Cant Eliminate Smell, Please Help !

[SuperColey1]

Sorry if I missed it but was does it smell of? Eggy? Stale water (like when you leave a bucket in the garden and forget about it?

As per question above you can use what you want. I use playsand or the smallest gravel I can find normally. I'm not one to pay £10+ for a bag of sand if I can buy it for £2.50. Same with gravel.

And +1 the above. There is no need to use a 'specialist' planted substrate. I do (Tropica) but only because I bought it back in the day and I have reused it ever since (baking it for 4 hours in a roasting tin between uses then crushing it up again.)

As for the kitty litter I used the Tesco 'value' stuff because one of the wife's friends stayed with us and brought her cat so I bought some cat litter. A few months later I set up a shrimp tank and used it under gravel without washing it.

Doesn't help you on the smell though. I think we need to get to the root of that and move on from there.

 

[minnnt]

Lol! Hope your missus knows which tin you use.

 

[mishmash]

Sorry if I missed it but was does it smell of? Eggy? Stale water (like when you leave a bucket in the garden and forget about it?

As per question above you can use what you want. I use playsand or the smallest gravel I can find normally. I'm not one to pay £10+ for a bag of sand if I can buy it for £2.50. Same with gravel.

And +1 the above. There is no need to use a 'specialist' planted substrate. I do (Tropica) but only because I bought it back in the day and I have reused it ever since (baking it for 4 hours in a roasting tin between uses then crushing it up again.)

As for the kitty litter I used the Tesco 'value' stuff because one of the wife's friends stayed with us and brought her cat so I bought some cat litter. A few months later I set up a shrimp tank and used it under gravel without washing it.

Doesn't help you on the smell though. I think we need to get to the root of that and move on from there.

Thanks for the post. It is a hard smell to define. Its definitely NOT the eggy smell as I would recognise that right off. Its more the latter. And I cannot see that the water is stale. There is movement and filtration, its only been running just over a week and has had several almost 100% water changes in that time. I have aquabasis plus on the bottom which went in dry (though as is the norm was very slightly damp in the bags) and stayed there on its own for a couple of days, then i washed and washed and washed and... you get the picture.... the cat litter for over three hours and added that. Then a few hours later (about 6 actually) I added water and put the filter on. The tank is new, the filter and media are new and I am running a carbon pad (though I gather they are not as good as granules).

I just wish I had smellyvision or something because the actual smell is so hard to describe but yeah the closest I can think of is what you might associate with the old smelly tanks of old days in LFS's. That should not happen, ever, and certainly not on a new setup.

 

[shoulders]

cant you get 3 glasses or jugs and put some aquabasis in one fill it with tank water then put some cat litter in the other fill with tank water then put aquabasis and cat litter in the 3rd jug fill with tank water then let them stand a few hours then see if any of the jugs smell

 

[mishmash]

I could do but would the smaller volumes give measurable results?

 

[ian]

cant you get 3 glasses or jugs and put some aquabasis in one fill it with tank water then put some cat litter in the other fill with tank water then put aquabasis and cat litter in the 3rd jug fill with tank water then let them stand a few hours then see if any of the jugs smell

^^thats not a bad idea...

 

[Rummynose]

cant you get 3 glasses or jugs and put some aquabasis in one fill it with tank water then put some cat litter in the other fill with tank water then put aquabasis and cat litter in the 3rd jug fill with tank water then let them stand a few hours then see if any of the jugs smell

^^thats not a bad idea...

I like the idea too, and maybe you can loosely place some container lids over the glass, I imagine it would concentrate the odour, so that you would be able to detect it even if it is only faint!

 

[mishmash]

cant you get 3 glasses or jugs and put some aquabasis in one fill it with tank water then put some cat litter in the other fill with tank water then put aquabasis and cat litter in the 3rd jug fill with tank water then let them stand a few hours then see if any of the jugs smell

^^thats not a bad idea...

I like the idea too, and maybe you can loosely place some container lids over the glass, I imagine it would concentrate the odour, so that you would be able to detect it even if it is only faint!

OK I will give it a go, but to be honest, Im all for ripping it all out

 

[SuperColey1]

Lol! Hope your missus knows which tin you use.

I rescape through the night so she along with kids are in bed and outta the way The first roasting tin was the one I do the chips in and the second one the one I do other things in (I do the cooking in this house and a thorough brillo scrubbing and Cillit Bang(ing) afterwards should sort out any problem. lol

As for the smell. Can't be the water because it doesn't smell straight away. Can't be the wood because you've removed it (unless it has left something in there) and therefore the only thing left is the substrate or the tank itself!!!

That is unless it is something to do with the cycling and will go away in a month or so time. I am pretty clueless on this therefore. Not something I've really come across.

 

[mishmash]

Lol! Hope your missus knows which tin you use.

I rescape through the night so she along with kids are in bed and outta the way The first roasting tin was the one I do the chips in and the second one the one I do other things in (I do the cooking in this house and a thorough brillo scrubbing and Cillit Bang(ing) afterwards should sort out any problem. lol

As for the smell. Can't be the water because it doesn't smell straight away. Can't be the wood because you've removed it (unless it has left something in there) and therefore the only thing left is the substrate or the tank itself!!!

That is unless it is something to do with the cycling and will go away in a month or so time. I am pretty clueless on this therefore. Not something I've really come across.

My thoughts exactly. Though when you say its the tank, it was a brand new tank. Having said that all I did was wipe the inside of it lightly with a dampened cloth as it was pretty clean. Should I have done more ? And if so what, cos I may end up doing that anyway. Cheers

 

[SuperColey1]

I'm the wrong one to advise so I'll let others answer that I am very lazy and buy a tank put stuff in it and then get it running. No cleaning, no cycling, nothing. lol

 

[mishmash]

UPDATE:OK so I am going to take the cat litter out. I am also going to take the aquabasis+ out temporarily so that I can fully clean the tank. As just mentioned, it was brand new from the shop so all I did was wipe it round with a damp cloth. In hindsight I might have needed to give it a proper clean. What do you all think ? Was my oversight there likely to contribute ?That being the case, what is the best way to clean a bare tank ?

 

[Rummynose]

UPDATE:OK so I am going to take the cat litter out. I am also going to take the aquabasis+ out temporarily so that I can fully clean the tank. As just mentioned, it was brand new from the shop so all I did was wipe it round with a damp cloth. In hindsight I might have needed to give it a proper clean. What do you all think ? Was my oversight there likely to contribute ?That being the case, what is the best way to clean a bare tank ?

I only used hot water to wipe out my tank.

 

[minnnt]

Just wondering mate, what was the thoughts of the 'other place' you asked this question?

 

[mishmash]

Just wondering mate, what was the thoughts of the 'other place' you asked this question?

Most were surprised it was the cat litter and have had great success with it. One other person had encountered the same problem. At the end of the day I tried to do something on the semi cheap and it backfired. I wish I had just bought the other stuff now (Colombo florabase). Not only does it look great but it also helps keep the water at a nice pH level for my setup. I may STILL decide to splash out on 2 big bags !!!