acidpope

Thanks for the link to that thread, Shawnie. I actually bought some when I was buying supplies for my first fish tank (I haven't set it up yet thankfully). The person at the local LFS(Petco) told me to pick it up [My family has also know him for over 30 years, and he uses the product]. Now I could have misunderstood him and he didn't tell me to buy it to cycle my tank, but only to use it when I add new fish for that little bit of extra protection. He also had me pick up Stress Coat+ for water changes.

Now I have another question. I'll be fishless cycling with ammonia now, or Bio Spira if I can get ahold of it in a few days (anything about Bio Spira anyone thinks I should know will hopefully see this before then). After I do a true cycle and have the right type of bacteria will adding CYCLE when I add new fish have any negative impact on my tank (ie, they won't starve out the right bacteria by competing with it?). Thanks for the info.

Shawnie

theres no need to use cycle period...getting a hold of bs will be your bestest friend LOL and so much easier..I never did the ammonia addition cycle but I know lucy and alessa have so they would be much better help..I did do bs and it saved my fishies life as I had no clue prior ....either method, id never use cycle..its a waste of money IMO.. but thats me

Lucy

Shawnies right about it being a waste of money.

Once you get the correct bacteria going either with Bio-Spira or cycling with ammonia it will continue to grow as long as there's a source of ammonia to feed it (fish waste)
There's no need to add the wrong kind of bacteria.

Great questions acidpope.

jdhef

I used BioSpira. The only advice I can give is that you need to use a water condition that will not "lock up" the ammonia like Prime does.

Shawnie

I was fortunate to have well water so I used the bs just by itself ...I do use prime in my established tanks as CBC suggests that it wont hurt only help ...My well water is great without it tho..

morganrules

so when i use stress zyme shawnie or someone who uses it do i add ammonia to it to or hows that work

Shawnie

thought you already had ammonia?

morganrules

i emptied the whole tank in frustration and anger from school so i have to restart lol

acidpope

I'll be using Stress Coat+ ["Removes chlorine, chloramines & ammonia"] as my water conditioner. Is this ok for use with a BS cycle? Also, since this is a fishless cycle what will be the source of ammonia for the BS to work off? DO I add it, or feed the tank?

On a side note I read somewhere that the Stress Coat+ has been noted as creating ammonia spikes on water changes if you have chloromine in your tap water. Has anyone heard of this, or is it just someone taking an ammonia reading too soon after adding the SC+ and getting a false reading? Kinda weird something that says it controls ammonia would actually create a dangerous/lethal reading after adding it.

Shawnie

OHHHHHHHHHHH ...didnt know that...

Yes fill the tank with your two products, and also give it some fish food twice a day, or throw a small piece of raw shrimp in the tank..and let it be....on the 7th day, add some more stress zyme and then on the 14th day...all awile conitnue feeding it fish food twice a day if you choose to go that route..otherwise just add the zyme while the piece of raw shrimp stayes in the tank..if you go back to the ammonia addition route, talk to lucy

morganrules

how many flakes of fishy food do i add

Shawnie

DO NOT add prime with bio spira...read this thread Don't Use Prime with Bio-Spira! it will help you with conditioners safe with bs

acidpope

Ok, things are starting to become clear. [All this science, I might want to put a hat on so the top of my head doesn't pop off like a cork!]

Let me see if the fishless cycling I'm now planning on is up to snuff.

0. Return unopened CYCLE to Petco and buy #1, or something neat.

1. Use water conditioner on water that doesn't touch ammonia (I'm planning on using TetraAqua AquaSafe Water Conditioner)

2. Add Bio Spira (Now called SafeStart)

3. Feed tank twice daily.

4. Once readings show Ammo 0 / Nitri 0, tank is cycled and safe to add fish (albeit slowly)?

Now after this is done, water changes based on my Nitrate reading hitting a certain number and then weekly changes of % thereafter? Don't do any water change before fish have been in the tank for a little while?

Also, just to make it clear, after the cycle is complete, it's safe to use Stress Coat+ on my water changes?

Shawnie

here's my two cents...YES return cycle..unless you want to buy it for the entire use of the tank...YES on the aquasafe conditioner...that way you arent locking up needed ammonia for your tank...YES on safestart and maybe throw in a piece of raw shrimp then you wont have to worry about feeding the tank daily? supposedly, if safestart is like bs, you add fish at the same time .....totally ignore or dont test anything for at least 7 days...if safestart is like bs that is...after the 7 days, do a test, and go from there as far as water changes etc...after your cycle is completed, I would reccomend prime with water changes...thats if you have city water or well water with higher components than the fishies require...iron etc...goodluck!

acidpope

Ok, I'll switch to Prime instead of SC+. The local Petco carries it I'm pretty sure.

I'll be getting a API Master Kit soon and I'll test my water to see what I'm getting right from the tap. There is also a natural spring right behind where I work I'll test too. Someone I work with says they use that water for their water changes (I think he has cichlid tanks).

As for my SS comment being the new BS, I got that info from this site:

http://www.aquariumplants.com/SAFEST...a_p/tet-01.htm

Thanks for all the help.

morganrules

looks like i have .50 ammonia that was a full dropper worth of ammonia how many fish flakes do i put in the tank.