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I finally found a place to get bio spira

Now, the question is, since bio spira cycles your tank in one night, does that mean that you can add more fish at a time, over a shorter period of time, or should I stick with about 1 or 2 fish at a time, once per week?
Just wasn't sure. I have never used bio spira.

Pat,

Don’t believe the overnight thing, it’s not true. I used it and it took about 4 days (on a 29G, if it matters) until the Nitrites started to go down.

I would suggest you use the described dosage and monitor your parameters at least once a day. This way you can be sure that you know when the time is right. You do know that you are supposed to continue dosing until fish are introduced, right?

What fish do you plan to add first?
Is the tank planted (how much)?
What is the tank size?

If you have a lot of plants then you could add fishies right away, not too many of course, and forget about the Bio Spira.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 13-Aug-2005 13:45

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've never bought into the instant cycling thing, either---I waited about a week prior to introducing the fish. Nonetheless, it does work faster than a standard cycle, and I haven't heard anything less than glowing reviews about the product.

I set up a 10gal quarantine tank recently. I added the water, the bio-spira, then 6 small cardinals and 5 panda cories all at once. I never measured any ammonia, and the nitrites appeared and were gone in about 36 hours (well, more than a day, but less then 2, so I'm guessing.), and never got above .2 .

My understanding of the product is that if you add enough for you tank size, and it says you can't add to much, then you can completely stock you tank at that time. I would assume that if you add all the bio-spira, then only add a couple fish, all the extra bacteria in the bio-spira would starve, and you would lose all the benefits. So I guess you are supposed to stock up fairly quickly. But this is just me thinking it though, I've only used the product once, and am certainly not an expert.

good luck,
-Dennis

It is a 29 gallon tank (conincidence...spelling)
It is going to be heavily planted
I'm going to add cardinal tetras first
panda cory's second
blue rams third.

For my 55 gallon tank which will come sooner...

No plants...
Tetras first (still deciding which to have)
Cory's second
whiptail catfish third
bolivian rams(4) fourth
gold nugget pleco fifth
and discus sixth (not sure if I am getting 3 or 4)

4 days is still quick...and speaking technically...it seems your theory would make more sense, beefshank.

And if you have a problem adding cardinals to a tank first (might not, but just in case) I have added them to a brand new aquarium before and they were percfectly fine...had them all for a year until I moved

Just remember that it is sensative to storage conditions, so how it was shipped and how the store keeps it will effect whether or not it works.

Personally I use media from a well established tank and slowly build up a bioload.

When I set up my 46 gal, I did a fishless cycle. So when it was time to add fish, I could have fully stocked the tank, like I'm thinking you can do with bio-spira. But instead of stocking all at once, I kind of half-stocked. On the first day, I added 10 cardinals, 10 rasboras, a dwarf gourami, and a small pleco. After I was sure they were all settled in, I continued stocking, but now I did it a couple of fish at a time.

I figured, even though fully stocking should work fine, why risk it? So maybe something like that could be the way to go with bio-spira.


By the way, in my first post I told you I added 6 cardinals, and 5 panda corys on the first day I set up the 10 gal quarantine tank. I would consider that pretty much completely stocking all at once, and as I mentioned, it went quite smoothly.

-Beefshank

I was under the impression that you add *yay* amount of bio spira, throw in a de-shelled prawn, and let the tank settle for a few days. Understocking would only kill off a proportionate amount of nitrifying bacteria. The remaining bacteria should be suited for consuming exactly the amount of ammonia available in the tank. Also, fish produce ammonia quite rapidly; it would be difficult to understock a tank of that size.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 14-Aug-2005 01:22

bio-spira helps to spped up the cycling...but not tottally eliminating it in one day...i got similar product but it took longer than what they claimed... anyways, it would be wise that when u add ur fish in bunch(more than what is the norm), u should still add some of the bio-spira to counteract a sudden spike of ammonia and nitrite afterwards...i used "stability" in my tank after my cycle went coo-coo...it stabilised my tank afterwards...and when ever im adding fish...i use it just to make sure it wont act on me again....gudluck

Ok, that sounds good. I will dose the bio spira and add some source of ammonia. Then I will sort of half stock it or stock 1/4 of my total list and wait a week, after letting the bacteria work in the tank for a few days.

Thanks for all the help.