Nitrite Confusion In Cycling

[merseychic]

Ok we are trying to cycle with fish in and thanks to the advice on here things were going well.

so story so far
bioorb set up left for about a week first fish went in sterbais corydoras X2 and 6 rummy nose tetras
the tetras starting dying and we discovered the cycling with fish in page.

we have now changed to ordinary bow fronted aqua 1 500 used half original water and half clean fresh treated water.,

Amonia has been 0 through out Nitrites were 0.5 ish and we got it down to 0.1 we have been doing daily water changes and yesterday it crept to 0.3 it is 0.4 so we decided to do our daily water change with a difference
1 we tested our tap water for nitrites which thankfully read 0
2 we tested water we had prepared yesterday with Tap safe and Bacterlife and which has been left to stand for 24 hours its nitrite level 0.6 so we are adding Nitrites in when we do a water change by dechlorinating and by bacteria loading we are adding not reducing Nitrites.
3 As Mr Merseychic is a biochemist we now know that the chloramines in the tap water are being changed to ammonia products which give the bacteria in the bacterlife the opportunity to convert them to Nitrites which we are then adding to the tank
4 So in adding new water we are in fact increasing the nitrite level

any suggestion as we are thinking of reducing the number of water changes

 

[the_lock_man]

If Mr Merseychic is a biochemist, can he test to see whether there are actually any live bacteria in the Bacterlife?

The thing is, many people on here, myself included, believe through experience, that "bacteria in a bottle" products don't work, but I can't argue with your logic as to where the nitrite in the supposedly fresh water is coming from.

If MrM can confirm that there are live bacteria in that stuff, then that's really excellent news.

To answer your specific problem, I wouldn't leave your water to stand for 24 hours. THat used to be the advice, to allow the chlorine to gas off. That doesn't work with chloramine anyway, and the Tapsafe, as you're aware breaks that down into chlorine and ammonia. It might be worth changing to Prime, which would then also convert the ammonia into ammonium (the bacteria can't tell the difference, but the fish can).

The other thing to do would be to add the Bacterlife straight into the filter, rather than into the tapwater. That's where the bacteria want to be anyway.

 

[HayzH]

i too would love to see evidence of "life in a bottle"

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Chemists generally don't dabble around in microbiology. Generally that would be a microbiologist.

But now that you mention it, Lock, I might have to take a bottle of that stuff to our Micro tech and let her culture it

 

[the_lock_man]

Chemists generally don't dabble around in microbiology. Generally that would be a microbiologist.

But now that you mention it, Lock, I might have to take a bottle of that stuff to our Micro tech and let her culture it

I assumed as a biochemist he'd had access to a microscope and could see little bacteria thingies wiggling - I dunno, I'm a simple locksmith.......

 

[merseychic]

alas Mr Merseychic is qualified as a bio/chemist but doesnt actually do this for his job any more though he may still have access to the necesarry kit.

We have bought the full spec testing kit and can confirm we have no nitrates at present despite the tank now running for a week with fish in and having bacterlife added to it. We only stood the water as we had made too much up to top the tank up in the 50% change. The new test kit says we have high nitrites 4 hours after a water change.

 

[Akasha72]

I would also be interested to find out if there is any science behind these bacteria in a bottle products. I feel torn if I'm honest, a large part of me wants to believe that there is something good in there (otherwise I've wasted rather a lot of money in the last few months) but logicly I can't decide either way. I'm not much of a synic either so a scientific, independant test would be good.

It would certainly clear up the confusion once and for all

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I used to work in microbiology, and I cannot see any science to back up bacteria in a bottle. They have to have a food source and I do not know of any that would feed a bacteria in a bottle for as long as the shelf life claims. The Biozyme that I am using is a freeze dried colony which is what gives me hope that it MIGHT work. It is supposed to work the same was a a jar of yeast, activating on contact with water. I know yeast jumps to life and multiplies when put in a bread mixture, so I can see how a freeze dried bacteria may work on the same basis.

I do not know much about Nitrobacter sp. bacteria, but because it lives in our filters I know that it is not a strictly anaerobic bacteria, but I do not know if it can live in anaerobic conditions, such as a closed bottle.

*EDIT*
I spoke with our micro tech. She said if I can get her a bottle of "bacteria" she will culture it for me Just to see if it will actually colonize

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Chemists generally don't dabble around in microbiology. Generally that would be a microbiologist.

But now that you mention it, Lock, I might have to take a bottle of that stuff to our Micro tech and let her culture it

I assumed as a biochemist he'd had access to a microscope and could see little bacteria thingies wiggling - I dunno, I'm a simple locksmith.......

If the bacteria is mobile, then yes you would see "wiggling" but if it a non mobile bacteria, it would be hard to tell on a microscope if the bacteria is alive or dead

 

[eaglesaquarium]

*EDIT*
I spoke with our micro tech. She said if I can get her a bottle of "bacteria" she will culture it for me Just to see if it will actually colonize

Please post results in the Tropical section. Actual proof of something... I can't believe it!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

*EDIT*
I spoke with our micro tech. She said if I can get her a bottle of "bacteria" she will culture it for me Just to see if it will actually colonize

Please post results in the Tropical section. Actual proof of something... I can't believe it!

Will do

 

[the_lock_man]

*EDIT*
I spoke with our micro tech. She said if I can get her a bottle of "bacteria" she will culture it for me Just to see if it will actually colonize

Please post results in the Tropical section. Actual proof of something... I can't believe it!

Will do

Can't wait!!!!