bio-spira new stuff

[smbuddy46]

has anyone heard of this new product just coming out. my lfs guy just went to a dealer show in chicago and came back really excited about this product. supposedly it practically eliminates the nitrogen cycle. you put this stuff in when you start up a new tank and they recomend that you add half of the fish you want on your wish list right away, you barely get a nitrite spike and then that's it. anyone with an existing tank has to do a 50% water change to use the stuff. but then you can add as many fish as you want as long you don't go over your inches per gallon ratio. it will handle the bio-load. i'm curious to see how it does.

 

[sly]

I did a quick google search on it and came across this site: http://www.marineland.com/products/m...l_biospira.asp
It looks like a good thing but one thing has me skeptical. In a closed aquarium, whatever you put in your tank, stays in your tank. If you keep dosing your tank with this bacteria, over time, the filler solution that the bacteria lives in, will start to accumulate. This type of filtration does not actually remove the fish waste from the system. Instead it only converts it from one form to another less toxic form.
I would suspect that if you used this as your filtration, you would have to do frequent water changes to remove the build-up. It seems like a good short time fix, but I don't know if I'd rely on it for long term use.

 

[mishelly00]

Hello, I am very new to this but I will tell you my experience with it. When I was setting up my 30 gallon tank my husband and I went to our lfs store and the we were told the same thing. I had read a couple books about saltwater and the cycle and having to wait. Well of course I listened to him and we bought it. He said to add like 2 fish at the most the day after just in case. So we put it in the water 3 days after setting it up. The next day the water tests were great. We put a Strawberry dottiback in and a clown fish. It has been I think 3 Months and I have tested the water every 2 to 3 days almost expecting to have a cycle still and nothing. I think the nitrites barely spiked a couple of days after putting the stuff in and that was it. Now (knock on wood) Everything has been Nitrates 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrites 0 and PH 8.2.... We just bought a used tank with some fish already in it. So until the 75 has gone through it's cycle we are housing 3 fish in the smaller tank that came with the 75. (Yellow Tang, Star fish and another clown) We put them in our smaller tank 3 days ago and all levels are still the same. So the bio-spira seemed to have worked great for us!!! We are going to let the new tank go through it cycle the natural way because it is pretty expensive and the bigger the tank the more it costs. I have learned that this hobbie is very expensive!!!!!

 

[loopy]

You say 'this new product', do you mean a new type of bio spira? Bio spira itself is not new. But, I used it and it worked, but still, don't be in a hurry to add the fish, won't work like the guy is telling you, at least it didn't for me. Your just adding beneficial bacteria, you still need to wait.

 

[ant]

I just came from the lfs store with the same question. My guy told me about it and I'm excited to try it but am skeptical myself. He also told me that you only need to dose your tank once and only once unless you do a total water change for some reason. Ant.