My bichirs tank is stinky

[balton777]

I think the smell of the water is from the chemicals Toyin used to ship his fish. I've heard from many fish vendors that there is a chemical that smell really bad which sedates the fish and keep them more calm during shipping. Take this as a lesson to live and learn. Next time don't pour the water from the bag into your tank. Do a 20% partial water change then add some new carbon in your power filter. The smell should go away in 24 hours.

Funny guy, how about you pour a bottle of Febreeze on yourself because you stink.

I never pour the shipping water into the tank...I can't even see a newbie doing that. I've also done 3 water changes since putting them in. I've inspected all the polys (completely against their will lol) for external parasites and don't see any. They all 3 look healthy except one of my Koliba's eye's looks like it's still a little cloudy, but it was worse when I got him. It's actually clearing up a bit.

I've hooked up a second filter for now and I'll give it a little more time. I was hoping to take them out of quarantine soon but we'll see.

Thanks everyone for your help and concern. If you guys happen to think of anything please chime in.

 

[balton777]

Hello,
just thought i'd better jump in on this.....before we drive this thread in the wrong direction.

It's quite possible the smell from the bag may have come from the chemicals in the water. Or, it may have come from the ammonia from the fish waste. Many times fish release extra waste (due to stress during shipping). Probably explains the smell from the bag.
Same goes for the tank.
Was the tank already adequately cycled before the fish were introduced ???
If not, you will probably get some "funky" smell due to ammonia......especially if the fish were fed right away.
I would recommend 30% water change for the next 3-5 days to help your system take on and balance the new bio-load. Try to minimize feeding during this period.
If you have Amquel (not Amquel Plus), i would recommend 1 teaspoon for every 10 gallons after the first water change(only).
Smell should dissipate within a day or 2.
Hope this helps.

Thank you. The tank has been cycled and running for years but it's a hospital/quarantine tank. When not in use for anything else, I usually just keep a few convicts in it to keep it going. Maybe taking out the little convicts and adding 3 huge bichirs overwhelmed my filtration. This seems to be the best explanation. I hope all goes well in the end. Like I said in my previous post, I just hooked up a second filter and seeded it from another running filter. Thanks again you guys. I love these new bichirs and want them to be happy and healthy.

 

[IITUFFTOBEATII]

if they continue to smell , send me a pm, i have a poor sense of smell and i am willing to re-home them.

Toyin- props to you for chiming in!

 

[balton777]

if they continue to smell , send me a pm, i have a poor sense of smell and i am willing to re-home them.

Toyin- props to you for chiming in!

Yes thank you Toyin for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it and lovin' my bichirs.


IItufftobeatII, no re-homing will be necessary unless you want one of my kids.

Africanman is the Man!

 

[tezr]

add some fresh charcoal to your filters it should take out any odors. Bag buddies do stink so that and the shipping stress is probably what you smelled when the bag was opened.

 

[flamenco-t]

JUst for safety precaution, throw some filter sponge from another established tank in the QT tank. If you keep a few convicts and now you have 3 large bichirs, the bio load may not be enough.

If you can get a bio spira (fish gallery used to sell them) or any live bacteria, then I'd add some in for now. Grab a few bags (they're expensive) for 2-3 water changes ( I hope your QT tank is fairly small)

Don't feed for at least a week to let the BB time toi catch up with the bio load.

MOnitor your ammonia and nitrite, you don't want the tank to go to another cycling process.

stan

 

[balton777]

The tank seems to be doing better. It still has a faint smell, not nearly as strong. I never knew a bacteria bloom could be so stinky. Ten years of fishkeeping and never had anything like that.