Aquarium odor???

[charlie10tango]

I swapped from a 20L to a 29 about a week ago. New sand bed. New terra cotta pot with new substrate for plants. I put about 18 gallons of water from 20L into the new tank, then topped off with RO water. Same filter and media (ceramic rings and foam over intake tube). Stock is as follows:
1 Betta
1 Electric Blue Crayfish
7 Black Neon Tetras
2 juvenile Striped Raphael Catfish (will be going into a different tank)
About 2 days after the move, the tank got a strong fish odor. There are no fish missing. What could cause this odor? Yesterday I put in a Tetra Wisper 10 filled with activated carbon AND gave the filter a good cleaning. The odor still seems to be there...am I missing somethinig??? There was no noticeable odor from the 20L.
Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates <40ppm, ph 6.7 out of the RO filter.

 

[jhook]

When mine started smelling, it was from food building up on the lip of the lid. With yours being that new though, I don't know.

 

[BIG-G]

What kind of substrate did you use?
I would say just keep running the carbon. You could also do a few water changes over the next couple of days.
For most problems a water change is always recommended.

 

[mattison187]

Sounds like ammonia or nitrite spiking. Common symptom of "new tank syndrome" is smelly water. You sure nitrite and ammonia read 0? Better to double check.

 

[charlie10tango]

I used pool filter sand. I did rinse it out prior to using it. in the terra cotta planter I put a thin layer of lava rock topped with substrate for planted freshwater tanks (I cant think of the name at the moment and Im not at home).

 

[Manas]

I swapped from a 20L to a 29 about a week ago. New sand bed. New terra cotta pot with new substrate for plants. I put about 18 gallons of water from 20L into the new tank, then topped off with RO water. Same filter and media (ceramic rings and foam over intake tube). Stock is as follows:
1 Betta
1 Electric Blue Crayfish
7 Black Neon Tetras
2 juvenile Striped Raphael Catfish (will be going into a different tank)
About 2 days after the move, the tank got a strong fish odor. There are no fish missing. What could cause this odor? Yesterday I put in a Tetra Wisper 10 filled with activated carbon AND gave the filter a good cleaning. The odor still seems to be there...am I missing somethinig??? There was no noticeable odor from the 20L.
Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0ppm, Nitrates <40ppm, ph 6.7 out of the RO filter.

Odor is the sign of poor water quality. Maybe due to a lot of compounds (chemical) try hanging a bag of activated carbon on a corner inside your aquarium. It takes 2-3 days for the odor to vanish.

 

[charlie10tango]

I will recheck the water again tonight. I guess that does make sense to have a spike since i lost the bacteria that was living in the old substrate....i guess that "nitrogen cycle denial" on my part.
If it is a spike, would you recc just water changes and let it play out or should I add Prime or something to the water.

 

[Allan01230]

prime would not hurt at all

 

[Manas]

I will recheck the water again tonight. I guess that does make sense to have a spike since i lost the bacteria that was living in the old substrate....i guess that "nitrogen cycle denial" on my part.
If it is a spike, would you recc just water changes and let it play out or should I add Prime or something to the water.

Ohk, simply add prime. No need to do water changes. Also keep a steady flow inside your tank. Ensure that there are no dead zones (no flow-zone) except beneath of the filter. This will promote bacteria growth in the substrate.

 

[administrator]

Give it some time to settle.