Fishless Cycling and Bio Spira

[sophiecat22]

OK, as most of you know, I've have been planning on getting a 38 gallon for some time now and it seems that I will finally be getting it sometime this month...I hope...

Anyways, I've made the decision to do a fishless cycle, mainly because it just seems easier. I also considered using Bio-Spira but the fact that you can't always get a good batch worries me.

I'm curious as to whether or not I could use pure ammonia to do a fishless cycle AND use Bio-Spira to speed up the process. I was thinking that by doing it this way, I won't have to worry about having a bad batch of Bio-Spira and a full load of fish in an uncycled tank.

I believe its only sold in 30 and 90 gallon packets so would adding 90 gallons worth of bacteria to a 38 gallon tank and dosing ammonia hurt anything or cause any problems?

 

[RockabillyChick]

biospira comes in a dormant state. it takes a little while to wake up and become active. it also contains two types of bacteria, the kind that converts ammonia to nitrite, and the kind that converts nitrite to nitrate. this is why its suggested to only dose half the first day, and half a day or two later, because when you first put it in there, there's only going to be ammonia, and the nitrite-eating bacteria won't have food and will starve. so once you have nitrite, you add the other half and the nitrite bacteria will finish up.

the reason biospira doesn't work with a fishless cycle is because you add a large ammount of ammonia all at once, and the biospira is not designed to deal with all that at once because its still waking up. believe me, i tried, and i ended up with the ammonia not going down at all, plus high nitrites at the same time for about 2 weeks before i finally got sick of it and did a 90% water change and started over with a normal fishless cycle.

when you put fish in a tank, you don't get 4ppm ammonia in 5 minutes. it takes a little while. the biospira is meant to come awake gradually and eat this slow build of ammonia as it happens.

 

[sophiecat22]

Could I use the Bio-Spira if I dose the ammonia gradually over a period of several days? Dose to .25 ppmthe day before I add the Bio-Spira and then gradually increase to maybe 1-2 ppm (or whatever you would consider a safe level for the bacteria). I just really don't want to risk harming fish with a bad batch of bacteria and I hate waiting.

 

[rosita]

RC has explained the BioSpira process very well.
To answer your other question, it'll be fine to use the 90 gallon pack. I used one on my 55, wherein several gallons had been displaced with substrate and rocks, and there were no adverse effects at all. Good luck!!

 

[RockabillyChick]

yes, you could dose a very small ammount of ammonia and then gradually increase it. that would work.

 

[twig]

Why do a fishless cycle if you have biospira though?

 

[sophiecat22]

Why do a fishless cycle if you have biospira though?

Just to play it safe. I've heard many stories of people buying Bio-Spira and ending up having to do a fishy cycle with a full load of fish because the bio-spira they purchased didn't work.

So instead of going the bio-spira/fish route, I thought that I'd play it safe by doing it this way and if I get a bad batch I wouldn't have to worry about harming any fish. I could just continue to dose ammonia and go out and get another pack or just continue dosing ammonia and do a normal fishless cycle. I just want to speed up the process with the addition of the beneficial bacteria.

 

[fishn10s]

Just to play it safe. I've heard many stories of people buying Bio-Spira and ending up having to do a fishy cycle with a full load of fish because the bio-spira they purchased didn't work.

So instead of going the bio-spira/fish route, I thought that I'd play it safe by doing it this way and if I get a bad batch I wouldn't have to worry about harming any fish. I could just continue to dose ammonia and go out and get another pack or just continue dosing ammonia and do a normal fishless cycle. I just want to speed up the process with the addition of the beneficial bacteria.

Here is some info regarding bio spira straight from the manufacture which I think is often the best source to go to.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=645167&postcount=12

This post had a lot of good information regarding bio spira.

I would suggest trying to cycle your tank with bio spira just as instructed. I did and added fish within 3 days of setting up my tank and have had not 1 problem. Never saw any ammonia or nitrites. I did start with only a few fish so as not to have to high a bio load to quick. I would definitely use bio spira again to immediately have my tank ready for fish.

 

[hiittman]

Sophiecat,How did you make out with that,I'm thinking that way also

Does anyone know what the minimum amount of fish,small like tetras perhaps,would I need to put in a 20 gallon tank with the Bio Spira to feed it.I only would like to use the bare minimum to start things off,
Thanks

 

[sophiecat22]

Finally!!

Hey Y'all!! I'm back lol! After much talk about getting a tank its finally happening, and I'm getting something a little bit larger than what I originally planned on getting. I was going to get a 30 gallon, then I upgraded my plans to a 38, but now I'm going out tomorrow and purchasing a beautiful 46 gallon bowfront! I'm sooo excited!! I just had to let you all know.

I'm still going to go the fishless cycle route, but I'm debating whether or not I should try out my bio-spira idea. I really want to do a fishless cycle, but I would like to speed it up as I have a young angel that needs to be relocated to a larger tank ASAP. He's still on the small side but I hate leaving him in the tank that he's in. Any thoughts?