Bio-Spira has failed?

F

Fishle

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Jun 18, 2006
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A week ago I bought a packet of Bio-Spira ("90g" size) and added it to my 75g tank (the tank had been up and running for a few days). At the time I had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrAte. The water had been dechlorinated with API Stress Coat a few days before adding the Bio-Spira. I bought 1 Krib the same day that I added the Bio-Spira, 2 days later I bought 6 Australian Rainbowfish and 1 Rainbow Shark, the next day I bought 1 Opaline Gourami and 2 Peppered Corys, the next day I bought 2 more Peppered Corys. So I now have 13 fish in my tank and the Bio-Spira has been in there for 7 days, and now the ammonia is at about 0.75 and nitrite & nitrAte are still at 0. Water temp has been a consitant 78F, GH is 13, KH is 14, pH is 8.0. The BS (heh) was refrigerated at the LFS where I bought it and I used it as soon as I got home, following the directions on the packet.

Apparently the Bio-Spira was DOA, or is there still a chance it will work?
I just added some Prime to bring the ammonia down a little, and later I will do a 50% water change.
 
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Fishle said:
A week ago I bought a packet of Bio-Spira ("90g" size) and added it to my 75g tank (the tank had been up and running for a few days). At the time I had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrAte. The water had been dechlorinated with API Stress Coat a few days before adding the Bio-Spira. I bought 1 Krib the same day that I added the Bio-Spira, 2 days later I bought 6 Australian Rainbowfish and 1 Rainbow Shark, the next day I bought 1 Opaline Gourami and 2 Peppered Corys, the next day I bought 2 more Peppered Corys. So I now have 13 fish in my tank and the Bio-Spira has been in there for 7 days, and now the ammonia is at about 0.75 and nitrite & nitrAte are still at 0. Water temp has been a consitant 78F, GH is 13, KH is 14, pH is 8.0. The BS (heh) was refrigerated at the LFS where I bought it and I used it as soon as I got home, following the directions on the packet.

Apparently the Bio-Spira was DOA, or is there still a chance it will work?
I just added some Prime to bring the ammonia down a little, and later I will do a 50% water change.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that. You have a _lot_ of fish in there and only .75 ammonia? >.<

I think on the packet it says that low ammonia readings are still possible ...

Either way you're very brave to add all those fish...
 
Don't add anymore chemicals to your tank. They can destroy the bacteria you paid so dearly for. Just do water changes and keep on testing your water.
 
What's alarming to me is that it's been 7 days and I still have 0 nitrite.

I believe Marineland has confirmed that Prime will not hurt the bacteria.
 
Fishle said:
A week ago I bought a packet of Bio-Spira ("90g" size) and added it to my 75g tank (the tank had been up and running for a few days). At the time I had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrAte. The water had been dechlorinated with API Stress Coat a few days before adding the Bio-Spira. I bought 1 Krib the same day that I added the Bio-Spira, 2 days later I bought 6 Australian Rainbowfish and 1 Rainbow Shark, the next day I bought 1 Opaline Gourami and 2 Peppered Corys, the next day I bought 2 more Peppered Corys. So I now have 13 fish in my tank and the Bio-Spira has been in there for 7 days, and now the ammonia is at about 0.75 and nitrite & nitrAte are still at 0. Water temp has been a consitant 78F, GH is 13, KH is 14, pH is 8.0. The BS (heh) was refrigerated at the LFS where I bought it and I used it as soon as I got home, following the directions on the packet.

Apparently the Bio-Spira was DOA, or is there still a chance it will work?
I just added some Prime to bring the ammonia down a little, and later I will do a 50% water change.
Click to expand...
You didn't follow the directions on the package!!!!

1. You are only supposed to use Bio Safe or Prime (specified by Marineland as okay). You used Stress Coat and Marineland has warned against anime products!!
2. You are supposed add ALL THE FISH AT THE SAME TIME. Not over several days!
3. You added a krib, that was it. The bacteria live for about 48 hours and you added all those other fish AFTER that.

