New tank with BIO-Spira...what should I expect?

[vreef]

Just set up a 30 g, with live sand and dead rock. Added bottle of BIO-Spira. No fish yet. Should I expect to see any Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate readings at all? Everything is perfect right now (day 2) but I'm not sure if this is what I should expect or not. I was going to wait 3 weeks and add fish. Any advice? I've read all kinds of other posts about jump staring the cycle in various ways.

 

[MMantelli]

I've heard of people using urine to cycle a tank. There was a video I watched on YouTube and the guy said his tanks were fish ready in 7-10 days I dunno if I could personally bring myself to do that though.

 

[Convict2161]

Sounds like a bad idea IMHO...


I've heard of it but personally wouldn't do it. Urine contains a lot of things and I'm not so sure I'd wanna add that to my tank.

EDIT:

Here's a long long read BUT there's. A lot of nasties in urine.

http://franklin.chem.colostate.edu/...ts/HPLC urine analysis/NASA CR-1802 urine.pdf

 

[Beengirl]

Personally, I wouldn't trust the bio spira to cycle the tank. Just put a piece of raw fish or shrimp into a tied-off pantyhose and toss it in the tank. Then just let it rot. It won't smell great, but it'll cycle the tank. Test for ammo, Trites and Trates after a couple of days. When ammo and Trites spike an zero out and you have Trates, then you're done. Do a PWC and add fish. It'll take a while for this to all happen.

 

[Convict2161]

Personally, I wouldn't trust the bio spira to cycle the tank. Just put a piece of raw fish or shrimp into a tied-off pantyhose and toss it in the tank. Then just let it rot. It won't smell great, but it'll cycle the tank. Test for ammo, Trites and Trates after a couple of days. When ammo and Trites spike an zero out and you have Trates, then you're done. Do a PWC and add fish. It'll take a while for this to all happen.

^^^^ this is the best way IMO and its worked for many of us.

 

[spoonman]

I like to use pure ammonia. Dose to 4ppm and see if it goes to 0ppm overnight. If it does, the Bio-Spira worked. If not it will start the cycle. If you do use pure ammonia, be careful. It doesn't take much to get to 4ppm.

 

[MMantelli]

Sounds like a bad idea IMHO...

I've heard of it but personally wouldn't do it. Urine contains a lot of things and I'm not so sure I'd wanna add that to my tank.

EDIT:

Here's a long long read BUT there's. A lot of nasties in urine.

http://franklin.chem.colostate.edu/diverdi/C433/experiments/HPLC%20urine%20analysis/NASA%20CR-1802%20urine.pdf

Ya that's y I said I personally wouldn't do it.

 

[Terrance]

Just set up a 30 g, with live sand and dead rock. Added bottle of BIO-Spira. No fish yet. Should I expect to see any Ammonia, Nitrite or Nitrate readings at all? Everything is perfect right now (day 2) but I'm not sure if this is what I should expect or not. I was going to wait 3 weeks and add fish. Any advice? I've read all kinds of other posts about jump staring the cycle in various ways.

You need a source of ammonia to activate the bacteria. Go to Ace Hardware to get a bottle of ammonia and dose your tank water with a few drops to get started. If the bottle works, then your tank will be cycled within a week. If you wait too long, then the bacteria could die and your cycle would not be sped up.

The raw shrimp and bottled ammonia is cycling the normal way to grow enough bacteria. Bio-spira is suppose to speed up the process by adding bacteria into your tank.

 

[Qube]

You need a source of ammonia to activate the bacteria. Go to Ace Hardware to get a bottle of ammonia and dose your tank water with a few drops to get started. If the bottle works, then your tank will be cycled within a week. If you wait too long, then the bacteria could die and your cycle would not be sped up.

The raw shrimp and bottled ammonia is cycling the normal way to grow enough bacteria. Bio-spira is suppose to speed up the process by adding bacteria into your tank.

I agree. I've cycled 2 tanks relatively quickly with Bio-Spira, but it was only added in addition to an ammonia source, in my case, a raw shrimp. That said, I cycled both my 34 and 75 with BRS dry rock, Bio-Spira and a raw shrimp, each in 3 weeks. You still have to add livestock slow afterwards though, nothing really changes that rule...

 

[TheTodd]

Since you already added the BioSpira, you just need to make sure there is an ammonia source to feed the bacteria. Otherwise, they will die off and it was all for nothing.

A lot of people on here are against this method. I've never completely understood the reasoning behind that. Some products stored too long will not work, but products like Dr Tim's seem to do just fine. It's difficult to find bad feedback on their product, but some of the others have mixed reviews. Time will tell...monitor your parameters, as that should tell the story.