I just moved and used the move as a good excuse to change my tank from the gravel up. Once we moved, I filled the tank(which was cleaned thoroughly with water and a little vinegar for the harder spots of algae.) and the next day added about 150lbs of Estes Black gravel. I have two Marineland Penguin Biowheel 350s running on the tank with shower scrubbies in one and some "supercartridges" in the other. I have not decided for sure about my final filtration and I've been a bit busy to buy the actual filter cartridges. Its been running for about 4 days now and the tank is milky white and smells like a can of tuna. I don't know what that is from because the tank was cleaned and rinsed out, as were the filters. Any algae or slime or residue was cleaned off with a credit card and a toothbrush. I haven't started to cycle the tank yet, but will the stink and cloudiness clear when I do? Any ideas on what would cause the smell/color?
Strange smells in new tank
- Thread starter mikeb210
- Start date
I've heard that your water can get tinted white when you cycle it due to a bacterial bloom. Not sure if that is what it is though because I've never heard of it being Milky or smelly. Good luck finding out.
You can try to get some activated carbon. It cleared my tank in a matter of 3-4days.
...or you could try get some used filter media from a cycled tank at an LFS to help.
...or you could try get some used filter media from a cycled tank at an LFS to help.
my tanks always get a fishy smell when start to cycle, or really about half through the cycle, this will go away as the cycle starts to finish, what i don't understand is the fishy smell when you haven't even started the cycle, i'd do a water change and start the cycle. have you tried testing the water yet?
I've not tested yet. I let a friend borrow my test kit and of course he forgot to return it to me at work today. I'm betting it will clear with cycle, but I agree that it is strange for it to be so milky and smelly without having started a cycle. I pretty much sterilized the filters and tank when I broke it all down and the gravel is brand new.
Something similar happened to one of my tanks after i dismantled everything and put it back together a few months later (after having cleaned it of course)
Basically what i noticed was the 2nd day after re-filling it with water the water turned milky white and started to smell, so all i did was a quick 50% water change that day, let it settle for a few days, then did another 50% water change and voila, no more problems...
As for what caused it, i can only guess there was some dead bacteria stuck in the filter pads and when it was soaking in water dislodged a lot of it and caused it to in essence rot in the tank... although thats just my theory and can't actually prove it...
Hope that helps some what...
Basically what i noticed was the 2nd day after re-filling it with water the water turned milky white and started to smell, so all i did was a quick 50% water change that day, let it settle for a few days, then did another 50% water change and voila, no more problems...
As for what caused it, i can only guess there was some dead bacteria stuck in the filter pads and when it was soaking in water dislodged a lot of it and caused it to in essence rot in the tank... although thats just my theory and can't actually prove it...
Hope that helps some what...
I got a used(but clean) tank for a friend last year and when I first cycled it, it smelled but it went away after a few days. I did use my 'dirty' filters to avoid the bacterial bloom. Tank never got cloudy on me.
bacterial
do a 30-50% water change and do another in 3-4 days. keep up with it til it is clear and the bad fish smell is gone.
do a 30-50% water change and do another in 3-4 days. keep up with it til it is clear and the bad fish smell is gone.
