I still say use a combo of gravel and add BioSpira. Each tank I've cycled using the gravel/BioSpira combo has literally been ammonia free overnight, and the nitrites started to rise the following day. I know BioSpira has it's lovers and haters though. The one thing I like about it is that it doesn't add chemicals" to the water like water conditioners that remove ammonia (I use a standard dechlorinator, but nothing else). When I was doing my first tank I used a similar ammonia remover. It lowered the ammonia reading, but took forever to get the cycle going properly and I kept having to add chemicals (in lioness501's case if gravel is added there shouldn't be a cycling delay). I decided to start over with that first tank using BioSpira, and the tank literally cycled from start to finish in a week's time. So anyway that is my experience and why I use a combo method of gravel (established bacteria) and BioSpira (neutralizes ammonia and starts nitrites immediately with no chemicals). I think the most important thing though if you are going to use BioSpira is to make sure you are buying it from a quality store, so you know it has been handled properly.
Let us know what you did and how it turned out!
