Tank Stink.......

[Killer Smile]

Okay so im in the process of cycling my 10 gal tank,i first thought of sitting through the long fishless cycle,but i kinda got impatient a bit and put a single female betta in to sort of speed things up,im wasnt so sure if this was such a bad idea but i guess i kinda just did (if it is that much of a bad idea,then i am terribly ashamed ) the thing is,this morning when i woke up,the water was extremely cloudy,kinda like slight milk-ish white cloudy with an awfull smell,i panicked and immediately took the betta out and temporarily put it into a spare 2.5 gal i have,i did a 50% water change but my problem is,it still has this horrible smell,i cant seem to point out what it is but its awful,can anyone give me advice on how to get rid of this smell?

Another thing id like to add is that i put sand as gravel and kinda put it slightly too thick (did a wrong estimate,was aiming for around 1.5 inches of sand but ended up with around 2,i intentionally planned to make it a bit thick cause i plan to add plants in the future),could this be the cause? like those small dead spots with no oxygen in them? I really dont know which is the cause since it only started smelling like this today when the water became all cloudy

 

[star4]

Milky white cloudyness sounds like an bacterial bloom, not harmfull most new tanks get it. The smell however I am not sure about, it could possibly be a build up of gasses in the sand, can you see any air bubbles in the sand?, if so turn your sand over by either your hand or the stick end of your net and run it through the sand to release any built up gasses then do a wc.

 

[Littlemonkey]

Sorry did you mean sand and Gravel. The white milky water could be a bacterial bloom, which with water changes should go. The smell however I suspect is comming from the thick layer you have put on the base. I would have either sand or gravel. With water changes do a gravel/ sand vac to collect any uneaten food & fish waste which if not will cause the smell and create bad water quality. Hope things improve.

 

[Killer Smile]

Oh shiz,how embarrassing i meant sand as substrate,not as gravel but anyway,will the cloudiness be in any way bad for the fish,cycling of the tank or whatever? after the water change the walls of the aquarium did seem a bit whitish too,and until now after the water change its still cloudy

As for the air bubbles,yes i have seen some,only in the front of the aquarium which is the only part i usually look at,didnt check for it on the other sides and obviously not in the middle of the tank. Yes i did use a sand vac with the water change earlier and so the sand was pretty much moved around and all,i also flattened the sand out after with my hand,so is this the cause of the smell? Does that also mean that the smell and cloudy water arent related and just happen to be there at the same time?

 

[Littlemonkey]

Could be. As Star has pointed out Bacterial blooms are usually non harmfull. One thing I would add, Before I put hands into a tank I makesure that they are free of any soap's or handcreams etc, just as an extra precaution.

 

[Killer Smile]

yes i wash my hands after not before i put it in the tank wait so does that mean i should just leave things as is? I mean,should i discontinue the semi-large water changes? (well atleast i was planning to keep doing around 40% water changes a day) As for the smell,all i have to do is make my layer of sand thinner and thats it? None of these should be of extremely serious concern?

 

[Littlemonkey]

I would still do the water change and see how it goes. Keep us posted.

 

[star4]

The bacterial bloom is non harmful. The gasses trapped in the sand can be (it could be a build up of ammonia which is very harmful, I am guessing its ammonia because you say it smells). I only have sand in one of my tanks, but as its for earth eaters I have no worries with it being moved about. Best option is to for a couple of days give the sand a gentle stir up making sure all the gas is removed and a partial wc till it clears. If you have a test kit, test the water before you stir up the sand, then again after if your ammonia reading changes then you will know thats the problem.

 

[Killer Smile]

okay good thanks,that really cleared up a few concerns i had i'll continue the water changes,stir and make the sand thinner,i guess i just panicked too much i'll update if anything else pops up

 

[star4]

No harm in panicing, I do it all the time.