Confused Regarding Progress With Cycling With Bio Spira

M

maryalice81403

AC Members
Oct 2, 2006
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Salinas, CA
3 gallon Eclipse Tank, Treated Water, New Filter & Bio Wheel

Last night I started it up, added Bio Spira to the bio wheel, and threw in 6 Hikari Bio-Gold Pellets to get some ammonia going. I tested an 90 minutes later and ammonia was at .25.

After reading suggestion from my other post I was considering going ahead and putting betta in so I would be following directions on the Bio Spira label -although I am still hesitating because I am treating for Velvet and not sure if I need to go another round of medication - no one answered my post on that question.
:thud:

So anyway, this morning I tested and had these results: ammonia .50, nitrites .5, and nitrate 20. I am jazzed because trying to cycle without Bio Spira I never saw nitrates even after 2 weeks. But with these readings it is not safe to have a betta in there, right? I don't want to throw him in just cause the directions say to do it if the toxins are too high.

Should I stick to my original plan of using just the fish food for ammonia until ammonia & nitrites are at 0?

Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate any responses I get, I just want to make sure before I do anything to harm the fish.

MaryAlice
 
How does a new tank just started get velvet?

If the tank is old, has had fish with velvet, but no fish now, why would you be concerned?
 
I would say once you start the fishless cycle stay with it, especially if you are treating the Betta for Velvet. At least that what I understood from your post.

Sorry I don't know much about velvet. One thing you can do is post it again or make a small post on the original one. That way it gets pushed to the top. Maybe alot of people posted that day and pushed your post down the line.
 
Tanks aren't new...well they were a a month ago when I bought them but then I attempted to cycle with the bettas in, got high ammonia, and pulled them out. Now have bettas in half gallon containers waiting for tanks to cycle.

After putting betta in containers I noticed the gold on them, researched and although I wasn't positive it was velved decided to treat for velvet since it seemed to be increasing as the days went by and I didn't want to wait til it was too late. They were medicated all last week and while they look better and seem to feel fine they still have quite a bit of gold on their fins. So now I am not sure if I should give them another round of meds (Maracide and Maracyn2) or just wait and keep water pristine.

Their tanks have been cleaned, new filters and bio wheels added so I am basically starting again from scratch as of last night. I figured that if the Bio Spira takes a week to get down to 0 ammonia and nitrite (this morning I had .50 ammonia, .5 nitrates, and 2.0 nitrates) and I need to medicate again for another week, then the timing would work out to put them back in the tanks after the second round of meds.

Does that sound reasonable as far as cycling? Do you know if gold on fins means I should continue meds or if it takes awhile after medicating to make that go away?

Thanks You,
MaryAlice
 
What type of water conditioner did you use? Also, it's suggested that the Bio-Spira be added throughout the tank itself and not on the Bio-Wheel or in the power filter.

If you used Bio-Spira, you are able to add almost your entire stock of fish right after. In this case, it was just a Betta, but probably enough to keep those hungry bacteria satisfied.
 
Okay, a step at a time...

How many bettas and what sex are we talking about?
Each in their own container now?
How many tanks are you trying to prepare?
 
I used Amquel + and Novagua +. I know it says to use Bio Safe but I couldn't locate it anywhere. The water got cloudy and then cleared up after putting the Bio Spira on the wheel so I am sure it dispersed through the whole tank and I used more than enough -whole package- since I am only doing small tanks and the package says it is enough for 30gal. I am sure the bacteria are alive and kicking since I already have Nitrates which I never got the first time I tried cycling without the Bio Spira.


The bettas are not in the tanks yet...I used Hikari Pellets to get the ammonia needed to feed the bacteria.


Thanks,
MaryAlice
 
Sorry. I have 2 male bettas, each in their own half gallon container, both were treated for Velvet last week with Maracide and Marcyn 2.

I am trying to cycle two separate tanks, 1 Eclipse 3 (3 gal), 1 Eclipse Explorer (2 gal)- - smaller one is because this is my office betta, although he is at home now being medicated). I am doing the same with both tanks as far as treated water, Bio Spira, etc. I was just trying to use one tank as an example for my questions since both situations are the same.

So bettas are not in tanks being cycled they are in their separate containers awaiting their tanks to be cycled and possibly needing another week of meds.

Thanks,
MaryAlice
 
I would leave them in their containers and treat until they are disease free.

Um...bio-spira comes in 30 gal and 90 gal packets I believe. You split one packet between the two tanks? What size packet?
 
I split a 90gal size between the two tanks. I know probably too much, but when I ordered it I thought it I didn't realize it would all be in one packet. I ordered the extra thinking I would have an extra packet to add in as needed (I have seen posts about people doing this). But when it came and was just one packet and it said you can't over dose so I just put it all in.
Was that bad??


In your opinion...should I do another week of meds since the bettas still have gold on fins or wait and just do water changes?
 
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