How many fish to cycle a 75gal?

[feinhorn]

When trying to cycle a 75 gal Rift lake tank with the help of bio-stira. How many fish will I need to create enough ammonia to start the process. I have two 2 inch african cichlids in there now but it doesn't seem like enough bio-load to me. It has only been one day so the tests are 0. I was just wondering if I should a any more fish. Any ideas on how many to use?

 

[peterp]

Hi Feinhorn.

I am very interested in this topic myself as I am about to begin cycling my new rift tank.

And I have not tried to used Marinelands bio-spira to start a tank yet.

Sigh knowing Canada it is probably not even available here :?
I discovered you can't get val's titanium heaters here for some reason, so I had to settle for ebo's.

 

[saberry]

My understanding is to basically start with a full load. By this I mean the appropriate amount of fish - not overloading your tank. But, if you have put in the right amount of Bio-Spira in your tank, and it has been handled properly (meaning the bacteria are still alive) you will need the amount of ammonia produced by a stocked tank to let the bacteria thrive.

That having been said, if you have already added bio-spira with only 2 fish and it has been over 24 hours, then you may want to allow the cycle to progress at a slower rate and add more fish in a couple of weeks to slowly increase the ammonia to keep up with bacteria growth. If it has been over 24 hours with such a small number of fish, you may have already lost a significant amount of the bacteria.

Your other option would be to add more bio-spira along with the additional fish. The good news here is that you can't really overdose with bio-spira.

Hope this helps.

 

[William]

1 once of bio spira puts enough bacteria in the water for 10gallons of water.

So with your tank, you start with a full load and put 8 ounces of Bio Spira in it.


Just keep the Bio-Spira cold on the way home from the store, or else the bacteria culture could die.

 

[saberry]

Actually, 1 oz. is enough for 30 gal. - fresh in my memory since I used it just a couple of weeks ago. So, for your size tank, you really only need 4 oz total. However, Bio-Spira comes in 1oz., 3oz. and 8 oz. sizes. So, you may want to see which is cheaper, a package of 1oz. and a package of 3oz. OR just a package of 8oz. which would give you some to spare.

What size have you already used? If it was a 3 oz. and you already have two fish in the tank, then adding 3 oz. with 7 or 8 more fish (depending greatly on their size) may work out just fine.

Here's a link to the Marineland website that gives more details about Bio-Spira and dosage.

Click Here for more info.

 

[William]

After checking the site I conceed that saberry is right.

However upon digging a empty package of biospira out behind of what it fell behind, it does indeed say a ounce for 10gal.


A printing mistake I'm sure.

But again, sorry for the misinformation Saberry is right.

 

[saberry]

Nothing to conceed - I had to check their website just to be sure myself.

 

[Allivymar]

Pssst peterp: Its not available in Ca, but you can have it shipped up there. Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you the info.

 

[peterp]

Lowers cone of silence.

sure knowing where to get it would be good for next time.

I'll probably have the tank cycle started long before the mail could get any to me.
With the weather getting cold, might be good time to get some delivered, not to warm out anymore and not cold enough to freeze anything.

Raises cone of silence.

 

[RubixCube]

I have been in contact with the a shop in Dallas TX trying to get some bio spira sent to Canada. Sure, bio-spira is all fine to get sent, but it needs to be sent in a chiller...therefore up goes the cost of shipping. Just wasent worth it. It would have cost me well over 50 bucks for a litte bottle of bacteria.

 

[e-cat]

would have been better for your fish with a fishless cycle. :|

 

[RubixCube]

im currently cycling a 77 gal with 2 dead shrimp and 10lbs of live rock. so far so good.

 

[Barney]

live rock for freshwater?

 

[RubixCube]

haha, oops, no saltwater

 

[Barney]

lol thought so!!!! 8)