# Turns out my tank never cycled



## parkedcar (Dec 29, 2005)

So i have been having problems with my amonia. Had a huge spike last week. I couldnt get it to come down, so i started thinking that maybe my tank never cycled and that the Bio-Spirra didn't do its job. I come in today and my Oscar is stressing real bad. I tested my amonia and finally it was down to 0. I was happy at first, then figured that my nitrites would be up. Sure enough, 7.5ppm
I have salt in there from sunday when my p's had some parasite. They are fine now and eating like crazy. So i am hoping that the salt will help them through the nitrite spike.
Anyway, i talked to the manager of my LFS and he told me that bio-spirra is actually just food for the bacteria and not actual bacteria. You have to use and established media for it to cycle fast. I should have read the fine print. What a waste of $20. 
So should i do anything about the nitrites, or just let the bio filter do its job.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

I have had good luck with biospira in the past, I see they are not refridgerating it anymore dont know how that works. I have not used any in forever.
I dont belive the guy who says it just food though, so they are selling me ammonia and waste??? What is the point in buying it then, you know....Doesnt make sense...

You appear on the right track to me having salt in the tank, should stabalize soon, do you have NITRATE readings yet???

Also when was the biospira added?? I suggest daily water testing during the cycling process to make sure its going o.k.

Will move this to water chem forum...


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## parkedcar (Dec 29, 2005)

I wonder what happened to mine then. It was refrigerated when i bought it, came home and dumped it in my tank like the instructions said. I did this about 2 days after i set up the tank. I origionally was planning on bying some starter fish to cycle the tank, but the one store sudgested bio-spirra. I liked the idea of an overnight cycle.
My Nitrates where up a little bit. about 20ppm
The p's seem fine. everything is acting normal. I guess i am not overly worried now.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

Im wondering how long ago from todays date you put in. As long as it has an ammonia source it should work.

Its also possible the product may have went bad, or been unrefridgerated for several days somewhere along the way before makingit into your hands.

I think your on the downside of the cycle though, which is good, your readings look correct.

You could do a small water change like 15% or so, and add salt again( just for the new water you add)...

I think you will be looking good real soon...


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

parkedcar said:


> I wonder what happened to mine then. It was refrigerated when i bought it, came home and dumped it in my tank like the instructions said. I did this about 2 days after i set up the tank. I origionally was planning on bying some starter fish to cycle the tank, but the one store sudgested bio-spirra. I liked the idea of an overnight cycle.
> My Nitrates where up a little bit. about 20ppm
> The p's seem fine. everything is acting normal. I guess i am not overly worried now.


Found your problem.

Well actually 2 at least.

First, don't dump the bio spira in the tank. Put the biospira bag in the tank so the tempature of the biospira adjusts to the tempature of the tank. Its live bacteria, and probably went through temperature shock.

Second, always have cycle fish in your tank when you add the bio-spira. The bio-spira will need ammonia from the fish to fully cycle. I got 25 zebra danios and added bio-spira to my tank. Worked like a charm.


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## parkedcar (Dec 29, 2005)

its been about 3 weeks since i added the bio spirra. I added the piranhas about 24 hours after i put the bio-spirra in. I never let it warm up to the tank temp. The guy at the LFS said "just dump it in"
so how much longer do you all think until the tank is fully cycled?


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## SouthernBoy (Dec 15, 2005)

This time on a tank i tried a different method then usual. I bought my filters (AC500) and put it on an excisting tank two weeks before setting up the new one. when the tank was full and at the right temp. just moved it over and treated the water next morning test came out perfect.


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## mashunter18 (Jan 2, 2004)

parkedcar said:


> its been about 3 weeks since i added the bio spirra. I added the piranhas about 24 hours after i put the bio-spirra in. I never let it warm up to the tank temp. The guy at the LFS said "just dump it in"
> so how much longer do you all think until the tank is fully cycled?


Hey it is what is at this point.....

You should be good within a week, from what Iv read, ammonia spiked, went to zero, nitrite spiked or is close, it may go up a little more then start going down, your on the back end...


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

parkedcar said:


> its been about 3 weeks since i added the bio spirra. I added the piranhas about 24 hours after i put the bio-spirra in. I never let it warm up to the tank temp. The guy at the LFS said "just dump it in"
> so how much longer do you all think until the tank is fully cycled?


That sucks to hear that the guy didn't tell you that. Some people just don't know, but at least now you do if you set up another tank.


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## parkedcar (Dec 29, 2005)

Yeah it does. But oh well. I am in the market for a 125 or bigger. My father wants my 55 so he can do a native tank. So i will remember that when its time to set them up.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Thats odd, the 3 times i used bio-spira it cycled the tanks fully in 7-10 days and i also dumped mine in. I believe what happened was there was no ammonia source in the tank and the bio-spira died off.


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## b_ack51 (Feb 11, 2003)

jerry_plakyda said:


> Thats odd, the 3 times i used bio-spira it cycled the tanks fully in 7-10 days and i also dumped mine in. I believe what happened was there was no ammonia source in the tank and the bio-spira died off.


Yeah, thats what I mentioned he needed to still have some crappy fish in there to produce some ammonia and then add the bio spira.


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

I used it for my 240 and it did nothing. Tank took almost 5 weeks.


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## jamesdelanoche (Dec 15, 2004)

it says on the package to add your fish right away after adding bio-spira, i believe jerry was correct in his assesment that there was no ammonia source so the bacteria died. Bio-spira isnt perfect, it worked for me but it occasionaly doesnt.


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## parkedcar (Dec 29, 2005)

HAHA stoopid LFS. He specifically said NO FISH for 24 hours.

But i am also at fault. I should have read the package more thoroughly


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