Cant Eliminate Smell, Please Help !

[minnnt]

Nothing wrong with doing it on the cheap mate.

 

[mishmash]

Nothing wrong with doing it on the cheap mate.

Yeah but whenever I try to save money it seems like I end up spending more ! I now have thirty quids worth of JBL aquabasis+ that I dont want to use. That thirty quid, added to the £12 carbon filter pad I bought, £10 cat litter Im chucking makes £52. For £70, or just another £18 I could have had 2 bags of Florabase and be done with it.

Actually, the AB+ smells too. What do you reckon are my chances of saying to the place I bought it "This stuff stinks, Im not happy with it, can you give me credit against something else for the money I have lost on it" ??

Is it florabase that reputedly leaches ammonia at the start ?

 

[SuperColey1]

Just looking through your last replies there where 1 person had the same problem. did they use the Kitty litter? Maybe there is something in the kitty litter that reacts with certain water parameters and we all have differing water parameters, (forgive any typos I'm drunk at mo)

Soo. Maybe you and the other person had water parameters that conflicted with the kitty litter???

If it were me I would rip the lot out, buy a bag of cheap gravel or sand and then set about scaping. water column ferts added so makes no difference in reality.

gravel is easier to slope and maintain the slope than sand. Sand is impossible to maintain a slope with shrimp / bottom dwellers in.


In truth I would be filtering the lot, washing the kitty litter from the aquabasis, stick the aquabasis under a barrier of gravel and then use sand at the front



Hope all goes OK though. It would do my head in.

only ADA AS 'owns up' to leeching ammonia at the start. The others do in the main too!!!! However that is because they have a lot of organics in the content which the Purigen should help deal with before it turns to ammonia. Not all, maybe not even half but it will help.

Andy

 

[mishmash]

Just looking through your last replies there where 1 person had the same problem. did they use the Kitty litter? Maybe there is something in the kitty litter that reacts with certain water parameters and we all have differing water parameters, (forgive any typos I'm drunk at mo)
Hi Andy yeah they used the same as me (and everyone else)..

Soo. Maybe you and the other person had water parameters that conflicted with the kitty litter???
Feasible though my water is pH neutral, average gH low kH and no indication of high iron or copper content and was dechlorinated using Sera Aquatan which is reputed as one of the best dechlorinators on the market so I am at a loss on this really.

If it were me I would rip the lot out, buy a bag of cheap gravel or sand and then set about scaping. water column ferts added so makes no difference in reality.
I am rapidly concluding that too.

gravel is easier to slope and maintain the slope than sand. Sand is impossible to maintain a slope with shrimp / bottom dwellers in.


In truth I would be filtering the lot, washing the kitty litter from the aquabasis, stick the aquabasis under a barrier of gravel and then use sand at the front
Could be a good call



Hope all goes OK though. It would do my head in.

only ADA AS 'owns up' to leeching ammonia at the start. The others do in the main too!!!! However that is because they have a lot of organics in the content which the Purigen should help deal with before it turns to ammonia. Not all, maybe not even half but it will help.
Thanks well if I decide to go the florabase route I will be adding purigen too and doing a fair amount of the usual planted tank water changes so that should be ok its just good to know what to expect.

Andy

Thanks for the reply Andy, very helpful suggestions re the scaping

I do have another question though. It seems that the AB+ is smelling the same as the cat litter so its possible one absorbed from the other (which way round I guess we will never know). I may get lucky and get a free bag of florabase out of this and wondered if I decided not to spend the extra on the second bag needed to completely have florabase, can I use it UNDERNEATH gravel ? I like its ability to reduce the pH. I might even bung it under some of that Limpopo as minnnt says it wont up the pH.

 

[SuperColey1]

Everybody's water should be Ph Neutral. The WAater companies use phosphates, CO2 and other things to get the Ph as close to 7 as possible however that is a false reading. Not sure if it is immediate or very long time scale but I would expect the Ph to be different straight out the tap from 24 hours afterwards.

i.e. Mine is Ph 7 to 7.2 yet we have very high GH and KH round here (huge amounts of limestone) Also high Phosphates in the water.

I wouldn't conclude too much from the Ph r.e. the water parameters. I was thinking more that there may be something in the water (added or natural) that has caused a problem for you and the other chap where others haven't had the problem.

Also not sure why you 'like the idea' of Columbo's Ph reducing abilities? I wouldn't worry about the Ph at all. Within reason it is unimportant and get too far reduced from 7 you can have problems with shrimp etc.

As for the Columbo. Yes you can put whatever you want under gravel or sand. You can even put gravel under gravel and sand under sand. lol

However if you have the Columbo I would decide what scape you want first. If doing a carpet at the front then use 'uncapped' columbo at the front and gravel in the rear. If no carpet then use Columbo underneath the deepest / most plant filled / not under hardscape sections.

