poly tank smells bad, what could be the cause? please help

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Prometheus

Prometheus

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 9, 2008
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i walked down stairs this morning to find my basement smelling horrible, i mean it wasnt like a rat died in the wall or something but it was still pretty bad. we even had to open windows and put fans in them to ventilate out the area. is this typical of bichir tanks? should i expect this or should i be doing something different? their last tank smelled bad too. they just got upgraded to a new grow out yesterday, a 20 long, all new water and everything, the only constant variables between this new tank and the last one are the filter - not the filter padding just the HOB - the food and the bichirs. iv been feeding hikari sinking carnivore pellets and they dont always get cleaned out afterwards, main reason for that in the past was because the tank was so heavily planted and decorated that it made it impossible without just clearing the whole thing out. please, i really love these fish and would hate to have to get rid of them so if you can give me a solution to this it is greatly appreciated. oh and since this morning i have added 2 more filters for a grand total of 3 on the little 20G long and the water has already started to foul up again.
 
feed them less....water changes....up the filters...clean the gravel if you have gravel...remove all plants but one..you might have "dead spots" in your tank. there is a lot of variables to your 20gal, just keep up the water changes....how new is your tank? is your tank cycled?
 
Prometheus;2305340; said:
is this typical of bichir tanks?
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no. it really shouldn't be stinking or anything.

i'm guessing your tank is underfiltered (before you added the extra filters), and also possibly the filter media are still new (so in a sense the tank is not properly cycled yet)?

also the hikari food does produce a strong smell, so it's important to not overfeed and remove uneaten food and don't let it just sit in the water.
 
I had that problem too; I went and got myself a powerhead to circulate my water a little better now it seems fine.
 
a powerhead? thanks you. i dont want to cause too much of a current, how much circulation do you have? not sure how you can answer that question saying as how the technical answer would be something scientific like gallons moved over gallons present in tank over a certain amount of time, if you can figure that out that'd be great but i guess a better question would be what size tank and what make/model powerhaed do you use as well as what kind of filter - that way i can estimate the flow from the filter (ex. an external would have a lot more flow than a HOB, so i need to know) and add in how much extra would be needed from a powerhead. does that make sense? thank you for your help. i really appreciate it and i hope this leads to a solution cause i know how much it hurts to lose these fish. i thought i would have to get rid of them and i found them a home but a few days later i missed them terribly and was allowed to get them back.

and ya it does smell like something is decaying. i thought something rotten might be in the filter so i removed it this morning.
 
I just went to the LFS and grab a powerhead that was relative to the size of my tank. Also try to do what Pryamid_Party said find anything that is rotting in the tank and take it out, try a water change too that will help with the odour
 
It is for sure for sure the hikari.

Carnivore and massivore will make your tank smell like someone took a dump in it, if the fish aren't eating the pellets within seconds of it hitting the bottom of the tank.
 
If its like a sulfur smell its something rotting. Soem guy had a problem like this recently and found out a tree stump he had in the tank was rotting in the middle. Are your fish acting different? This is just a possibility if you cant find the answer, but it could just be something simple like the type of food stinking the tank.
 
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