biospira

[kilo]

Hey everyone!
I recently got a 30 gallon tank and bought 15 neon tetras and 5 guppies. The tank is like 3 weeks old and then I found out that I needed to cycle my tank. The problem is I already have fish so I can't do a fishless cycle. I noticed there was Biospira and I was wondering if I could just go ahead and add that to my tank. I can't get rid of my fish because the store I bought them from doesn't do returns unless they died 3 days after I bought them. Also i have no one to give them to and I do not plan on getting another tank so fishless cycling is out of the question. Thanks to anyone who gives any replies.

 

[vollphann]

I used BioSpira on my 41g tank about 6 weeks ago. I still have 0 Nitrates/Nitrites/ammonia. I also have a fairly sizable fish load. I would HIGHLY recommend BioSpira; it ain't cheap but in my case certainly worth it. Make sure you follow the directions as much as possible, but it seemed to work perfectly in my case.

 

[canefins]

I used biospira in my 210 gallon and 120 gallon tanks and added fish 24 hours later and haven't lost one yet, however at the sametime I used filter media from and existing tank, some gravel, rocks etc. but have had good luck using it on 3 different occasions...

 

[FroggyFox]

YES Kilo...sounds like your best option is to find some biospira. You can always fish-in cycle...but that would be at the risk of losing some of your fish and doing lots of extra water changes.

 

[revfred]

Bio-Spira ... It works!!!!

 

[Gunnie]

Yep, the bio spira sounds like your best bet. It's not intended to be used on a tank with existing ammonia though, so do a very large water change before adding the bio spira. It would still work the other way, but will be playing catch up, and that might not do your fish any good. I've used bio spira 3 times in emergency situations, and had perfect results. Good luck! *thumbsups

 

[twoluvcats]

Yep, biospira works.

 

[zombiegrrll]

i used biospira on my 75 added fish same day i added water , been 3 weeks still have 0 nitites and ammonia works awsome. worth the 21.oo

 

[Grymatta]

hmmm i used biospira but i do have trace amounts of amonia. Its only been about a week since I put the fish in too. Is that normal?

 

[kilo]

Thanks for all the replies!
I called the store today and they said the only had 6 packs of biospira for saltwater tanks. Does the saltwater ones work for freshwater? also they said they discontinued it for a while so dose that mean alll the bacteria is dead already?

 

[revfred]

No the saltwater type is for saltwater. If they have discontinued it but have kept it refrigerated it will be OK.

 

[Grymatta]

the guy at my store said that they just produced a new batch of bacteria and that they are shipping them now. You may want to check the expiration date on the package though.

 

[Gunnie]

Don't buy the saltwater bio spira for your tank. Call Bernie at The Fish Store tomorrow about ordering some bio spira. He's cheaper with shipping than some local places I have heard.

 

[Kuroshio]

Another option is Stability by Seachem. It works in the same way only uses more stable bacteria, hence no short life span and no need to refridgerate. Also ok to put into a tank after it is set up. They recommend (but no required) a cap full each month for bacteria health. A personal choice of course. I ran across Stability when biospira was backordered and no one could get it several months back. Something wrong at the plant......

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Stability.html

 

[svetlana]

I emergency cycled with biospira. Ammonia was more or less stably gone for some time before I added it and my main concern was nitrite buildup. 3 days and I still struggling with them. Yesterday i had to do large WC and added some more biospira, increased circulation and added some air. Today I believe I saw tendency of nitrites to linger on a low side w/o raising. I hope tomorrow I will see more clearly either it helped me indeed or I will have to work my back again and do routine WCs until it's gone completly.

 

[kilo]

I called petsmart and they said they had plenty of it! I might go tommorow or tonight but most likely tommorow and i'll drop in to tell you how it came out or ask some more questions. Has anyone else used stability? Is it any good?

 

[FroggyFox]

I'd never heard of stability until Kuroshio mentioned it. Again, just like cycle...I tend to be very skeptical of products that are not refrigerated, dont have a short shelf life, and claim to be alive. Most of those products dont actually contain bacteria...they contain things that are supposed to make bacteria grow faster. Biospira is the only one that has a short expiration date, is refrigerated etc. It makes sense to me that when you put something alive in a sealed package, its not going to stay alive for too long without food. Being refrigerated would slow down its metabolism and let any 'food' in with the bacteria culture to last longer than if a bottle was placed on the shelf. Not to say it wouldn't help...or that it wouldn't work...just that I'm skeptical.

 

[Flare]

Will BioSpira immediately drop the nitrites and ammonia? Or how long will it take to do so on average?

cj

 

[twoluvcats]

it takes 24-48 hours to run thru a cycle with bio-spira...there are ammonia and nitrite spikes...they just happen quickly.

 

[Grymatta]

doh..I think I used my Biospira wrong...I dumped a packet into my fishless tank and waited about 48 hours before putting fish in. I just realized that I was supposed to put the fish and biospira in at the same time! Does this mean that I effectively wasted my biospira?

Is that why my water is still showing amonia (about 0.25 ppm) in the water?