This really is a very user friendly hobby as long as the user has patience and researches well (+ can cope with the many frustrations that you get until you master things)

Andy

 

[mishmash]

Everybody's water should be Ph Neutral. The WAater companies use phosphates, CO2 and other things to get the Ph as close to 7 as possible however that is a false reading. Not sure if it is immediate or very long time scale but I would expect the Ph to be different straight out the tap from 24 hours afterwards.

i.e. Mine is Ph 7 to 7.2 yet we have very high GH and KH round here (huge amounts of limestone) Also high Phosphates in the water.

Reading same just out the tap, 24 hours later and 3 days later for my water. Oddly, a different part of town, fed by a different reservoir comes out the tap at 8.2 so I guess its all different depending on a lot of factors including what the water companies try to do. Our water company is French so WHO KNOWS what they do lol.

I wouldn't conclude too much from the Ph r.e. the water parameters. I was thinking more that there may be something in the water (added or natural) that has caused a problem for you and the other chap where others haven't had the problem.

Oh OK well thats beyond my capacity to know.

Also not sure why you 'like the idea' of Columbo's Ph reducing abilities? I wouldn't worry about the Ph at all. Within reason it is unimportant and get too far reduced from 7 you can have problems with shrimp etc.

It claims to reduce and hold the pH at around the 6.3 to 6.5 level. I like that idea as it is compatible with the type of set up I want and fish I want to keep.

As for the Columbo. Yes you can put whatever you want under gravel or sand. You can even put gravel under gravel and sand under sand. lol

However if you have the Columbo I would decide what scape you want first. If doing a carpet at the front then use 'uncapped' columbo at the front and gravel in the rear. If no carpet then use Columbo underneath the deepest / most plant filled / not under hardscape sections.

Makes sense, thanks

This really is a very user friendly hobby as long as the user has patience and researches well (+ can cope with the many frustrations that you get until you master things)

Lol, I did loads of research and it still got me in a mess. I think I coped cos I had this place to ask questions. Lets put it this way, the tank glass is still entire ! I guess we will never know what caused the problem. I didnt soak the bogwood in a bucket first because I wasnt puttin fish in the tank and I only thought it would release tannis (which I had carbon to handle). It never crossed my mind that a piece of wood sold for the aquarium would leach anything other than that. I guess that was a stupid mistake. Its been so long since I used bogwood that I forgot a basic requirement. Grrr... Never mind. Didn't like the cra**y bit of wood anyways....

Andy

Thanks for all the above Andy. Happy Christmas

 

[SuperColey1]

It claims to reduce and hold the pH at around the 6.3 to 6.5 level. I like that idea as it is compatible with the type of set up I want and fish I want to keep.

This is what I mean. Ph is pretty unimportant for fish within reason. It's hugely pushed yet doesn't really matter. Far too many 'recommended Ph' suggestions for fish.

Not many people who have blackwater amazon fish are putting them in 3.5ph water!!!

It's the KH that is more important and whilst it does often go hand in hand with Ph it isn't always the case.

For example just pumping CO2 into the tank will reduce a 7ph down to low 6's. KH will stay the same though

Mine weighs in circa 7.2 from the tap. Normally low to high 6s in the tank with CO2 and dependent on which hardscape I am using

 

[mishmash]

It claims to reduce and hold the pH at around the 6.3 to 6.5 level. I like that idea as it is compatible with the type of set up I want and fish I want to keep.

This is what I mean. Ph is pretty unimportant for fish within reason. It's hugely pushed yet doesn't really matter. Far too many 'recommended Ph' suggestions for fish.

Not many people who have blackwater amazon fish are putting them in 3.5ph water!!!

It's the KH that is more important and whilst it does often go hand in hand with Ph it isn't always the case.

For example just pumping CO2 into the tank will reduce a 7ph down to low 6's. KH will stay the same though

Mine weighs in circa 7.2 from the tap. Normally low to high 6s in the tank with CO2 and dependent on which hardscape I am using

I always thought in order to get the fish to breed you needed to mimic their water conditions as much as possible. Everyone so far has seemed to say to get the ph to around the 6.3 6.5 mark to get the apistos I am getting more likely to breed. Thats the reason I was planning on going down that route.

 

[minnnt]

To a certain extent yes, but more will be to do with whether or not they have to right setup, for example lots of caves and hidey holes and whether or not they feel safe to do so.

 

[SuperColey1]

Indeed. It's like suggesting Human's only breed if the temperature is nice. In truth Human's breed when they get the utge (or when they feel like it and the opportunity is ther. lol)

My Corys are breeding and I would assume they are in mid 7s with the rock I am currently using. Cold 50% water changes spurs them on though.

And the cherry shrimp are breeding in all 3 tanks. All 3 different substrates/hardscapes = different Phs and all 3 different temperatures

I think as above poster as long as they are comfortable and the KH (Ph) is within reasonable parameters then it's not a problem.

