too much research?

[asparagus]

Ok guys, talk to me about bio spira. Has anyone had success with this? Failure? What to watch out for? Im thinking its too good to be true. aka biospira.
Its basically a cycling tank in a refrigerated bag.
Thanks!
Asparagus

 

[Dubby]

I just did a Search for Bio-spira on the web and Yes, it looks wonderful.

"Bio-spira is a live nitrifying bacteria used to cycle/start a freshwater or saltwater aquarium, and therefore you can add a full normal load of fish immediately"

I have had my tank for several years so never had the need to cycle a new one from scratch - just use stuff from the old one and bingo !!!

EDIT: Sorry could not help you........

 

[asparagus]

LOL I just finished reading that thread- I found it using google- took me quite a while as I was making breakfast, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner, bathing the kids, cleaning the house etal. Grin.
The only down side is that I was really looking forward to hand picking each of my fish over time. Ultimately Im going to have roughly 25-28 small fish in my 29 gallon tank but I did want to get them 2-3 at a time with a week or so in between. Im thinking if I can just get a few bags of that stuff and add some with every fish addition I should be ok, correct?
That stuff is way too exciting for me. Good thing all the lfs are closed b/c its t-giving- otherwise Id be neglecting my holiday duties by shopping! lol

 

[Polardbear]

I wanted to try it when I set up my 55 gallon last month but none of the LFS's had it and the one that was willing to order it changed their mind when Marineland told them they had to order 2 cases. The one place I could find it online was sold out at that time and by the time they got their next order in I figured I could just as easily fishless cycle. Personally, I would have liked to try it but after exchanging several emails with Marineland's Customer Service trying to get some help locating a store that carried it - I was pretty fed up with Marineland.

I haven't seen a lot of negatives written about it and it did sound like it would have been great. If you can find it I'd give it a try.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Hate to butt in, but polardbear, when I saw that pic in your sig all I could think of was Dive dive dive!!!


Anywho, that cycle thing sounds decent, and would certainly come in handy when your lfs is far enough away that it's a hassle to go get new fish every few weeks instead of one big buy.

 

[k2snowboards88]

How much does it cost?

 

[gale]

ooh I need this stuff! the decent lfs is over an hour away from me.

 

[asparagus]

Ok, here's my last question, Im going on safari today to see if I can find this stuff. As Ive said in previous posts, Im going on vacation and will get my fish when I return. So. That being said. Should I still be trying to fishless cycle my tank? I was going to put some food or a frozen prawn in there while Im away to keep the ammonia up so the bacteria have food, but if Im going to get this biospira, then can I just fill the tank to the top, keep the filter running, keep the temp at 78ish and leave it alone till I return from vacation at which time Ill add the biospira and then go to the fish store to buy my fish?

Also, max fish for this tank would be somewhere around 25 fish (29 gallon). Biospria says to put max fish in allat once. What if I just put 8-10 fish in at first and then added the biospira every time I made a new addition?

Last question- Ive been aerating my water with a "waterfall" from the filter and cycling the tank w/o fish. There is what looks like a bubble nest right under the filter "waterfall". Is this b/c there's just alot of oxygen in the water? It ALMOST looks like there's a little soap in the water (which is impossible).
Anyone know what this is?
Thanks!

 

[gale]

well I have called 5 of the closest lfs, all but petsmart (don't have their number handy). NONE have it and all said to use stress-zyme. I don't want to use stress-zyme. I want bio spira. So unless petsmart has it (doubtful) I guess I won't be trying any.

btw I'm assuming it's not possible to get it through the mail since it has to be refrigerated and all?

 

[asparagus]

There is a pet store I think in TN that will ship to you. Do a google search- I found it in my lfs. Amazing b/c they never have ANYTHING!!
The people who make it (marine labs?) have a thingy on their website where you can enter your zip code and they tell you where to go to get their supplies.
Good luck! I got 2 pouches.

 

[Polardbear]

You can get it online at www.fishstoretn.com and it looks like they have it in stock again.

 

[Polardbear]

And they retailer lookup on Marineland's web site will only give you stores that carry any of their products. I called everyone in my state and the majority didn't even know what it was. When I asked Marineland for help locating a retailer all they would tell me was "call my LFS". When I told them my LFS responses they said "well just check your LFS". In other words, they weren't a lot of help. And the one LFS that was willing to try ordering it wasn't willing to order the 2 case minimum from Marineland.

 

[FrAnK3333]

i used bio spira in my fish tank and it works great, it works very well.....it costs $9.99 for treatment up to 30 gallons.

 

[gale]

You can get it online at www.fishstoretn.com and it looks like they have it in stock again.

I forgot to post that I did find it at that webstore thru froogle.com (LOVE GOOGLE!!). So I will order some when I get my 10g set up (after I get it exchanged, the lfs is really freaking out over a $15 tank). Then I can use the bio spira and stock my tank all at once and quit driving an hour to the store every week.

 

[Streetracer]

Asparagus,

Consider this:

If you put in 2 fish, wait until the tank cycles and then add 2 more fish the bacterial colony will need to roughly double in size. If you had 10 fish and added 2, the colony would need to increase it's size only about 20%. Therefore I wouldn't bother adding any cycling bacteria once the tank is well established.

Actually I wouldn't add any at all. The bacteria are free-floating like mold and will establish themselves once the food supply is present. I'm going to cycle my new 65 gallon tank by adding about 10 Leopard Danios or Pearl Danios. I'll put live plants bought from a tank that has fish which will help jump start the cycle. After the test kit shows the nitrogen cycle has stabilized I'll add an algae eater or two and take my time deciding what goes next. If things get out of whack I can always do partial water changes.