Has anyone here used this in their tank, and have any opinions or suggestions? I added it to my tank tonight and was going to add (more) fish tomorrow. I am partway through a fishy cycle, and thought this would make life easier for me and my fish. If it works should I go ahead and get all the rest of the fish I want to add, or do it more slowly? I am crossing my fingers that this stuff works as well as I have heard from some people.
Bio-Spira
- Thread starter MissMeow
- Start date
Bio spira is about the only biological starter that seems to actually work. Since you are already partway through a cycle is should helps speed things up. For what I do personally I wouldn't add any fish until your ammonia and nitrites both test at zero consistantly and you show nitrates in your tank.
Well, right now my ammonia is at 0, nitrite is at 0.8, and nitrates are at 20ppm. I was hoping that by tomorrow morning that the nitrites would be 0. I was reading in some old threads about cycling and bio-spira, and a lot of people were saying that if you didn't add fish that you would be starving the bacteria, and negating the whole point of adding the bacteria, b/c it would all die. I have 5 fish in a 20g right now, and am not sure if that many will be enough to keep it alive.
What generally will happen is that when your ammonia and nitrites both reach zero your tank has enough bacteria in it to support, in your case, five fish. Once you have that going and you add more fish your tank will have to start growing even more bacteria to support the fish you added. Lets say you add five more fish. From that point it would take about two weeks, testing required to confirm, for the tank to reach a cycle with ten total fish. At this point as I add fish I'd only add up to half of whats in the tank at any one time. Other people have different ways of going about this, but that is what I generally do.
One other thing to think about. From what I've read nitrates of 40 ppm should be the point at which you do a water change on a tank. I think most of the people who are on this board frequently maintain 20 ppm as our upper level at which time we will do a water change. I generally do a water change every two weeks and stay below 15 ppm for nitrates, but if I test durring the two weeks and show 20 ppm I will do a water change right then.
One other thing to think about. From what I've read nitrates of 40 ppm should be the point at which you do a water change on a tank. I think most of the people who are on this board frequently maintain 20 ppm as our upper level at which time we will do a water change. I generally do a water change every two weeks and stay below 15 ppm for nitrates, but if I test durring the two weeks and show 20 ppm I will do a water change right then.
I used Bio Spira in just the same way you did. When I used it I had to dose twice (from the same packet) into my 10 to get a zero reading on everything. You'll want to check the readings daily. In my case it took two days to read zero but I was showing elevated levels of ammonia and nitrites.
You don't have to add fish right away if you are using BS on a cycling tank. That rule only really applies when the tank is brand new and empty. You tank will have plenty of ammonia and nitrites to feed off of. The exception to that would be if you were doubling your bioload in one shot. For instance, if you have 5 fish and want to add another five in one day, you would want to do it very shortly after adding BS. This is a pretty inadvisable practice anyway though.
Tom
You don't have to add fish right away if you are using BS on a cycling tank. That rule only really applies when the tank is brand new and empty. You tank will have plenty of ammonia and nitrites to feed off of. The exception to that would be if you were doubling your bioload in one shot. For instance, if you have 5 fish and want to add another five in one day, you would want to do it very shortly after adding BS. This is a pretty inadvisable practice anyway though.
Tom
I thought they were not making bio Spira right now. http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
I was talking to all the LFS around me about this last week and what they had was out of the 6 month date.
If you can get some filter sponge from a health tank it will help you get through the 2 ½ of your cycle quicker.
I was talking to all the LFS around me about this last week and what they had was out of the 6 month date.
If you can get some filter sponge from a health tank it will help you get through the 2 ½ of your cycle quicker.
Well here is an update about my tank. I added the Bio-Spira on Friday evening, with readings of ammonia .25 and nitrites at almost 1 ppm. By The next day the numbers were going down, and by Sunday morning they were both at 0. Last night I added 2 more fish, a guppy and a gouramie, and today the levels are still 0. So far so good! I will continue to test regularly, and if all goes well, will add a couple more fish in two weeks or so.
I also thought that no LFS stores had any Bio-Spira, but one near me did indeed have a little left and I bought it on impulse. I didn't even know that there was an expiration date until after I added it, and the package isn't stamped or anything so I have no idea how old it is. However, it seems to be working, so I won't question it. Also, my LFS said they expect new shipments to begin coming in August, and I definitely would use this stuff again. For $11 it sure beats waiting or watching your fish suffer (and possibly die, costing more than $11) while doing massive water changes.
I also thought that no LFS stores had any Bio-Spira, but one near me did indeed have a little left and I bought it on impulse. I didn't even know that there was an expiration date until after I added it, and the package isn't stamped or anything so I have no idea how old it is. However, it seems to be working, so I won't question it. Also, my LFS said they expect new shipments to begin coming in August, and I definitely would use this stuff again. For $11 it sure beats waiting or watching your fish suffer (and possibly die, costing more than $11) while doing massive water changes.