Using Biospira

[ShmooBeast]

I am preparing to cycle my 55 gallon tank, and planned to do it fishlessly. I just heard about Biospira and it sounds like a great product. Does anyone have any advice, information, personal experience to share? A newbie with the whole fishless cyling thing so any help/comments appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Bowserfins]

personal opinion....

Never used it, but I would have used it in hindsight for my first tank........
What I have heard is that it is THE ONLY product on the market that does what it says.... Cycles tanks with 24-48 hours.... After the 24-48 hours the tank is cycled then you may add fish( I wouldnt overload just add a few at a time over a period of weeks.) You should buy a good aquarium test kit with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate indicators and after the 24-48 hours test to make sure it is ready( even if you dont use bio-spira, you should have a test kit to help you through the cycle at the bare minimum...)

It is hard for a noob to wait 4-8 weeks to fishless cycle and thats what happened to me, I couldnt take it with my very first tank, I lasted about 1 week and then added fish. I was very fortunate and didnt suffer any losses during the cycle, but the 4 cichlids I chose to add at first didnt make it more than 6 months in my tank..... Everything else in that tank has been fine for over a year and still growing strong....... I have since added 4 more tanks, and with each subsequent tank I have just used filter media from a prior tank to cycle the new tank.....

That is another excellent option for you, if you can find existing media from an established tank that will fit into your filter(s) then thats a cheaper way to go and essentially does the same thing. Sometimes local fish stores will be kind enough to give you some media....

IF you do have the extra $20 plus dollars Id go for the biospira, just make sure you buy it from a reputable business whom you trust to keep it well. It is refridgerated in order to keep the bacteria alive and I believe there is a date on it....... Any mishandling of it can reduce or kill the live bacteria and then you have wasted your money so dont buy it until you are ready to use it....

Hope this helps

 

[Spikor]

my cycling...

First, what size tank? Do you already have a tank?

As far as it doing a fishless cycle in 48 hours...hmmm. As far as I understand it, the cycle doesn't begin until you add AMMONIA to the tank, NOT JUST BACTERIA. When you add ammonia, the bacteria starts breaking it down and they cycle really begins. i'm not the best to try to explain this, though i've had really good success cycling new tanks. there are a lot of 'facts' that i don't want to try to say right now because i know i'll get something backwards.

as far as my cycles go, i've used a similar product called "cycle". I think it worked pretty well. the trick is not to put it in right after a water change (even though it says to!) when you add new water you also should be adding the dechlorinator (I use Seachem PRIME! kicks butt). I hear that the dechlorinator can kill some of the bacteria you are trying to add using the chemical. so wait 30 minutes and then douse your system. i have a biowheel and i add it straight to that and it really gets that wheel developed quickly.

if you want to do a fishless cycle, there are some threads on it here. do a search for it. but i'd just get some hardy cheap fish like zebra danios or something like that. they are very tolerant of PH swings (within reason).

if you already have a tank and are trying to start a new tank, i would HIGHLY recommend setting up your new filter on the old tank for a few weeks to build up bacteria especially if it has a bio-wheel. and i'd also take some of the gravel over if you can and a rock decoration if you have it available. these are things that can really jumpstart your tank.

my tank that i did this with ran a week without showing any signs of cycling. the following week it looked about halfway cycled, and the next week it was done. so it was only showing signs of cycling for about a week! just don't overstock or overfeed !

 

[Harlock]

I would use BIO-Spira if you can get it from a local, reliable source who can promise you it is not out of date and that it has been handled properly. Then, I would take it home, add it to my tank, and dose with enough clear, safe surfactant free ammonia to get to 5 ppm. After 24 hours, I would test my water. If ammonia was at 0 and nitrite was reading 0 and there were nitrates present at ~10, I would dose again with ammonia to 5 ppm. If the readings are the same, congrats, you are cycled. Go add a full bioload of fish. You do not ened to be patient and add a fwe at a time as that will only allow the cycleed bacteria to die back only to accomadate as many fish as you added.

If the numbers were different, say you had detectable ammonia and nitrites and nitrates, you just do the daily testing and dosing of ammonia to bring it to 5 ppm. Eventually, once you get the readings I mentioned above for 48 hours, you are good to go. BIO-Spira has worked great for some people. We're talking 24 hour cycles. Some folks have seen it take as long as a week with some pretty high ammonia spikes. Others have gotten a batch that was mishandled or out of date or otherwise didn't work and had a fishy cycle on their hands... that's why I recommend testing just as you would a fishless cycle, because after all, BIO-Spira ia all about not having to kill fish and change water all the darn time, right?

 

[nvan2]

Ive got a quick question:

Biospira doesnt need to start on amonia right? my tank is somewhere in the proces of cycling, and the amonia is already gone, but the nitrites are high and such. does adding biospira when amonia is already gone, nitrites are up, and fish are already int he tank work?

 

[Harlock]

Yes, it can and does. Reson being it has ammonia eaters and nitrite eaters in the package. That's the only way a tank can cycle so quickly with it. Sop, the ammonia eaters may starve, but the nitrite eaters should kick in. Of course, there are no guarantees with BIO-Spira, so... still, if you think the money is worth a shot, then I would do it.

 

[ShmooBeast]

My tank is a 55 gallon, as stated earlier. I was doing a fishy cycle, having not previously had info on fishless cycling. However, having discovered it I don't plan on using fishy cyling again soon. My current cyle was interupted by an Ich outbreak and I thought that maybe biospira would be a quick way of restarting a fishless cylce.

I do not agree with buying a few cheap danios or others and exsposing them to that, it shortens their life span and can be damaging. Granted fishy cycles can be done right occasionaly.

Biospira sounds like God's gift to aquarists quite frankly . Thanks for all the info. From what I understand though, you're saying you still need to add pure ammonia, right? I've heard the best place to find it is at a hardware store, is that correct?

 

[nvan2]

that would be my bet.

 

[daveedka]

I have heard nothing but good things about bio-spira as well, and nothing but bad things about "Cycle" so I would suggest avoiding "cycle" completely. Do you have access to any other mature tanks? Quite honestly, no matter how good bio-spira is, it costs more and is not any better than live filter media or even gravel from a cycled tank. Borrow some filter media from another tank add your ammonia and you'll be well on your way. If the borrowed media doesn't fit in your filter, bag it and hang it in your tank. Leave it there until you cycle is complete and then put it back from whence it came. If you don't have access then I'd definately go with Bio-spira.

Dave

 

[Benson]

I've used Bio-Spira before. What you do is introduce fish and the Bio-Spira at the same time. That is the ammonia source. My tank was cycled in 48 hours. It’s a 29 gallon with Zebra Loaches, Peppered Cories, and three Angelfish. It works. I did my 10 gallon the same way. Didn't have to fishy cycle or do the long fishless cycle. Both tanks are running great and all the levels have stayed at the proper levels. I test at every cleaning then some, so that is as much as 3 or 4 times a week. I do my weekly or twice weekly water changes and gravel vacuuming... The tanks are doing great and the fish are loving it!!!