My thoughts on Bio-Spira

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by OPForest, Aug 4, 2014.

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  1. OPForest

    OPForest Fire Worm

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    Being new to the saltwater aquarium side of things, I know I have a ton to learn. I have done pretty well with being patient but I ran into a situation that could be similar to someone needing an emergency quarantine tank. Stay with me and Ill fill in the back story and give some thoughts on Bio-Spira.

    When I first started figuring out what I wanted to do for stocking my tank, I came across a fish at my LFS that I knew I wanted. The only problem was that he wouldn't sell it. The fish is an Orange Stripe Bristle Tooth Tang. Also called a Striated tang. I have been looking for one of these fish online for the better part of 2 months and finally one came up on Divers Den.

    This is where the emergency quarantine comes into play. I decided to buy a 20 long and setup a temporary home for this fish. I purchased the fish on a Sunday night and and got the QT equipment the next morning. I already had fresh RODI so the QT was running by 2 pm Monday morning. I put a small bottle of Bio-Spira in after the tank got to temp. Skip forward to Tuesday morning and UPS is at my door. I tested my QT water and all was good. Slow drip acclimation from the QT into a 5 gallon bucket for almost 2 hours and I added the fish. After 2 days I started feeding and he ate like a pig. I have been doing daily and sometimes 2 times daily tests of the parameters and they were "zeros" across the board until day 3 when I got a spike in NO2. At no point did I ever see any ammonia. As soon as I saw NO2 I started 2 times a day water changes to keep the levels down. Also I added another bottle of Bio-Spira. On day 4 my NO2 levels startrd falling and I am seeing NO3 so the cycle is happening, just not as quickly as they say it will on the bottle.

    Today is day 6 and the tang is looking healthy and acting normally. I just performed another water change and will test this evening before doing another.

    Day 5 parameters pre water change were the following:
    NH4: 0
    NO2: .2
    NO3: 10

    My conclusion about Bio-Spira is the following. I believe that it will and did start the cycling of the tank faster than without. I think it is Very useful in combating an ammonia spike. I also think that possibly a second application should be required after you see the NO2 spike. The way I see this in my head is there are different kinds of bacteria in the bottle. Some feed on ammonia and some feed on nitrites. If there aren't any nitrites to eat, these are going to die and not cycle. I understand that cycling a tank with a fish in it is not the ideal way but with heavy water changes to keep the levels in check it is possible. People quite frequently run into the need to setup a QT and dont have time to cycle a tank. In the future, I will not need to put this tank through a cycle again as I will have media that is ready to go.

    So was it ideal? NO. Does it work as advertised? NO. Is it helpful? YES
     
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  3. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    I'm not defending Bio-Spira by any stretch of the imagination- IMOPO, bottled bacterial supplements have a long way to go before they become an exact science for the average aquarist. OTOH, you used it in a QT with no sand or rock, correct? Being restricted to just the glass surface on which to colonize may have compromised the integrity of the product. While not being perfect, it most likely would work better in the DT.
     
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  4. OPForest

    OPForest Fire Worm

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    Yeah it was in an empty tank. I do have a bio wheel filter running though. I'm not knocking on it at all. I think it's beneficial and helpful but you need to understand the cycle process behind it before using.
     
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  5. OPForest

    OPForest Fire Worm

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2014
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    Location:
    Lancaster PA
    Also, I did put a big bottle in my display. I put a raw shrimp in and haven't seen ammonia yet. My nitrite is about .5 ppm and the nitrate is around 10. So again it did accelerate the cycle. But in no way is it fish safe yet and it isn't a 24 hour cycle like advertised.
     
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