Smelly Water, Pew.

[HornyFlower]

Can anything be done about smelly water? All my water parameters are perfect, nothing is rotting in the tank or anything like that. It's not bad, but when I take the top off to hand feed I can smell it, is there anything other than a large water change that can help this at all?

 

[Lynda B]

There's got to be a problem for your tank to smell.

What are your readings:

pH:
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:

What do you have in the tank? How long has it been in there?

What kind of substrate? Decor?

How often do you do water changes, how much do you change out and what system do you use to do water changes?

How often, how much and what are you feeding?

 

[HornyFlower]

pH:7.8
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:15

What do you have in the tank?

Severum, jack dempsey, parrot cichlid (2), tinfoil barb, 3 corys, 2 3 spot gouramis, 1 paradise fish. Piece of wood I found in a lake, I boiled it before hand.

How long has it been in there? Since I set up the tank, a few months.

What kind of substrate? Sand. I clean this almost daily.

Decor? See above.

How often do you do water changes, how much do you change out and what system do you use to do water changes?

I do water changes every 2-3 days, I change out 25%, I just syphon it and add treated tap water.

How often, how much and what are you feeding?

Usually I feed a good chunk of frozen mysis/brine shrimp in the morning (about 2-3 packets worth probly, I buy the kind that comes in a bag). Then at night I feed the same amount of bloodworms. In the afternoon sometimes they trick me into giving them a snack. I know they say to keep your fish "hungry" but I know I wouldn't like to be hungry all the time, when they are fully fed they seem to play more and show more of their personalities, they also aren't leaving any food fall to the bottom and anything that does the corys eat right away, so there isn't any rotting food or anything. Although, yesterday I ran out of food, so I fed them some frozen talipia (the kind for humans) and some avocado, could that have done it? Because the smell just started today. Like I said it's not that bad, you pretty much have to actually bend down and smell the water, it doesn't stink the whole room up.

Oh yeah, I have some anacharis plants and a onion bulb and some other plant, the onion bulb roots were rotting the other day, they seem ok now, on that note. Should I get new plants for the sand? (just changed to sand a few weeks ago, had the plants before I had the sand) Or is it possible to save them maybe, they aren't dying they are just not growing well anymore, does the sand need fertilizer? Could you maybe suggest some plants that would do well in sand substrate? I would like as many plants as possible without c02 and low lighting.

 

[Lynda B]

That must be a cool tank.... I don't have any of the same fish that you have, but in reading what you've posted, I have to think it has to do with the food. I can't say whether or not you're overfeeding. If the foods not gone within a couple of minutes, then yes, you're overfeeding. And it's really easy to. You do think you're starving them, but their stomachs are only as big as their eye, and that's not all that large. It really does pay to keep them not hungry, but not stuffed. You want mean, lean, swimming machines.

 

[HornyFlower]

B)-->QUOTE(Lynda B @ Jul 11 2007, 07:09 PM) [snapback]1687669[/snapback]
That must be a cool tank.... I don't have any of the same fish that you have, but in reading what you've posted, I have to think it has to do with the food. I can't say whether or not you're overfeeding. If the foods not gone within a couple of minutes, then yes, you're overfeeding. And it's really easy to. You do think you're starving them, but their stomachs are only as big as their eye, and that's not all that large. It really does pay to keep them not hungry, but not stuffed. You want mean, lean, swimming machines. [/quote]

No thats the thing, they eat everything as fast as I put it in there. It doesn't last 10 seconds . I just wonder if this smell is normal, the water shouldn't smell at all? I mean, wouldn't the fish give off an odor?

 

[ShoC]

I find my Tank smells after a water change as the treatment to remove chlorine smells like crud
I'm using tetra safe,
could this be your problem?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

What kind of "smell" is it? Rotting eggs, decaying food, etc?

 

[Meds081603]

I use prime for water changes. My only complaint about it is the stuff smells like rotten eggs. But the water does not, only the bottle when you open it. It does take a bit for me to stop smelling it though even after I've done the water change. Hell you can smell the stuff 1/2way across the house for 20 minutes after opening the bottle. If you use prime this could be what you smell.

 

[Fish2u]

Pretty simple, it's SULPHUR !

 

[fishlette]

Pretty simple, it's SULPHUR !

i think what you should say is 'could be sulphur'. there is more than one thing that could make water smell.

as someone has already said, smelly water indicates some form of issue. the avocado could be the culprit as vegies often foul the water quite quickly.

also, id ask some questions about the cichlids and the bloodworm. i know with africans too much can cause them major health issues. i think it could be constipation or something. and its great that they get bloodowrm, but are you feeding them flake as well?

 

[HornyFlower]

Pretty simple, it's SULPHUR !

i think what you should say is 'could be sulphur'. there is more than one thing that could make water smell.

as someone has already said, smelly water indicates some form of issue. the avocado could be the culprit as vegies often foul the water quite quickly.

also, id ask some questions about the cichlids and the bloodworm. i know with africans too much can cause them major health issues. i think it could be constipation or something. and its great that they get bloodowrm, but are you feeding them flake as well?

I do, but they don't seem to like it much, the parrots have such big bellies I have to use too many flakes for them to get a good amount. Should I try pellets maybe?

 

[fishlette]

Pretty simple, it's SULPHUR !

i think what you should say is 'could be sulphur'. there is more than one thing that could make water smell.

as someone has already said, smelly water indicates some form of issue. the avocado could be the culprit as vegies often foul the water quite quickly.

also, id ask some questions about the cichlids and the bloodworm. i know with africans too much can cause them major health issues. i think it could be constipation or something. and its great that they get bloodowrm, but are you feeding them flake as well?

I do, but they don't seem to like it much, the parrots have such big bellies I have to use too many flakes for them to get a good amount. Should I try pellets maybe?

yes they will need something. if they are not eating it, lay off on the bloodworm for a couple of nights. they will soon get hungry enough to eat the flake or pellets. if they have only been getting bloodworm, everything else will seem not quite up to standard for them it would be like having steak every night and then being served up gruel and be expected to eat it.

 

[merry78]

if your sand substrate is deep (say...more than 2 inches), perhaps you are getting anaerobic pockets where bacteria are creating nasty gases? Perhaps this could smell? not sure, but might be worth checking your sand for black/dark coloured spots that are a sign of this.