chickadee

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

Several months ago I noticed that www.drsfostersmith.com was no longer carrying the freshwater formula for Bio-spira and when I inquired about it they said it was discontinued. So I contacted Marineland who manufactures it and tried to find another source but they gave me some really interesting information. They were not going to make the Freshwater formula anymore. They were revamping the formula so that it did not have to be refrigerated but would work the same way and would not have the decreased shelf life that the old product had. In conjunction with Tetra, they made this product and it is now available for sale at least through the source above. I have ordered a bottle of it and since it can be shipped without refrigeration now the cost of shipping is about half of the previous cost. The total for the order was $28.51 for the shipping and product. I know that is steep but I am thinking that now that the product does not have to be refrigerated perhaps it will start to be carried by more Fish Stores and vendors Locally and be available to more of you without the cost of shipping at all. Since it does not seem to have a "shelf life" problem they may be willing to stock it over the more volatile products and especially if it works as well as the old product did. I know that I have paid upwards of $45.00 for the cost of the refrigerated product when I ordered it by the time I had to pay for the shipping and handling for overnight delivery and special handling by carriers for refrigerated products. This can be shipped like any other product and from the above vendor I did notice that they ship to Canada too.

So I thought I would make this information available to you and if you decide to use it please let us know what you think of it. I will be letting you know what I think of the product when I use it.

Rose

MissMTS

Thanks for the information Rose. I am going to be helping my cousin set up a tank for her 4th grade classroom, and I would have been pretty stumped if I couldn't find bio-spira. I am glad that they now have a product that does not have to be refrigerated because hopefully it will be easier to come by now. Please let us know how you like the product and whether it seems to work as well as the old stuff

chickadee

The Marine form for Saltwater tanks is still the same... needs refrigeration and still comes in the pouches and just like before so be careful if someone should say "oh we still have Bio-spira" they probably are talking about the Saltwater formula.

Rose

David C

There is also a saltwater safestart formula, not sure if it works or not but I've had an excellent experience with the freshwater stuff on my 10gal and 6.6gal tanks... they both cycled in 4or 5 days.

Gwenz

Thanks Rose... Maybe they'll sell it in the UK now too. That bottle it's in looks like the other things i get at my LFS by tetra so maybe we'll be able to find it now.

Butterfly

One of the problems with stores carrying Biospira was that Marineland insisted they use their refrigerators. So along with their first order they also had to buy a fridge from them.
Most stores(especially Mom and Pop stores) didn't want to lay out that kind of money on a product they didn't know if they could sell. This new development will definitely be an improvement for the consumer as well and the business handling it. Hope it works as well.
carol

Devon

Thanks, Rose! I had been looking EVERYWHERE for Bio-Spira up until recently when I discovered that it had been replaced with Tetra Safe Start. Most people in the LFSs in Seattle had never even heard of Bio-Spira, let alone carried it. :-/
It's developed / manufactured by Marineland Labs but the label says "TetraAqua" as the "brand" name.

I did just stumble across it for sale on Amazon.co.uk when searching for the manufacturer (for those of you having a hard time finding it in LFSs the UK) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TETRA-SAFE-S.../dp/B000S5L59W

COBettaCouple

This is a really cool product. I wish they'd had it 18 months ago.

chickadee

I got my order of the stuff today and I have a tank that had lost its cycle and is going through a mini cycle due to a very thorough cleaning so I am trying it on this tank. Will keep you informed.

Rose

pepetj

Keep us posted chickadee. I recently read about SafeStart and made a suggestion for two LFSs to bring it over. Hope they do, for the sake of fish that actually are sold with new tanks and misguided info (e.g. "just add Stress-Coat and Stress-Zyme and you can put the fish right in" that was told to me the day I got my first tank) .

I still rather go fishless-cycle (maybe got used to it) and take my 2 weeks time to figure things around. I would like to have it at hand, in case a mini-cycle happens though.

So far have read mixed reviews of it.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Darlene

Let us know how is works. Maybe I will be able to find it in stores after we move and get our bigger tank. Thanks for posting the link also.

fishbum

http://www.hdltd.com/products/p_rightnow.html
http://www.mariculturetechnology.com/Chemicals.htm
Here is another one that is shelf stable.This is a little cheaper and I have heard from people who use it that they have immediately added fish,never had ammonia or nitrites,and only after 2 weeks did they start to see nitrates.
The first link tells you what it is and the 2nd is where you can buy it.