - so I add a PH reducing product to convert the water to a 7.0 PH and count on the high alkalinity of my water to keep the PH from straying between water changes (meaning I need to have enough buffering in my water to combat extreme PH swings - which I do), so it's just an extra step I have to go through with each bucket of water I add - I always make sure each bucket is prepared with perfect water before I put it in the tank rather than after. Remember water changes are your friend whenever you mess up - just make sure you know how to correct it by learning a little bit about water chemistry.

Item Weight	8.45 Ounces
Liquid Volume	250 Milliliters
Target Species	Fish
Item Form	Liquid
Allergen Information	Gelatin Free

TetraSafeStart

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