Nitrite levels

[Stagette]

Hiya, wondered if anyone could help. Brought a new tank the other week and after having it set up a few days i have brought some Bactozym by Tetra to aid the cycling of the tank etc which i added yesterday, took a nitrite reading today and its through the roof just wondered if this is normal in a fishless tank when you add the bactozym and whether or not it would settle down after 48 hours?

Thanks

 

[skimpy]

Sorry don't know what bactozym is but it is normal for nitrites to go through the roof especially when fishless cycling.

I'm sure someone will come to your aid soon.

Sorry could not be of more help

 

[clutterydrawer]

have you added a non-fish source of ammonia to the tank? i.e. pure ammonia, or fish food?

if not I can't imagine where that much nitrite would come from, unless this bactozym stuff somehow adds its own ammonia source.

what are your ammonia and nitrAte readings?

 

[Stagette]

Only thing i had added is a little food to help the cycle along and then the bactozym and since i've added that they have gone off the scale and have been like it for last 2 days, been told by some fellow fishy people not to worry too much as sounds like cycle has started and they will calm down and level off so i can add my fish but i just wanted some more information as never used the stuff before Also not sure if when it says add fish after 24 hours whether it means after the first or second dose as doesn't say that either lol???

Any helps gratefully accepted no matter how little

 

[gadazobe]

Not quite sure what this bactozym is, but whatever you do, don't add any fish untill the tank has stablised , ie, no ammonia, no nitrite and low readings of nitrate. What are the ammonia levels?

 

[sinistral]

In addition to the other suggestions, I'm curious to hear if you have any live plants in the tank? Also, have you tested tap water? I understand in parts of England you sometimes get nitrates in the tap water-- this would be the first I've heard of nitrites, but perhaps there's a problem worth looking into.

Here is a article with a blurb on bactozym. The bottom line is that bactozym (never heard of it before) doesn't contain bacteria, as tetra found most products which did introduce bacteria to new tanks weren't effective. Instead, it contains biopolymers which form a matrix on which denitrifying bacteria can settle. HTH~

 

[Stagette]

The tap water is normal as thats first thing i tested and the tank was normal till i put the bactozym in. I have live plants yes, 3 of them and no i wasn't planning on adding anything till it had levelled off as i wouldn't want to live in it never mind a fish!

 

[corey01]

ive got bactozym because i bought a new filter because the other 1 crashed.....but im not just using the tablets in my filter im also using stress zyme which has got live bacteria in it. bactozym provides the ideal place for bacteria to settle. i would recomment using live bacteria and bactozym together my filter is already maturing and i bought it last week.

 

[rdd1952]

From what I just read on Tetra's website, I strongly suspect that Bactozym is just like the other "bacteria in a bottle" products and is on no use in cycling a tank. Actually, as sinistral mentioned, they don't even claim that it contains beneficial bacteria. They just say that it "has a unique two-way action which removes harmful waste and speeds up filter maturation. It stimulates the decomposition of uneaten fish food using naturally occurring enzymes, and it creates ideal conditions for the rapid development of filter bacteria" (quoted from their site). In actuality, the only thing required to "create the ideal conditions" for bacteria development is to add an ammonia source, raise the temperature and provide plenty of aeration. Maybe their product does contain ammonia. WH\hy don't you dose a 5 gallon bucket of tap water and test it to see what it shows.

In any case, there is no reason you should have nitrite that high if you have only added a few fish flakes unless the product indeed introduced ammonia and nitrite into the tank. What is you ammonia and nitrite reading? It will help us to figure out what is going on.