STINKY water from new tank

[billylee]

Okay, so I set up my new 75 gallon with 3 five inch tinfoils and 3 six inch bala
sharks with a used Emperor from my other tank. There's also a new Quick filter
that is attached to a powerhead. I used a bag of Pea gravel from a hardware
store that I rinsed a bunch of times and initially the tank was very cloudy when I
put the gravel in but after a few days it subsided somewhat. Now, almost 2 1/2
weeks later the tank is still somewhat cloudy and it smells bad. PH, ammonia,
& nitrite levels are all fine.

I'm not cycling, am I? Or, do I have some sort of bacterial boom?
Maybe I should remove all that cheap Pea gravel....

Whats the problem?

 

[Vince]

I would change 25% of water. Are you sure all of your fish is alive and not one is "decaying" under any deco ? Also, make sure your fish is eating all the food. What type of food are you feeding?

 

[billylee]

I've been changing about 30% of the water every other day for the
past week and I've been feeding them pellets/brine shrimp twice daily.


And no fish is dead.

 

[PeacockBass]

test your water.

I want the EXACT numbers... not "everything is fine" .


What is NH3 NO2 NO3 and PH.

why didnt you cycle this tank?

 

[Vince]

I've been changing about 30% of the water every other day for the
past week and I've been feeding them pellets/brine shrimp twice daily.


And no fish is dead.

So all the foods are being eaten?

I agree with Neal. What parameters did you get when you tested the water? Ammonia, pH, etc..

 

[DeLgAdO]

doesent it need more than two weeks to complete cycling?

 

[Mourinho18]

i cycled my 75 in a week and a half .

 

[ROSS]

I let mine go for ruffly 3-4 week's but after a week in ,I added a few neon to help the nitre cycle , also used some bacteria from a lfs in the filter's aswell to help the process. but yes you should never start a tank right away with fish unless it is an all ready established filter..

 

[Vince]

I didn't cycle my 240 at all. Let the water stand overnight, with aeration, then added the fish in it. 3 chinese perch, 1 barramundi, 3 albino plecos, 2 stripe bass, all about 4-5 inches, cept the plecos, those were about 8 inches. I used sponged filters that were'nt primed either. I did put a piece of sponge filter from an older tank. I wouldn't advise this method to everyone. Am I proud of it, I'm just lucky. Thing is after a week, I changed the water 50%. Keep that water fresh. It helps the bioload, and increase the bacteria reproduction because of clear, clean, freshly oxygenated water. Also, it might have something to do with the size of the tank, but I did the same thing to my 125's. So I dunno, maybe the tap water here in So. Cal. is already cycled

 

[Chad55]

He said he had used it on another tank of his. I think that it was an established filter. That is what he meant I believe.

Chad