Disgusting Smell

[kribensis12]

Okay, about 4 days ago, my little cousin ( 3) had decided he wanted to feed my fish, and he dumped a 1 Oz. Container of Micro Pellets in the 29 g tank with my 2 convicts, and their some 100 fry. So, when i found out, the whole tnak was coverd in food ( about 1 inch of the food coverd the bottom). So, i did a 20g water change, in hopes to get all teh food out. So, i tested the water, no spike. But for precaution, i added in the Bio-Wheel from another tank incase of a spike. Well, 4 days later, no spike. The tank is very couldy though, and smells of dead fish ( actually, my parents WHOLE room smells of dead fish). My mom wants me to through the tank out, but its a good tank, and i bought it only 6 months ago. How can i get rid of the cloudiness and the foul odor?

 

[Truck]

my sister did that to my tank, best thing to do are 50% water changes every 3 days, and put filter floss at the top of your filter.

 

[kribensis12]

The tank is being filterd by a sponge filter. I will do a water change. But, its not just the water, the walls are white too. How come?

 

[Truck]

give the tank a good ole clean, clean the glass and if you have another filter get it going with lots of floss,

i had this problem and it took 2 weeks to rectify

 

[kribensis12]

The water has cleared more since the actual incident. And i dont have another filter. I could possibly switch filters with a different tank, but im undecided.

 

[Tolak]

Fish in a bucket, tear it down. Rinse everything but the filter media in tap water.

This would be a good time to tell your mom the gravel went bad, you could only save some of it. Put a thin layer back in, to keep her happy.

 

[kribensis12]

Just wondering, WHY is the tank cloudy?

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Krib,

The cloudiness is probably a bacterial bloom caused by all the rotting food left over. Nothing to worry about, just try to remove as much waste as possible from the substrate and do water changes to get rid of the smell.

As Tolak says, maybe tearing the tank apart is the way to go if its so bad.

Cheers

BTT

 

[kribensis12]

Its not THAT bad. Just a bad smell and some cloudiness. The cloudiness has somewhat gone away. I may just wait it out and see what happens.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Why waste all this good info... Give it a try anyways....

 

[kribensis12]

I did as backtotropical suggested. I did a major water change and cleaned the gravel out very well. The tank is still cloudy, so im going to wait and see if it clears up. It dosent smell as bad either.

 

[Jallen]

I would do as Tolak said, put the fish in a bucket, drain tank, take out the gravel, rinse as if new, take out filter, thoroughly rinse media in aquarium water, take out all ornaments and thoroughly rinse, wipe down all sides with hands, then rinse with water, drain water, put gravel and ornaments back in, refill tank, reclimatise fish.

 

[kribensis12]

I would, if the tank wasnt in such a akward place. Its under another 30 g. On a rack. There is about 4 inches of clearance over the tank, so its hard to do a W/C, let alone drain it ect. Which is why i would like to wait it out first, and then if it dosent correct itself, i will do the water change.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi kribensis12

I'd do what Tolak recommended and take the tank apart for cleaning. Having uneaten food in the tank is the best way to breed harmful bacteria and, while they might not hurt your fish immediately, they might cause disease later on.

IMHO, in this case it would be well worth the trouble it takes to do the job.

 

[jourdy288]

Check the tank above, you never know...
While I would avoid doing a tear-down, if you do decide to, you may want to make sure that the fry are a little larger so you can get them all.