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hi guys,

yesterday i set up a new tank and added Tetra Bactozyme (which speeds up bateria develovement...apparently) and it turned the water really cloudy. however it said on the packet that this would happen.... but this morning when i woke up the water was still cloudy and i noticed it really smelled, the smell reminded me of when i was a kid and used to keep tadpoles in a jar, after a few days the water would really start to smell and it smelled just like that. has anyone ever used this product (this is my first time) and is the smell normal.

thanks.

andy

This what the tetra website had to say about it:

It stimulates the decomposition of uneaten fish food using naturally occurring enzymes, and it creates ideal conditions for the rapid development of filter bacteria.

I've never used the stuff myself but anything which tried to stimulate the decomposition of uneaten fish food would probably smell imo. I would also imagine it contains ammonia which definitly has a distinct smell to it. I wouldn't worry about it though, if it still smells in a week then you might have a problem but at the moment I'd reckon it's perfectly normal.

thanks mac.

Bactozym is a new product to me, but since it is a capsule and they do not say that it has live bacteria but rather state it contains enzymes, I have a guess as to what it is. Most likely the capsules contain the concentrated enzymes of heterotrophic "sludge eating" bacteria. Certainly that would help explain the odor because heterotrophs tend to create that fishy/decay odor.

Should be harmless and if you dislike the odor, carbon will probably remove it - and also remove some of the enzymes.

I wonder if they are experimenting with harvesting enzymes from heterotrophic nitrifying bacteria? That has not been done yet to the best of my knowledge.

thanks for your help mate. it isnt stinkin the room out or anythin its just when i lift the lid. hehe it smells just like a a dirty jar of pond water with tadpoles used to when i was a littleun.... takes me back....lol