Cant Eliminate Smell, Please Help !

[mishmash]

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 littershould 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 do


Thanks in advance.

 

[minnnt]

what the hell?

 

[micko]

It is the same smell as the waterlife bacterlife that your adding?

 

[mishmash]

what the hell?

What do you mean "what the hell?" Minnnt ?

 

[Memoi]

I know it will sound silly but maybe there is far too much stuff in your tank and with the way you set it up the natural cycle life can just not deal with all of this, leaving you with a tank that smells. on the other hand you need to tell us a bit more (in simpler term) about your tank.
Is it brand new? how big is it? what is the smell like excactly, is it more fishy smell or more like bad standing water smell?

If it was a tank used by someone else before, maybe you got the remaining of a bacteria that you will only see developing once you're going to add some fish.

I know you wont like this but sometime the best thing to do is to desinfect everything and start again.

it's not pleasant but it worked for me. I couldn't explain what was wrong with my tank and i simply start from scratch again and now i have a beautiful tank with very happy fish...so far.

good luck and dont give up

 

[mishmash]

It is the same smell as the waterlife bacterlife that your adding?

Im not sure as i no longer have the bottle but am just off to the LFS to smell some of theirs and their tanks too. Im thinking it might be that though. I sure as hell hope so cos im getting fed up with the problems i seem to have with getting a damned tank going. Ive never done a planted tank before and the number of variables make it all a bit confusing.

 

[three-fingers]

what the hell?

I get that too . The first post is mainly this:

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Making it very hard to read, but obviously not everyone sees it.

With regard to the smell, unless I've missed anything, I can't understand whats causing it.

All I can say is that it should go away as the tank matures, just keep up 50% water changes in the mean time unless it's something organic rotting, give it a couple more weeks then start to worry . Have you tried putting fresh carbon in your filter? This may temporarily solve the smell while you wait for the actual cause to sort itself .

 

[BigTom]

Maybe try running some Purigen along with the carbon as well. Otherwise, like others have said, check for rotting wood, keep up with the water changes and if you can't find anything give it a couple more weeks to see if it goes away.

 

[ian]

I think this is copied from another forum...just remember you're going to get conflicting opinions.


anyways, i'd check the wood. Sometimes wood can let off some horrendous smells.

 

[minnnt]

Yeah, wood can be horrible.

 

[Rummynose]

Do you have real wood in your tank, mishmash? Did you boil it before adding it to your tank? Boiling the wood before adding would desinfect it. You could also try scrubbing the wood with a toothbrush, to remove any organic material that could break down in your tank and produce something like a rotten egg smell.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Boiling the wood will break down the fibers and it will rot and disintegrate much faster. It's really best to pour boiling water over it, then scrub the nooks and crannies with a toothbrush to try to remove any offending nasties.

Could we see a photo of the tank?

I'm afraid I could only read so much of the initial post before I started to go cross-eyed. If you're going to copy from another forum, at least have the decency to clean up the text.

 

[Rummynose]

Boiling the wood will break down the fibers and it will rot and disintegrate much faster. It's really best to pour boiling water over it, then scrub the nooks and crannies with a toothbrush to try to remove any offending nasties.

Could we see a photo of the tank?

I'm afraid I could only read so much of the initial post before I started to go cross-eyed. If you're going to copy from another forum, at least have the decency to clean up the text.

Oh, I've never heard that before. Is it also true for mopani wood?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Fairly certain it's true for any wood.

 

[Rummynose]

Fairly certain it's true for any wood.

I'll be sure to check it now and then for break down. Thanks!