Regrettably bought BioSpira

[Lauren B.]

Well, I don't regret buying the BioSpira (unless it proves un-useful), I just regret the place I had to buy it at.

I called every aquarium shop in the area, and only two places carried it. One told me it would be over a week to get it since it had to be ordered. The other place had it in stock, but I had to drive 30 mins to get there, and I later found out the store was exactly the kind of pet store I discourage people from patronizing.

While the store looked nice superfically, it had bad business practices. They sold puppies (pet store puppies = puppy mills), and they didn't separate their small animals by gender. There were two rabbits who, right in front of me, were (for lack of a better term) going at it like rabbits. Their hamsters, rats, gerbils, and mice were not separated either, and there was a cage full of baby mice (tiny babies...hadn't opened their eyes yet) that were sold as "pinkies" (pink, days-old babies) and "fuzzies" (babies just starting to grow fur) which could be purchased and used as live food. This really disgusted me to see this.

I nearly left without the BioSpira, and I really regret that I didn't. Actually, when I got home, I saw on the receipt that there were no refunds, because I was so bothered by the store that I thought about returning it. And the worst part of this story is their obscene pricing. The 1-ounce package of BioSpira was $16! So basically I had a crappy day. I had drive 30 mins one way (and I almost ran out of gas because Mapquest gave me a route that travelled through the backroads and there was not a gas station in sight!), I was really disturbed by my patronization of a less-reputable pet store, and I paid out of my butt for the product.

I hope the BioSpira works, and I hope I have a better rest-of-my-day.

[Chrona]

Sorry to hear that. Biospira works great. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only bacterial supplement that actually works, as proven by my friend's aquarium cycling in something like 30 hours.

My only concern is....if the store is not reputable...it is possible they did not keep the stuff refrigerated the entire time? I dunno.

[Chrona]

Actually, I think 16.99 is a pretty decent price for Biospira

DR F and S has it for 19.99
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

The stuff is amazing, but it's so darn expensive


1 oz does 30 gallons though, so it's a bit overkill for a 6g. I thought your cycling was underway already? :/

[Lauren B.]

My only concern is....if the store is not reputable...it is possible they did not keep the stuff refrigerated the entire time? I dunno.

Thanks for your sympathy...I really do feel bad about the purchase and the store. I'm going to carry this guilt around with me for probably the rest of the weekend. (if there was a sad face icon, I'd insert it here).

They did keep it refrigerated. I asked, and their fridge was right behind the register, so I saw them take it out fresh. I had to use it as soon as I got home because it was already room temp from the drive.

I'll let everyone know how the BioSpira works. I was happy the other day because I finally saw a hint of rising nitrites, but then I had to add more water in the tank to compensate for the quick evaporation (temp is 85). When I took a nitrite reading this morning it was back to 0 since I think I diluted the small amount of nitrite reading I was getting. I'll keep trying though, and hopefully I'll see a quick improvement with the BioSpira.

[Redkora]

*hugs to Lauren B.*

I'm so sorry you had to see all that. I know people use pinkies and fuzzies as food and are often recommended as food for reptiles, but it still disturbs me.

One time I was looking around in a pet store for fish supplies and there was a kitten and a puppy (kitten/puppy mills, again), and it made me cry. I didn't buy anything from that store and I cried on the way home.

*hugs again*

:nibble6:

[Chrona]

Thanks for your sympathy...I really do feel bad about the purchase and the store. I'm going to carry this guilt around with me for probably the rest of the weekend. (if there was a sad face icon, I'd insert it here).

They did keep it refrigerated. I asked, and their fridge was right behind the register, so I saw them take it out fresh. I had to use it as soon as I got home because it was already room temp from the drive.

I'll let everyone know how the BioSpira works. I was happy the other day because I finally saw a hint of rising nitrites, but then I had to add more water in the tank to compensate for the quick evaporation (temp is 85). When I took a nitrite reading this morning it was back to 0 since I think I diluted the small amount of nitrite reading I was getting. I'll keep trying though, and hopefully I'll see a quick improvement with the BioSpira.

Remember to keep adding ammonia until you get your fish or the bacteria will die. Let us know how it works out.

[Lauren B.]

$16 is a good price? Someone here, I don't remember who, told me it ran around $12.

I am in the cycling process, but it's coming along really slow. I've had mixed reactions when I mentioned Cycle and SeaChem's Stability, so I thought I'd just stop trying to save a few bucks and go with BioSpira, which seems to be the undisputed best.

[Lauren B.]

[QUOTE=Redkora]*hugs to Lauren B.*
I'm so sorry you had to see all that. I know people use pinkies and fuzzies as food and are often recommended as food for reptiles, but it still disturbs me. QUOTE]

I know that this happens, but I hate to be reminded and I hate to think that people are okay with it. There was one pet store where I used to live that I frequented all the time. After being a customer for over 2 years, one day I found their tank full of baby mice. I never set foot in the store again, and a few months later the location was bought by Petco. Then I felt better and was able to at least patronize the building again.

I'm one of those people who, if I'm really bothered by something, I will write a letter. I hate people who complain endlessly and do nothing about it....writing a letter of disapproval at least gives you a small voice that may be supporting other small voices that bothered to write as well. In independent stores I'm afraid that voicing your opinion doesn't matter because it's one owner, and the decision making is up to that single person. The best I can do is to not support their store, and mention to others why I choose not to patronize it. It sucks that that's the only thing I can do (and I didn't do too good of a job of it today, regretably).

Thanks for the hugs...I need it.

[*Sarah*]

I was sad to see that the Big Als Aquarium Services in Hamilton (about 35 mins away) sells puppies. Made me stop going there. SInce then I've found a better shop in my city anyway.

[Lauren B.]

I was sad to see that the Big Als Aquarium Services in Hamilton (about 35 mins away) sells puppies. Made me stop going there. SInce then I've found a better shop in my city anyway.

Thanks for mentioning this. I'd sent away for one of their free catalogs and I just got it the other day. I'll find another place to make online purchases, and maybe just use their catalog as a reference of what products are out there.

[Lauren B.]

By the way, since we're always talking about pet super stores and Walmart and whatnot, I actually found a Petco recently that had a really nice aqarium section. The store looked very new and the layout and the floorplan was like no other Petco I've seen.

The aquariums were located in the center of the store, the lot of them made into a slightly circular shape. In the very center, there was the sink and cleaning area, with very large decorative tanks surrounding it. All the tanks looked well maintained and clean, and I only saw one tank with what I believed to be a sick fish. Considering what I've seen from Petco in the past, one tank sick is the best I've come across. Their bettas were in a nice display, and all of them looked relatively healthy.

I'd have to say it was probably the nicest Petco I've been in so far, and it made me glad to see not all Petcos are yucky (as is the one near my house). It's the first one I've come across that I would actually consider purchasing fish from

[Chrona]

My Petco is in a nice neighborhood too, so it is very clean and properly maintained. However, the prices there are also pretty darn high, and the selection not as good as my LFS :)

[Severus]

I have a store around that like me and i never support it. I actually hope for them to go out of business, but every now and then i cant help but go in. I am tempted for some weird reason.... maybe in the hopes that things improved??