"Cycle" product by marineland help

[son2fu]

i know this thing is shunned upon on this forum buut im wondering how it works. do i have to keep dosing it forever? can i just put all at once?

 

[Gplayerz]

well you are supposed to put some in every week, after the tank has cycled( as per instructions on the bottle)

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If you are talking about Bio-Spira, you pour in the whole packet. Also, when you buy from the store, don't let it get warm. Need to keep it refrigerated at all times til you use it. The way it is used, you get the fish you want, then add the Bio-Spira. It's supposed to instantly cycle the tank, and in most casess, it does. In other cases, it may take a day or 2, or even a week. If you get a bad packet, or let it get warm in transit, then it will do no good.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Are you talking about the NutraFin product Cycle or the Marineland product Bio-Spira?

The NutraFin product Cycle does not work like it claims. That is why we tell members not to bother with it, it is useless.

The Marineland product Bio-Spira works as long as the store you purchased it from has stored it properly. This product is the only one that I would recommend using.

 

[son2fu]

i got the nutrafin cycle, do I still need to cycle my tank? my dad made me get it because the guy at the fish store said it worked.

 

[rich311k]

Yes you need to cycle your tank. That chemical is supposed to speed the process up. I have never heard of it actually working.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yes, you still have to cycle your tank. I am in the same boat as Rich. I have never heard of that product working before. The guy at the lfs was just trying to make your bill a little bigger.

 

[jsoong]

"Cycle" is supposed to have the bacteria in it to speed up your cycle (how the bacteria manage to survive in a sealed bottle without air is a mystery) .... never worked for me .... If I were you, I'd return the cycle & get some Biospira.

 

[7Enigma]

My guess is if it isn't completely snake oil the bottle contains one of two things:

1. "dormant" bacteria that essentially will never become active under normal tank conditions (ie your fish will die before they will "reactivate"). This would allow them to not be sued for false advertising, and the markup from the store is probably pretty nice as an added money maker to new tank purchasers.

2. Contains trace nutrients that the bacteria use but might not always be available based on the person's water conditions. Examples here would be things such as phosphates (which are actually needed and useable), and things such as "carbon" which are probably not able to be used by the bacteria in the supplied form.

Either way I would treat your tank like you didn't have the product. The real-deal Cycle product is what your LFS doesn't want to give you, and that is filter media/decorations/substrate from their own tanks. This is the stuff that is rich with bacteria, and will cut down your cycle time better than anything.

I have no personal experience with Biospira but definately believe its the real-deal IF its been properly shipped.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=89185

 

[flushingfish]

I have used Biospira and it cycled my tank comletely within a week. It didn't do it overnight but at the end os a week I had a fully cycled 20G that was ready for fish. For $15.00 it does kind of seem a bargain over waiting 4-6 weeks for normal cycling.

 

[7Enigma]

I have used Biospira and it cycled my tank comletely within a week. It didn't do it overnight but at the end os a week I had a fully cycled 20G that was ready for fish. For $15.00 it does kind of seem a bargain over waiting 4-6 weeks for normal cycling.

What did you feed the Biospira during that week? AFAIK (never used it), its recommended to add along with the fish since they will die if left in an empty tank with no ammonia source. Did you do a fishless cycle and monitor your nitrAte production or something?

 

[flushingfish]

Unfortunately it was my first tank and I took bad advice from my LFS and cycled with fish. I did constantly monitor my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and was doing PWC's at least 4 times a week before the Biospira. With the Biospira the tank was fully cycled within a couple of days and ready to be stocked more completely.

 

[7Enigma]

Ahh, I thought you meant you did a fishless cycle with biospira but waited a week to add fish.

 

[flushingfish]

I wish but I did use it with a fishless cycle as well in another tank and it worked like a dream for me. I put the shrimp in and let the ammonia get to 4ppm then added Biospira and within a week I had
ammonia=0
nitrite=0
nitrate=20ppm
Well worth the extra cash if you ask me.

 

[courtnee]

I did a fishless cycle with cocktail shrimp and biospira on a 55gl. Threw in the shrimp and let it rot away for a week, tossed in my Biospira and had my bacteria bloom, amonia spike, nitrIte spike in just a few days time. The NitrItes stayed for about two weeks.

This week I added my snail and two pictus cats with out a problem. They are all happy and I am a happy fishless cycle tank owner.

I am excited to get my dwarf pleco and school of tetra to complete my stock but through good advice from 7Enigma I am waiting until next week since I know my LFS gets shipments in on Thursdays to wait a few days after shipment for the weak ones to be weeded out.