Smelly Water

[michaelh]

Hi guys, back ground info first-well stocked,awsome filter and chrystal clear water.

My water has a very strange "dusty" smell.
Not a dirty smell and not to strong either but still a smell.
Fish all seem happy (usual behaviour atleast).
I dont test water but do 25% change every saturday. Any ideas? Thanks
also water is treated and tank has lid with "slits" on top

 

[Aqua Tom]

Hi & welcome. we will try to help but a little bit more info is always welcome, ie, what is "well stocked"? what is an "awsome filter"?

also,

Size of tank?
Stock list?
Substrate?
Planted?
Lighting?

We will probably need some water test results, saying your water is crystal clear doesnt realy help, as most of the toxins in the water are crystal clear themselfs.

i hope we can find the cause of your pong.

 

[michaelh]

Hi & welcome. we will try to help but a little bit more info is always welcome, ie, what is "well stocked"? what is an "awsome filter"?

also,

Size of tank?
Stock list?
Substrate?
Planted?
Lighting?

We will probably need some water test results, saying your water is crystal clear doesnt realy help, as most of the toxins in the water are crystal clear themselfs.

i hope we can find the cause of your pong.

Your gonna hate me for this...
40 litres tank
no lights/not near window
1 plant-not sure what it is
filter rated at 120gallons/hour with mature sponge,ceramic rings,carbon cartridge
12" airstone,unsure of pump make/model
Gravel substrate-well washed;-)
(this you wont like)
Stock
5 mountain cloud minnows
3 danios (zebra,lepoard and rasbrado)
Black moore (soon to be moved into new SUITABLE tank)
all fish are juvanilles

unfortunatly i dnt test water however currently looking at getting a test kit(seems like the bright thing to do)
hope this helps, thanks

 

[Skins]

How often do you perform your filter maintance?
Does your filter outlet cause enough disturbance on the waters surface?

Keith.

 

[michaelh]

How often do you perform your filter maintance?
Does your filter outlet cause enough disturbance on the waters surface?

Keith.

once a week i rinse filter(foam) in tank water and water all has lots of movment....lots...lol

 

[Aqua Tom]

Ok if you have no lights at all & its not near a window that leads me to believe the plant is dead ot dying, so letting off a nifty niff. Plants need light to survive. If it is dying take it out straight away as it is decomposing & adding ammonia very rapidly.
Once the plant is out do a 50% water change & gravel clean to get rid of any rotting plant material.
The next thing to do is test your water, but we will have to wait for those results.

When you get a test kit, get a liquid based one rather than test strips. Its a lot more accurate.

 

[michaelh]

Ok if you have no lights at all & its not near a window that leads me to believe the plant is dead ot dying, so letting off a nifty niff. Plants need light to survive. If it is dying take it out straight away as it is decomposing & adding ammonia very rapidly.
Once the plant is out do a 50% water change & gravel clean to get rid of any rotting plant material.
The next thing to do is test your water, but we will have to wait for those results.

When you get a test kit, get a liquid based one rather than test strips. Its a lot more accurate.

Ye i hear strips can be very inacurate
would it be worth losing the gravel? Im forever digging food out of it and no room for bottom feeders (black moore gets his fair share of surface food)
as for he plant, hadnt really thouht of that, however its not going brown or droopey...
And my moore loves sucking it

 

[Aqua Tom]

Aha, i think we are nearing the answer. how do you clean your gravel?

 

[michaelh]

Turn over the gravel and let the filter suck up the food.works pretty well as i dont have gravel vac

 

[Aqua Tom]

I think you need to get a gravel vac. That way all that fish poo & uneaten food are removed from the tank rather than just being recirculated, thet are quite cheap to buy or you can make one yourself for pennys.

 

[michaelh]

You think that would cause a dusty smell though? I wouldnt have thought so

 

[woody88]

You think that would cause a dusty smell though? I wouldnt have thought so

Hi, Myself and my dad have kept freshwater tanks for years. I personally do regular maintenance on my tanks, but my old man always goes by the smell of the water. The water should smell like 'soil'. You'll find you've got a high amount of nitrate [waste].

You should'nt really disturb the gravel, let alone turn it over as that is where a good majority of good and bad bacteria live. Just gravel vac the surface, the good bacteria should break down the rest underneath and when you clean the filter just clean 50% of it, leave it a couple of days and then clean the other half this way some good bacteria will remain on the filter as this is their main home.

This is just my opinion and i've always stuck by it but I always use UGF in my setups and a seperate HOB filter with carbon.[never had a prob with ammonia/nitrite/nitrate since cycle] and my tanks are on the border line of being overstocked.

Get the water tested and then we'll all have a good idea whats going on.
I also think your tank is overstocked [bigger bioload/more waste/nitrate] but once again thats just my opinion.


I expect somebody to correct me but we all have our own methods of fish keeping and my fish seem happy and healthy] like the saying goes ''If it aint broke, don't fix it'' LOL

Before anyone asks about my old mans methods let me just say that he kept some tough fish to look after and NEVER lost one.

 

[JasonandJill]

When Woody says "the water should smell like soil" I think he means that if you've got a lot of waste in the substrate it will smell like soil. ie the water SHOULDN'T smell of soil, but probably does because your gravel needs cleaning. I think

 

[michaelh]

So a gravel vac and water change shoyld sort it out?

 

[FishyWishie]

You should'nt really disturb the gravel, let alone turn it over as that is where a good majority of good and bad bacteria live.


I'd have to disagree on this compared with the filter very little bacteria are found in the substrate and vaccing out any waste is far preferable over not disurbing the gravel.