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Cant Eliminate Smell, about to give up, Please Help

A

Antipofish

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I have had my tank running bare for a week now and have done two major water changes. I have 2.5cm of aquabasis+ on the bottom covered with what I considered to be 5cm of well rinsed cat litter on top (i rinsed it in a sieve till there was no smell and it ran clear, then put it in buckets and rinsed again till it almost ran clear).

The current filter and media is brand new and was rinsed lightly before use. The filter has bio rings then foam then 2xfoam then carbon pad followed by finer foam and filter floss.

I used dechlorinator and Waterlife bacterstart (though i dont know why as there was nothing to feed the bacteria !!).

I have this damned smell that is really bugging me. Its in my bedroom and whenever I come in i can smell it. If I stick my head in the tank its worse (obviously!). I thought the carbon would eliminate smells ? ?

I am told by someone who's opinion I trust that the aquabasi+ does not have a smell. Also that the cat litter should not have a smell. So what the hell is it ? Could it be the waterlife bacterlife ? I seem to recall the guy at the LFS I bought it from saying it had a bit of a pong. Surely it cant be that bad though ?

I really need to fix this or I am going to have to give up on the idea because I cannot have a tank smelling in my bedroom and there is nowhere else to put it. I wouldnt want the tank smelling anywhere though, so the location is irrelevant.

PLEASE someone help me with this. I have a beautiful tank and now have a decent filter to add to it also. I dont want to have wasted so much money only to fall at the first hurdle, but this is not my house and I have other people to consider too.

Thanks in advance.
 
spyder said:
What does it smell like?

What cat litter did you use?

I used the recommended Tesco lightweight one in the white and pink bag that is baked clay. So I am sure I have the right one there.

The smell ? I have no way of describing it. Its kind of stale. Maybe musky ? I really cant describe it. Its not rotten eggs. Could be almost "earthy" ? But all i have in there since last night is some java fern and a small handful of Pellia and the smell was there before that too.

Could it be the small piece of wood I have in there ? Never known wood to smell like it in the past though.
 
If it's a perfumey fragrance it will be the cat litter and will go soon. You would of noticed it while rinsing though and rinsing will not remove it completely. My hardscape was setup with the same cat litter but was left a week or 2 before planting and flooding. I remember how strong it smelt but it went away after a couple of weeks. If it is the litter it should go in 2-3 weeks. Regular water changes should help it on it's way.

It could be down to the wood. If you can take it out, rinse it and check for any soft rotting area's.

It's funny you should mention "earthy". I find aquariums running with good water quality tend to have a very light "sweet & earthy" whiff to them, nothing that usually offends the nose.
 
spyder said:
If it's a perfumey fragrance it will be the cat litter and will go soon. You would of noticed it while rinsing though and rinsing will not remove it completely. My hardscape was setup with the same cat litter but was left a week or 2 before planting and flooding. I remember how strong it smelt but it went away after a couple of weeks. If it is the litter it should go in 2-3 weeks. Regular water changes should help it on it's way.
Its not perfumy definitely

It could be down to the wood. If you can take it out, rinse it and check for any soft rotting area's.

It's funny you should mention "earthy". I find aquariums running with good water quality tend to have a very light "sweet & earthy" whiff to them, nothing that usually offends the nose.
Its definitely NOT sweet, OR pleasant
 
Right, I took the wood out and smelled it and it reeks of the same pong I had detected in the tank. I have taken it out and am soaking it in a bucket to see if its actually the wood that smells or whether it had absorbed the smell from the tank. I will do a big water change in the tank and see if it gets rid of the smell.
 
My money is on the wood, or...old socks under the bed :lol:
 
roadmaster said:
My money is on the wood, or...old socks under the bed :lol:

LOL if it was my old socks, TRUST me I would not be posting on here, I would be in A&E :clap:
 
Do you have any bogwood in it ? I was hoping that it was not the litter. In fact the wood smelled and i took it out, drained the tank completely and refilled and it seems to have gone. Will see tomorrow when it has had time to soak in the substrate a bit more, but at this stage I am hopefull.
 
Antipofish said:
Do you have any bogwood in it ? I was hoping that it was not the litter. In fact the wood smelled and i took it out, drained the tank completely and refilled and it seems to have gone. Will see tomorrow when it has had time to soak in the substrate a bit more, but at this stage I am hopefull.


No Bogwood in my tank.
 
WELL I cant bloody believe it ! The smell is back ! Thats wood eliminated, 100% water change and now the damn smell is still there. GREAT
 
WELL I cant bloody believe it ! The smell is back ! Thats wood eliminated, 100% water change and now the damn smell is still there. GREAT
 
Here is what to do but do it carefully.

Buy Potassium Permaganate from Ebay. Use 0.002 grams per liter of water. Mix in to small glass or plastic jar with small amount of water then pour it in to the tank. Aerate well, wait 4 hours. If water turns yellowish brownish in 4 hours or sooner mix another solution and pour it in.
After 4 hours and if water pinkish you can do full water change then use good doze of prime which eliminates residual PP.

What PP do? It is strong oxidizer and commonly used to sanitize tanks + removal of any smell. Coloration to yellow, brown indicates there is lot of organic waste in water.

I suggest you take all plants and livestock just leave substrate in such case you can even triple doze of in one go.
I once cleared my old seachem sand this way which was stinky like hell now it is like fresh new.

And when you do it be carefull as PP will stain everything to brown color.
 
Hi all,
The slightly earthy, "pond water" smell is caused by Cyanobacteria. These may be visible as a smear of "Blue-green" algae, or they may be free living as individuals in the biofilm or surface scum.

There are a few options for getting rid of BGA, personally I've never had enough of it in an established tank to cause odour issues, but others have, and have used higher flow, higher NO3, Excel, more frequent water changes etc. to treat it.

cheers Darrel
 
Unless this tank was larger than 50 U.S. Gallons (sorry), I would not expend any more effort and would drain the tank ,toss the substrate and begin anew.
What is apparently offensive to you ,may not be for me or other's, but starting fresh on tank smaller than 50 gal,should not be too expensive or labor intensive.
 
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