OMG....HELP...smelly tank

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laura65536

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 3, 2007
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Nebraska
alright, I have tried everything I can think of with my tank to get rid of the smell, but it's still there.....it was a used 75, we had our O in it for awhile, and it smelled awful, I figured it was just the O so we got rid of him, then I moved my fish over to it, it still smells...I thought maybe there was too much gravel, so now there is just enough to cover the bottom....I do 80% wc twice a week, nitrates are never much over 10ppm (api master kit) ammonia is at 0, nitrite is at 0, currently it's due for a wc tomorrow and nitrates are more than 5 but less than 10...heres the stock list:
5" pictus
8" channel cat
8" paroon shark
7" paroon shark
4 1.5" cory cats
5" common pleco
3 mollies and a few babies

I am aware of the overstocking issue to come, they are growing out in this tank and still have plenty of room for now...

it almost smells like rotten eggs, I gravel vac with the python ever wc (wed. and sunday)


I currently feed a few flakes for the mollies and babies that haven't been eaten yet, a few (2-3) algae wafers a day, some hikari sinking carnivore pellets for the sharks, and a few tetramin variety wafers for everyone else (mostly I'm just trying to use them up) it's all eaten right away except for the tetramin wafers but those are always gone before morning, I just figured the pleco was eating what the corys weren't (they are a little large for the corys to eat all at once) and every time I am getting ready to do a wc I drop in 2 or 3 cubes of bloodworms and 1 of baby brine shrimp for a treat....

I am running an airstone and a bubble disk, emperor 400, and an ac110. Emperor has been modded for more biomedia, ac110 has 3 sponges in it. I took all of my decorations out for a week thinking there were gas pocets under them, but I had to put a few back after the second water change as my channel cat wasn't very happy about his cave being taken away....

I am trying to avoid carbon as it won't be a long term fix to whatever the problem is, and I have read that it can harm your fish, so I just keep it on hand to remove meds if I need them. I use prime for a water conditioner, haven't had any meds in this tank for over 6 months except salt for 2 weeks awhile ago....
PLEASE HELP:cry:
 
Take half of the gravel out (assuming your tank is not planted) or more. Stir the remaining gravel with your hand. Do a water change, and service the filter in the tank water that has been removed NOT TAP WATER. Use prime when you refill and the smell should be gone.....
 
yup, do a big clean. i recommend doing this: Vacuum your tank, stir your gravel, do a 50% water change and clean out your filter the next day. waiting til the next day lets your filter get any remaining sludge. also, if you dont mind them, add a few MTS. They will eat the crap that falls to the bottom, stir your gravel and they hide during the day so you'll only see them sparingly. i keep them in the pond and used to keep them in my tank but i no longer need them
 
Prime does not have a "residual" smell. It does smell at first but not after it does its thing in the tank. Use prime it is highly recommended here. Pond prime is even better.
 
well I can't take out any more gravel without having a barebottom tank, but I will stir it all up and do a big wc....I'd like to stick with prime but if it really is necessary I can switch to a different one I guess, I use it in the other 2 tanks though and don't have this problem with them....

and what is a mts?
 
brent65536;1152896; said:
well I can't take out any more gravel without having a barebottom tank, but I will stir it all up and do a big wc....I'd like to stick with prime but if it really is necessary I can switch to a different one I guess, I use it in the other 2 tanks though and don't have this problem with them....

and what is a mts?
Click to expand...





Snails.....
 
80 % percent seems a bit heavy for a single water change imo .

if you do no more than a 40 % water change every day your fish will be less stressed out ;)
 
no snails here, had a massive snail problem before, not a big fan of snails anymore...
I just stired up all my gravel really good and did another 80% change, filled it back up now should I do the filters now or tomorrow? and is there any other way to make this stop happening every few days? I have no problem with doing wc as often as needed, but with my tests not saying it needs it yet, I'm not understanding what the smell is, thanks...
 
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