I need HELP!

[Sploke]

Is bio-spira supposed to work on brackish tanks? Everyone always talks about how nitrosoma/nitrobacter are so sensitive to changes in SG, which is why you make changes slowly. If BS is meant for a freshwater tank, would dumping it into a BW environment allow them to live? Is it even the same species of bacteria?

 

[Pufferpunk]

You should have done an 80% WC, to try & remove as much of the toxins as possible. Had you you used any ammo removers in there? Was the B-S stilll cold whe you got it?

 

[Sploke]

Well from the Marineland website, they say that their research indicates that Nitrosospira and Nitrospira bateria are responsible for oxidation of ammonia and nitrite in freshwater aquaria, and the Nitrosomas and Nitrobacter phyla are more prevalent in marine systems. They don't say anything about brackish so I'm not sure which one would adapt better to an in-between SG. However, its possible that bio-spira won't even work in a BW system due to the sudden osmotic shock on the bacteria. Bio-Spira is packaged in distilled water.

Pufferpunk have you had firsthand success using BS to start a BW tank?

 

[dmzAquarius]

I used "Marine" Bio-Spira because I figured that would work better for Brackish than fresh. The BS was cold when I got it - it was sandwiched in between two cold packs, and I used it at soon as I got it.

 

[dmzAquarius]

Sadly, my hopes aren't high at this point

 

[Jaysn]

When you do PWCs, you want to premix your replacement water so that you don't have a sudden change in the tank's specific gravity.

To get the new water to match what you've drained off, you need one of the following:
1st choice: refractometer (expensive but really accurate)
2d choice: sealed glass tube hydrometer (PITA to use/not break, but accurate)
3rd choice: Red Sea/Instant Ocean floating needle type hydrometer - as cheap or cheaper than option 2, easy to use, seldom accurate.

I picked up a refractometer on ebay for $40 shipped that is very nice; it's a milled chunk of aluminum and is auto-temp correcting. I tested it with pinpoint calibration solution when I got it and it was right on.

 

[Pufferpunk]

According to our (TPF) correspondence with Marineland, FW B-S is good up to 1.012, then use SW B-S.