I never had a problem with Rams breeding in 7.2 (6.4 in the day with CO2) Only problem was the mother eating the wrigglers after a few days of boredom. lol

Doesn't hurt to provide the conditions if others have had success as long as you aren't messing about with it (i.e. Ph up/down chemicals etc) keep it consistent and natural then it should be fine so woods etc, peat in the soil should naturally bring it down without the need to keep on messing about with it. However take each claim with a pinch of salt. Each person saying that Ph needs to be X and this is why they have success may have wildly different KH readings or TDS so they are only changing 1 parameter of many which IMO won't make much of a difference at all. More likely they are doing something whilst altering the Ph (like the water change I do) or something else happens as a side effect of what they are doing and they falsely correlate it to the actual thing they were trying to do.

Andy

 

[mishmash]

To a certain extent yes, but more will be to do with whether or not they have to right setup, for example lots of caves and hidey holes and whether or not they feel safe to do so.

Indeed. It's like suggesting Human's only breed if the temperature is nice. In truth Human's breed when they get the utge (or when they feel like it and the opportunity is ther. lol)

My Corys are breeding and I would assume they are in mid 7s with the rock I am currently using. Cold 50% water changes spurs them on though.

And the cherry shrimp are breeding in all 3 tanks. All 3 different substrates/hardscapes = different Phs and all 3 different temperatures

I think as above poster as long as they are comfortable and the KH (Ph) is within reasonable parameters then it's not a problem.

I never had a problem with Rams breeding in 7.2 (6.4 in the day with CO2) Only problem was the mother eating the wrigglers after a few days of boredom. lol

Doesn't hurt to provide the conditions if others have had success as long as you aren't messing about with it (i.e. Ph up/down chemicals etc) keep it consistent and natural then it should be fine so woods etc, peat in the soil should naturally bring it down without the need to keep on messing about with it. However take each claim with a pinch of salt. Each person saying that Ph needs to be X and this is why they have success may have wildly different KH readings or TDS so they are only changing 1 parameter of many which IMO won't make much of a difference at all. More likely they are doing something whilst altering the Ph (like the water change I do) or something else happens as a side effect of what they are doing and they falsely correlate it to the actual thing they were trying to do.

Andy

Thanks Guys ! I am gonna stop sweating it then and just go with the flow. And definitely NOT spend heaps of money on substrates just because of affect on pH. I have never been sure about the look of the florabase tbh, apart from the smaller grain stuff.

 

[minnnt]

Anyway... has the smell gone? I took a piece of wood out of my Puffer tank and i nearly threw up when i smelt it.

But... the tank is open topped and i couldn't smell it in the room...

 

[mishmash]

Anyway... has the smell gone? I took a piece of wood out of my Puffer tank and i nearly threw up when i smelt it.

But... the tank is open topped and i couldn't smell it in the room...

Yeah the smell has gone because the wood is back in the LFS, the cat litter is out in the garden and I am currently in negotiation with Maidenhead Aquatics over the aquabasis+ which after removing everything else, smelled too ! Hard to tell the source, but I am told AB+ should not smell and I dont see it absorbing the pong from other stuff.

Tank about to be thoroughly cleaned and restart. Most likely going with Estes sand and akadama / molar clay.

 

[Rummynose]

Anyway... has the smell gone? I took a piece of wood out of my Puffer tank and i nearly threw up when i smelt it.

But... the tank is open topped and i couldn't smell it in the room...

Yeah the smell has gone because the wood is back in the LFS, the cat litter is out in the garden and I am currently in negotiation with Maidenhead Aquatics over the aquabasis+ which after removing everything else, smelled too ! Hard to tell the source, but I am told AB+ should not smell and I dont see it absorbing the pong from other stuff.

Tank about to be thoroughly cleaned and restart. Most likely going with Estes sand and akadama / molar clay.

Well, I'll keep an eye out for your posts, because I am very interested how your tank will turn out! Glad you got rid of the smell now!

 

[mishmash]

Anyway... has the smell gone? I took a piece of wood out of my Puffer tank and i nearly threw up when i smelt it.

But... the tank is open topped and i couldn't smell it in the room...

Yeah the smell has gone because the wood is back in the LFS, the cat litter is out in the garden and I am currently in negotiation with Maidenhead Aquatics over the aquabasis+ which after removing everything else, smelled too ! Hard to tell the source, but I am told AB+ should not smell and I dont see it absorbing the pong from other stuff.

Tank about to be thoroughly cleaned and restart. Most likely going with Estes sand and akadama / molar clay.

Well, I'll keep an eye out for your posts, because I am very interested how your tank will turn out! Glad you got rid of the smell now!

Thanks rummy i only got rid of the smell because i emptied the tank, LOL. It was still inconclusive as to why the smell was there in the first place