You *have* to follow the directions on the package, ergo Bio Spira did not fail. YOU failed to follow the directions.

Roan
 
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Roan Art said:
You *have* to follow the directions on the package!
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Have they changed the package? My packages simply said something to the effect of shake well and use entire contents. There were no real directions on any of mine.
 
dalto said:
Have they changed the package? My packages simply said something to the effect of shake well and use entire contents. There were no real directions on any of mine.
Click to expand...

You did not read the directions at all then. The packages have not been changed.

CRITICAL CARE INFORMATION:
For new aquariums, first condition water with BIO-Safe™. Adjust aquarium water temperature. Add BIO-Spira™ and BIO-Coat™ along with fish. See your retailer for advice on the number of fish appropriate the size of your aquarium. BIO-Spira may also be added with each water change, when adding additional fish, and established aquaria that are experiencing water quality problems due to disruption of the bio-filter.
DIRECTIONS FOR USE:
Shake well before each use. Use 1 ounce (29.6 ml) of BIO-Spira per 30 gallons of water. BIO-Spira cannot be overdosed. Keep refrigerated. Be sure to shut off any UV sterilizers and remove medication by means of a water change or activated carbon.
PRINCIPLE INGREDIENTS:
Purified water, patented and patent pending pure strains

Roan
 
I wouldn't say that it failed. I cycled my 60g tank with 15 fish(60 gallon) in 15 days. I had a spike of about 1ppm of ammonia(but consider that .5 of that was in my tapwater). I saw my first HINT of nitrites on the 3rd day though.

I think some of this has to do with your pattern of adding fish. I added 10 and the bio spira at the same time, and I DID add 5 fish the following day.

If you never spike above a 1ppm, the bio spira worked.. you just didn't add fish quick enough.

However, if it does start to get to 2 or above...You can always add prime to convert the ammonia to a harmless form, but I'm more concerned with the nitrite which spikes higher. Not that I encourage ANY ammonia, and use common sense.. this assumes hardy fish...but Ammonia has a lower concentration at lower PH and Temps. My chart(my LFS gave me) shows that at a 7.0PH and 77 degrees that a you can have up to a 5ppm of ammonia and getting into the "stress" zone and all the way to 10 before "death". At a PH of 7.6, you can tolerate only 1ppm without stress. A 5ppm reading at ph 7.6 will kill your fish. Again, use common sense... but the point is that a .75 ammonia is rather low. Keep it measured each day, when you see the nitrites start to appear, you're near to spike.
 
Akysten said:
My chart(my LFS gave me) shows that at a 7.0PH and 77 degrees that a you can have up to a 5ppm of ammonia and getting into the "stress" zone and all the way to 10 before "death". At a PH of 7.6, you can tolerate only 1ppm without stress. A 5ppm reading at ph 7.6 will kill your fish. Again, use common sense... but the point is that a .75 ammonia is rather low.
Click to expand...

Just be careful. Because the safe levels change pretty drastically with PH. Also, in order to really use the chart you need to also add in the amount of Nitrites you have.
 
Roan Art, I followed the directions on the package. It did not say that you can ONLY use Bio-Safe. It did not give me an indication that Stress Coat is unnacceptable. As for the rate of adding fish, I followed the advice of people here at this board who said to spread it out a little rather than adding all at once. Not to mention the fact that people have said that the Bio-Spira isn't as fragile as it may seem and that it can survive for quite a while without fish. I seriously doubt it came out of the package alive and then died within 48 hours.
I followed a combination of the package directions and the advice of people here, so don't tell me I failed. I did what I thought was best for my fish. Right now I have no reason to believe the Bio-Spira was not DOA, because like I said, I seriously doubt it dies that quick.

Thanks Akysten, I'm gonna be paying very close attention to the levels for the next couple days. I've also been closely watching the fish for signs of stress and whatnot, and so far they all look fine.
 
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