Using Biospira

Yeah, hardware store. I think I recall the name Seamist being mentioned as available at Wal-Mart and being safe. Benson is correct too. You can add BIO-Spira and fish all at once, but just be aware of the fact that some of us (myself included) have not gotten the 24-48 cycle but have had it go as long as a week, or even not cycle at all for 3-4 weeks (which means a regular fishy cycle with a FULL bioload and the BIO-Spira was of no benefit, which is what I got stuck with). So, I really recommend testing the BIO-Spira against ammonia. If you only have to dose ammonia twice to know you're cycled, great! If you have to dose for a week or more, you know that you just saved yourself a ton of time and effort from having to deal with a fishy cycle. Either way, you are sure and fish don't die. ;)
 
If you only have to dose ammonia twice to know you're cycled, great! If you have to dose for a week or more, you know that you just saved yourself a ton of time and effort from having to deal with a fishy cycle. Either way, you are sure and fish don't die.
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I would also add that This is a good way to do things with borrowed media as well. I can and have instanly estabilished a new tank with gravel transferred from one RFUG to another, but I always dose ammonia and then test to make sure the environment is ready for fish. I much prefer to do my water changes when I want rather than when the ammonia tells me to.
Dave
 
I was wondering if the quesiton was for a tank with no other established tanks in the house. it doent take a few weeks to cycle biological filtration media in an established tank... denitrifing bacteria doubles in a 24hr period... in other words if the amount of media you are trying to get ready for the new tank is not larger than the amount of media in the established tank 24 hours should be enough time to fully populate the new media.
If I was using a product that said it had live bacteria in it I whould first probibly get the seachem brand... then I would add a small amount fish food to start the process.
I generaly use feeder guppies to cycle a new system.. most of the fish I keep will eat them after I introduce them.
 
I use Bio-spira on a regular basis and think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread! i recently set up six - 20 gallon tanks for breeding and did not want to wait for the fishy cycle. I put the fish and biospira in at the same time. it does work, but you still need to feed very lightly, check water parameters daily. I changed the water about every third day for the first two weeks. I did have some slight spikes in ammonia and nitrites. I also had to add the Bio-Spira more than once. One thing I will say, is that it was a bit expensive, but it got the whole fishy cycle done in two weeks whereas on my 75 & 58 it took two months to cycle. I have very hard water (8.6) that causes even low levels ammonia & nititries to be really toxic to fish.

I DEFINITELY agree that you have to be REALLY sure that the store where you buy Bio-spira handled it correctly. There is one store here in Houston that mishandled it and I wasted $60 on it. It was totally bad! It must be kept refigerated all the time....
Also, I don't like to use gravel / media from another tank as you chance passing on disease to your new tank. I tried this once and it did not really prove very beneficial to the tank either....
 
Do it the way Harlock said... but the bio-spira in there, then test it with ammonia (that's what the ammonia is for, not to cycle it)

if the ammonia gets cleaned up the first day, your tank is allready cycled. I had a good experience with biospira...I never saw detectable levels of ammonia or nitrites during the cycle on my 75 gallon. It would have been better to test the cycle before adding the fish though.
 
I was talking to JS about this product in the "cycle" sticky thread for noobs. I have a 72 gallon bowfront its been running for 2 days and I think I am ready to try the BioSpira. I asked my LFS about getting some ammonia to test things and thay had no idea what I was talking about.... where do you get that stuff? also any more advise on the BioSpira or tips from veteran users? also if this stuff is so good, why dosent everyone use it? why even cycle at all if theres a product like this? :dance
 
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Harlock is telling you to add ammonia to your tank after adding the bio spira so you can be sure your bio bugs are alive and working. Bio spira is meant to be used with live fish as being the ammonia source, but to be on the safe side, you test your bio spira with the ammonia instead. Everyone doesn't use it because it is not cheap, it's hard for most to find, and you never know if your batch is good until you use it. I have used it 3 times with perfect results, and can tell you it's a great product for emergency situations like I had. If it wasn't for bio spira, my fish would have died or been badly affected. You must get it from a reliable source. I trust Bernie completely, and highly recommend The Fish Store. He ships all over the U.S., Canada, and other countries including the UK. ;)
 
If I was starting out, I'd use BioSpira. Most of us with tanks already running have a ready source of bacterial inocculant, making BioSpira unnecessary.

Jim
 
ok thanks, I will talk to my LFS and make sure the stuff has been handeld correctly then give it a go
 
forgetfull me - I almost forgot to ask, should I stock a few plants right away with the fish and the biospirra? or just the fish?
 
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