low water, haven't added fish yet...

[j-dub]

ok so I added Biospera today in lieu of ammonia or doing the shrimp trick. Keep in mind I just set my 10gallon tank up Tuesday and have not added fish yet. I think my water level is a little low because i can hear the water from the filter. can i add tap water without water conditioner (because I don't have any) to raise the level and stop that noise? obviously i will get water conditioner when i do water changes after i get fish..but i was told today the chlorine in tap water evaporates after 3 days or so...

so can i just add a little more tap water (nothing else) to my tank right now?

thanks!!

[Rue]

Yup! Should be fine...

[~Erik3.8.07~]

ya i use tap water. If ur worried about the chlorine u can buy chlorine tablets at the fish store and it will condition the water but if ur only adding a little bit it shouldnt really hurt the fish when put them in

[genitor]

if you added biospira you still need ammonia or the bacteria will die. Also the dechlorinated water might kill some of the bacteria too.

[cocoa_pleco]

if you added biospira you still need ammonia or the bacteria will die. Also the dechlorinated water might kill some of the bacteria too.


yep, if theres chlorine and chloramines the bacteria die

[Lady Hobbs]

Bio spira should go in the tank at the same time as the fish.

[bscman]

Big +1....
If there is no food source (ammonia) in the tank, the biospira will be ineffective...The bacter will die quite quickly without a food source (ammonia) so, it might be likely, that you'll still have to cycle your tank or add more biospira when you finally get fish.

[Rue]

if you added biospira you still need ammonia or the bacteria will die. Also the dechlorinated water might kill some of the bacteria too.


Dechlorinated water won't kill anything

Chlorinated water might. But if you're not adding much, and your tank is aerated and aggitated (waterflow/airstone) you'll be fine.

[cocoa_pleco]

oooppps, i didnt reed genitors post well.

Chlorinated water DOES kill bacteria.

[NeonJulie]

Chlorine does evaporate and probably faster than 3 days, but it's hard these days to be actually sure that's all they treat the water with. As mentioned, chloramine does not evaporate, and you should look into a dechlorinator like Prime to use that handles both. (If you are using city water. If it's well, you'll have to determine for yourself how the water is handled, but better safe than sorry.)

Bio-Spira is living bacteria, and just like anything else, needs to be fed pretty much right away. Fish flakes, shrimp or the liquid ammonia will do it.

I don't recommend fully stocking a fish tank and then praying the Bio-Spira is a good batch and you won't end up in a full on fishy cycle. I recommend having other ammonia sources on hand to use for a few days with the Bio-Spira until you can be sure that your batch is alive and well.

[j-dub]

Chlorine does evaporate and probably faster than 3 days, but it's hard these days to be actually sure that's all they treat the water with. As mentioned, chloramine does not evaporate, and you should look into a dechlorinator like Prime to use that handles both. (If you are using city water. If it's well, you'll have to determine for yourself how the water is handled, but better safe than sorry.)

Bio-Spira is living bacteria, and just like anything else, needs to be fed pretty much right away. Fish flakes, shrimp or the liquid ammonia will do it.

I don't recommend fully stocking a fish tank and then praying the Bio-Spira is a good batch and you won't end up in a full on fishy cycle. I recommend having other ammonia sources on hand to use for a few days with the Bio-Spira until you can be sure that your batch is alive and well.
Ok so I added the Biospira and some tap water to fill the tank up a little bit on Sunday. I tested the water yesterday. My pH is still at about 7.8-8. Ammonia was at 0ppm, Nitrite was 0.50ppm and Nitrate at 0ppm. Is it too late to add a few fish? Will the bacteria from the Biospira have died? What do you recommend I do from here??!

[NeonJulie]

Well getting some ammonia would be the easiest way to test whether the Bio-Spira has survived... but my experience with the product was a complete dud, so it wouldn't SURPRISE me if it didn't work anymore.


I recently heard you can find ammonia in a powdered form in the baking aisle of the grocery store. Has anyone else seen this?

I'm surprised you can't find an ACE Hardware in your area?

Anyway there's not exactly harm done - you probably only had about a 50% chance of the Bio-Spira working in the first place. But you do need to get the ammonia up. Fish food, or shrimp, or liquid. One fish store owner recommended pretending like you had fish, and just feeding the tank, and without the need to test or any complications, the tank would be completely cycled in 6 weeks. Which is to say, only 1 week longer than my liquid ammonia cycle took. (It's still gross and smelly, but it really only matters in the end that the cycle is complete.)

Can you find anybody else in your area with an established fish tank already? That'll speed up the time quite a bit. (2 begets 4 begets 8 begets 16 begets 32 begets 64 begets 128... or 128,000 begets 256,000 begets 512,000 begets 1,024,000...)

[bscman]

Dollar stores normally carry pure ammonia as well...
Check your grocery stores, but you need PURE ammonia with not additives.

[genitor]

Dechlorinated water won't kill anything

Chlorinated water might. But if you're not adding much, and your tank is aerated and aggitated (waterflow/airstone) you'll be fine.


oops meant chlorinated water