The Puffer Forum

i was at my LFS today. im trying to help my mom cycle her new tank... so i asked if they had any and they said that bio spyra has been bought out by tetra safe??? is this true?

They changed how they bottle and market it. Fresh water biospira is now tetra safestart, and salt water biospira is still called biospira. They are also no longer in refrigerated small pouches, they're in larger bottles for room temperature storage with food for the bacteria. Still single-use, just much bigger. Mixed reports of effectiveness - I believe if you get a relatively fresh bottle and it's never been allowed to get overly hot, it does still work.

The original formula is Dr. Tim's one and only. There was some patent issue with Tetra that I'm not sure about. The stuff actually developed by Dr. Tim Hovanec can still be purchased under the name Dr. Tim's One and Only for both FW and Marine.

Not so sure I trust a "live" bacteria that comes off a shelf. Go for Dr Tim's.

Yes they're both owned by spectrum so use the same formula.

Not true, Dr Tim took the original formula with him when he left Marineland.

Yes they don't use the original formula but they're both the same product.

Clarification: Dr Tim Hovanec was hired by Marineland Labs to head their development labs, and specifically to develop a set of bacteria which could be marketed ans would establish permanent colonies in FW, and later for SW, tanks. That was the original Biospira. It worked.

Later,still at Marineland, he developed a storage medium which did not require refrigeration, but it was still Biospira.

The company Tetra took over Marineland. They decided to consolidate all research under Tetra's name. Dr.hovanes did not take part in the transition. The bacteria selected by him at Marineland were now the corporate property of Tetra. Those strains were incorporated into the current Tetra Products.

Dr.Hovanec opened a new business, using different strains than those used by Tetra now. Dr.Tim's One and Only is NOT the same bacterial strains as Tetra's product - that would infringe on the existing patents now owned by Tetra. They are not the same strains and not the same products. And the Tetra Products are not identical to the preparation developed by Dr. Hovanec for the original products. So the name changes are valid, neither is identical to the original Biospira.

PS: Dr. Tim's One and Only FW is good at room temp for 6 months, at 50F for one year. So it does not absolutely require refrigeration - but it last longer with it.

HTH

I didn't mean Dr Tims by the way, I meant the Bio-spira and safestart which are now the same, or so it looks to me.

Thanks for that clarification, RTR. I believe the Safestart product is for FW & the SW product is still called, Bio-Spira.

The fun/ironic twist is that the original patents are in Dr. Hovanec;s name. So his current product is competing with, at least in part, with his prior work.

But I doubt that it is funny to him. His work being sold by the Easy-Balance people....

hmmm interesting stuff... thanks guys... i did end up just ordering some Dr Tims yesterday... i had heard some buzz about bio spyra being a legit product, so i thought id ask if they had any for my mom to cycle her tank with... this was after asking if they had Dr Tims tho (i know, it was a long shot as its not commonly sold in stores, but this place is HUGE! never hurts to ask)

so just for clairification, its better to not use bio sprya if i ever camse across it in a store?

If you come across Biospira, it is either a very old bottle of the original, or if its the new stuff, for saltwater only.

So for a freshwater tank, no, you don't want Biospira. You want either Dr Tims or Tetra Safestart.

For a saltwater tank, you want Dr Tims or Biospira.

You keep typing Biospyra, I don't know if that is a typo you are making, or if that is an actual product where you live, if it is spelled that way, you're probably talking about something completely different than we are.

Dr Tim's makes a SW version too?

Yeah, and they make one for ponds, too. Actually there are four kinds: one for freshwater, one for saltwater, one for reef, and one for ponds. The dude's been busy!

FYI, when we get SafeStart, it comes in styrofoam boxes with a chillpack, which maybe tells you something. We haven't reordered BioSpira in a long time because we prefer to recommend live rock.