willowgirl

Hi,

I am trying to get a hold on some bio-spira to cycle my new tank. I have called EVERYWHERE and no one has either heard of it or has it in stock. One of the petshops I called told me that Marineland reformulated the product and that the freswater version is now called Tretra Safe Start.

I was told that this version no longer needs refrigeration. I'm a tad skeptic, maybe he was referring to a competitor's product?

If it is true and Bio-spira was reformulated, is it still any good?

tzqng8

See here.

Nutshell: Yes, it has been reformulated into SafeStart and does not need refrigeration.

It cycled my 5g hex for my betta without any issues. Will be doing my 30g community tank this weekend and will post about it in my blog.

Let me know if you need a place to order it online. I got mine from a site in Texas.

sirdarksol

I'm skeptical, too, but it seems that they've figured out some way of long-term wet storage (I think it has something to do with a higher concentration of bacteria and, as some die and break down, they provide food for the others).

willowgirl

Thank you for replying. Yes, I would appreciate a link. I have tried Google and I have only come across some UK sites. Nothing in the US... WOW. I'm exhausted!

ETA: You mentioning conditioning a hex 5gal. That's what I'm planning on doing. Would you please give me some tips as to how to get this done the right way w/ safestart?

willowgirl

yes... but I'm willing to give it a shot if I ever find the stuff

tzqng8

Here is a link to buy the product in the U.S. 100ml is needed for every 32g and more information can be found here.

The reason that the product can be kept without refrigeration is because the bacteria are kept in a spore state that is not activated until it interacts with ammonia (as I understand it).

As far as tips, follow the directions on the bottle, pretty much. I added about half of a 50 ml bottle to the 5g hex, instantly introduced my male Betta and waited a week. No water changes and any tests you do may be whack.

At the end of the week, 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, 8 Nitrates. Did a 25% water change and everything has been good since.

I'll be interested to see how the 30g goes with it. Stay tuned!

willowgirl

Thank you so much... I was getting a headache trying to find this stuff.
Thanks for the tips... This tank is for my betta boy as well.

tzqng8

My pleasure. Make sure you stick around and upload any pics of your boy once you have everything set up.

willowgirl

I promise I will. I am hopeful my boy will be all set by next week. Thank you again.

Evelyn1919

at my LFS they've had it since it came out and they are selling tons of it!

willowgirl

Hi Evelyn,

I see you live in Roslyn, NY... Is this Long Island? I live pretty close. I tried to buy online through the link but there was a problem with checkpal. I could not complete the transaction... I tried twice!!!
Maybe you can refer me to your LFS... Gosh, that would be great!!!!!Please please... let it be Roslyn - Long Island!!!!
Thank you.

Blub

It's in EVERY fish shop in the UK!

willowgirl

Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me. I was able to find bio-spira at a local store ( the old formula). It seems to work and my betta boy seems quite happy in his new home. Here is a picture of Alfonso (Alfie).

A million thanks.

Attached Images

DSCN0789.JPG (79.7 KB, 5 views)

Lucy

Alfie is adorable! I'm glad you found the Bio-Spira.
I'm pretty sure I saw SafeStart at Petsmart, but blew it off. That was before I read about the formula change.

Good luck with your new boy.

COBettaCouple

Hmm.. I'll have to look for it, just out of curiosity. Wish they'd had this a year & a half ago. Now we have a ton of extra filter sponges in every tank filter so new tanks are easily setup.

Shawnie

LOL me too!! and all the fish stores I checked this weekend, have it...but im stil keeping my sponges because that stuff is new and im leary until I see results from others trying it out

COBettaCouple

Yea.. and don't really need to spend the money .. on that anyway.

RobinOfTT

Hi all. I'm new to all this, and when I started, I took my friend's advise. Started a 55g tank with fish in it after having run the filter for 2 days, but didn't go through the cycle. Was wondering if it's safe to use Tetra SafeStart with fish already in the tank?

Hopefully, with this awesome site and forums, I'll avoid future boneheaded moves like that. Appreciate any responses.

Current set-up; 6 Cherry Barbs- then, despite me informing my roommate about the importance of the cycle, he went and bought a red-tailed shark and a little bright pink/orange fishie, because he told his daughter she could get one. Seriously, how do you say no to such a cutie 3-year old giving you the Sad Puppy-Dog Pout

Now I'm worried about the livelihood of all 8 fish.

BTW, anyone know what the 1-1 1/2" pink/orange fish is?

Blub

It's not new in the UK. It's been out since I started fishkeeping in the UK - that's for sure!

Blub

The USO (Unidentified Swimming Object!) sounds like a dyed Parrotfish - but I'd need pics.
Safe start should be safe to use with fish - in fact i don't work without them!

Please ask your roommate not to go out and buy on impulse because that's how tanks are ruined and killed.

RobinOfTT

Thx for the response, Hatchet. I saw the post just before going to work, and picked up 3 bottles on my way home. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it works out.

I checked parrotfish online, certainly not one of those. Looks more like a tetra or danio. I'll have to borrow my roomates dig. camera when he gets home. My cell's camera isn't good enough for such a quick fish.

Blub

Perhaps your USO is a serpae tetra?

RobinOfTT

LOL, not 5 minutes after reading your latest post, I got a call from my roommate, whom I sent out to the store to find out, turn's out it's a glofish. According to a quick google search, they're scientifically engineered to glow under a black-light. Gonna have to pick up more glofish/zebra danios in the future so they can school up. Thx for trying tho, hatchet.

On the SafeStart front, been a couple days since I did a 50% water-change, then added the SafeStart. So far so good, but it's probably a little early to tell.