Using Bio-Spira in a new tank

[twestrope]

I am a complete newbie. I am starting out small with an Eclipse 12. I set up the tank and finally found ammonia at the store over the weekend. Sunday I filled the tank in anticipation of starting the cycle on Monday. By Monday after reading various threads on this forum I decided to use Bio-Spira to get an immediate cycle.

Two questions about using Bio-Spira:

* My Bio-Spira should be here on Thursday. I leave for a 3 day weekend out of town on Friday so I will refrigerate the Bio-Spira and plan on adding it next week with my fish. Since the water will have been in the tank for 7-8 days (filter running) do I need to drain the tank and start with fresh water or should I be ok since there is nothing alive in the tank at the moment?

I read on the site that "you cannot overdose Bio-Spira". Does that mean adding too much won't cause harm to the fish or adding too much will cause problems. I wasn't sure of the meaning of the phrase.

The forum has been very helpful in helping me learns some of the pitfalls with starting a new tank. Thanks.

 

[shady3210]

* My Bio-Spira should be here on Thursday. I leave for a 3 day weekend out of town on Friday so I will refrigerate the Bio-Spira and plan on adding it next week with my fish. Since the water will have been in the tank for 7-8 days (filter running) do I need to drain the tank and start with fresh water or should I be ok since there is nothing alive in the tank at the moment?

I read on the site that "you cannot overdose Bio-Spira". Does that mean adding too much won't cause harm to the fish or adding too much will cause problems. I wasn't sure of the meaning of the phrase.

As long as you have had the filter running and it was dechlored i will be fine.


You read it right its not possible to OD it. Any extra bacteria will just die. Also make sure you shake it up will before you dump it. The bacteria tends to settle on the bottum of the bag.

 

[TXFish]

If I may jump in here, I was wondering where you found the Bio Spira? Is there a site online where I can get it?

I'm 3 days in to cycling a new tank and haven't been able to find it in my area.

Thank you !

 

[shady3210]

I have found it at 2 places

aquariumplants.com
http://www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-b...a/op=eq/ml=25/tf=description.html?id=afPLEqUY

fishstoretn
http://www.fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html


I ordered mine from fiststoretn and it arived in great condition but they are only about 4 hours away from me. Pick which ever is closer to you.

 

[TXFish]

Just placed an order at fishstoretn........thank you!

 

[macman7010]

One thing about Bio Spira - dont think that this will automatically cycle your tank and you will be ready to go. What Bio-Spira does is inject tons of live bacterial into your tank - but typically these bacteria first compete with each other and then begin to die off from a lack of nutrients.

I would recommend slowly adding 1 or 2 dither fish while waiting for the tank to properly cycle.

 

[Gunnie]

One thing about Bio Spira - dont think that this will automatically cycle your tank and you will be ready to go. What Bio-Spira does is inject tons of live bacterial into your tank - but typically these bacteria first compete with each other and then begin to die off from a lack of nutrients.

I would recommend slowly adding 1 or 2 dither fish while waiting for the tank to properly cycle.

I respectfully disagree. The directions say to add the proper amount of bio spira along with the full bio load of fish at the beginning. For some reason, it seems to work better that way. If you only add a couple of fish to the tank to start out, you are wasting the bio spira, because the bacteria won't have enough ammonia to maintain a higher bio level. The catch here, is that if the bio spira is dead in the package and you have a full bio load of fish in the tank, you will be having a disaster to deal with for a long time until the tank is cycled. If the bio spira is fresh in the package, it should be an instant cycle if you added the amount needed according to the directions. Some folks experience a slight ammonia or nitrate spike for the first couple of days, but very minimal. I have used it 3 times with perfect results. The last time I used it was about 2 years ago in an emergency situation with a 100 gal. tank. I had to remove the fish and temporarily house them in a 55 gal. until my bio spira arrived. I completely drained the tank, refilled it, and let the filters run for a few days while waiting. When it arrived, I used a 3 oz. package (note the 3 oz. is for 90 gals. and I have a 100 gal. tank) of bio spira, and returned my 2 7 inch oscars, a 7 inch jack dempsey, a 4 inch jack dempsey and a 10 inch common pleco back into the tank. It has been running fine ever since!