Bio-Spira

[georgef]

Has anybody tried this?

http://www.marineland.com/products/m..._biospira.html

[georgef]

OK, let me rephrase the question...

Any opinions on this?

Unlike most "bacterial supplements" (Cycle and the like) this stuff has a shelf life and must be kept refrigerated.

There's some interesting reading in the links to Dr. Hovanec's papers. He reportedly discovered through DNA testing that nitrobacters aren't actually the bacteria responsible for nitrite oxidation, rather nitrospira is.

http://www.marineland.com/science/bi...trobacter.html

[saints27]

Cycle is suppose to be refrigerated as well
sorry no opinion on the rest of it ,its just that i read the bottle of cycle the other day and it said to refrigerate it and I hadnt been doing it.

Jamie

[RandalB]

I've read up on it and talked to Marineland but have been unable to find anyone selling it retail around me. I really want to do a test run (Not with discus though) They promise a lot, but if it really works it would be great stuff.


RandalB

[RAWesolowski]

George,

Good concept, but...

The problem is in the distribution system. In general, companies sell through distributors who in turn sell their products to the lfs. Distributors like products that they can put into warehouses without temperature control, think mid-summer in South and mid-January in the North. The heat extremes will wreak havoc on the product.

The lfs wants a product with a long shelf life that requires no special handling. The freezer handles everything from frozen rodents to fish products. The lfs will be less than excited about purchasing a refrigerated unit to handle the product.

A couple of companies have made in roads by providing the refrigerated unit, but you never know the condition of the product coming from the distributor's warehouse and the manufacturer doesn't want to alienate their primary customer, the distributor.

So, would you trust the product when it has the potential to be destroyed in:

1. Shipment to warehouse
2. Warehouse
3. Shipment to lfs

[jsojda]

Hello all,

I do part time work in a LFS, and we just got this product in this week. It does have a relitivily short shelf life and must be kept in a fride. So much so that the Marineland people do provide a display fridge for the store. I havn't tried it yet because it has a pretty heafty price tag.(even with my discount) i beleieve it is 20 bucks for an oz. (retail)

The literature on it sounds promising but could also be good marketing....

[korbi_doc]

Seems to me that using a fully matured sponge filter(s) would be as effective & less expensive than these purchased products.(does this go without saying? you can hit me) If one has a healthy tank utilize extra sponges with all the right bacteria & save???? JMHO Dottie :P :P

[georgef]

Hi, Dottie --
I'm about 10-11 days into my fishless cycle and having not yet registered any nitrites, I was thinking that if this stuff looked promising and was available, I'd give it a shot. Getting a bit impatient, you see.

I don't want to go to my LFS or anyplace like that for some seeded media because of the chance of picking up some nasties besides the good bacteria.



Bob --
Excellent points. Someplace else (I think it was on a newsgroup, maybe) I had read that the expected life-span of a batch of this stuff if properly kept in a fridge was about two weeks so the logistical problems associated with getting this stuff from the mfg to the distributors to the end users do seem daunting.

George

[korbi_doc]

Boy George, do I ever understand where you're coming from, been ther,'donethat as they say!! When I first setup my 90g, for discus,(rejuvenated old tank that had been out of commission for few yrs) I went thru the cycle, thought I had it under control, put the new fish in, & then ran into trouble with NH3 anyway. Don't have a clue why except that the new tank syndrome takes a while to get under control, months it seems to me. If ever I start another it will be overfiltered with mature sponge filters even if I have to borrow them, in addition to the set-up permanent filters. I only say this cuz of my bad 1st experience. The only thing I can suggest is GO SLOWLY!!! & if one of these bacterial products will help by all means use it. Also, remember there are resin pillows to put in filters for the dreaded NH3, these helped me early on. So did Prime. We use all the tricks we can to push the reaction time, but time is the necessity. Be patient & you will get there. JMO Dottie

I'm pretty good friends w/ the guys at my LFS (even though they have ugly discus, they sell ocean nutrition foods) and they just got the stuff in. One of the old guys set up a new tank with angels and tetras and just threw the stuff in and says he's gunna see how it works. I'll let ya know in a week or so how it worked out.
Brad

[georgef]

Thanks, Brad.

I'll be very curious as to the results.

[RandalB]

Brad,

Please keep us updated on this stuff. I'd pay the price when I suddenly obtain several new fish and have to sneak a new tank into the house past the Mrs. Can't always have enough sponge filters on standby (no room in the tanks for fish!!)

RandalB

haha...i don't have a mrs. yet, just parents. Wait...maybe that's even worse??? But anyway, i'm going down to the LFS this weekend to pick up some meds so i'll check on that then. That should be about the right timing for about a week or so on him having the stuff in his tank. He stocked his tank pretty full he said just to see if the stuff works, so if he says it works then i'd try it in the future. I'll keep ya posted.

ok, I just got back from the LFS and got the rulling on Bio-Spira....

After 4 days the water read as follows:
Ammonia: 6 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm

the reason there are no nitritres or natrates is that none of the ammonia produced by the fish was broken down. So, in effect, the product was "worthless" in the eyes of my LFS (let you be reminded they they are trying to SELL this product, too...). The fish in the tank were still alive, but only because he had put a root in there and the ph was 5.5. He put a checkerboard discus in there yesterday so we'll see how it goes. He's gunna try it again on another tank and see how it does.

[Carol_Roberts]

I think 6 ppm ammonia after 4 days says it all . . . . . . why would he sacrifice a discus and more fish to re do the experiment? Will he use a different bottle?
CArol