Stinky Water
- Thread starter sic0198
- Start date
ox5477
Wet pets make the best Pets
It prob has microorganisms growing in it that like stagnant water. I would do a 100% waterchange and restart the cycle to make sure anything in the tank goes away. If you use a carbon insert in the filter, it will help remove some of the lingering smell as well.
If you are really paranoyed about something hurting future stocking, empty the tank of all water, decorations and substrate, and rinse the inside with a very small bleach concentration solution, say 1 teaspoon to 5 gallons of water. After a few quick rinses the bleach should be washed away or neutralized and you can start recycling the tank
Just a note too.... did you have a mature filter running on just water with no stocking? Because if there is nothing adding ammonia to the water, then the filter will die as the bacteria will starve to death. Heads up for the future.... bacteria need a constant supply of the chemical they feed on to survive...
If you are really paranoyed about something hurting future stocking, empty the tank of all water, decorations and substrate, and rinse the inside with a very small bleach concentration solution, say 1 teaspoon to 5 gallons of water. After a few quick rinses the bleach should be washed away or neutralized and you can start recycling the tank
Just a note too.... did you have a mature filter running on just water with no stocking? Because if there is nothing adding ammonia to the water, then the filter will die as the bacteria will starve to death. Heads up for the future.... bacteria need a constant supply of the chemical they feed on to survive...
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Yes, you've not given enough info about the tank, the filter or the purpose.
Soon after water is treated with conditioner to dechlorinate/dechloraminate, there can be plenty of bacteria growing in it. Here in the forum we are usually focused on the bacteria in the filter but that ignores other types of bacteria also present in the water.
The good bacteria we try to encourage are chemolithoautotrophs (litho="eaters of rock" (!) - they transform basic non-organic molecules into the compnents necessary for thier life) whereas there are also heterotrophic bacteria present in the water. The heterotrophs are the ones that break down the leftover food, the plant debris and the fish waste into ammonia, which then feeds the autotrophs in our filters. In reality a mix of many different species will be found in greatly varying amounts on and in everything in the aquarium.
If you introduced a filter with bacteria to a bare tank of tap water (dechlored or not) you would soon have enough decomposing organic matter from the now-dead bacteria to be able to smell it (probably some "rotten egg gas" from sulfer-dioxide or other organic components.)
If the tank was bare it still might need a scrub of the walls and filter components to rid this smell. If it had substrate, that might contribute even more smell and need a good bucket rinse.
~~waterdrop~~
Soon after water is treated with conditioner to dechlorinate/dechloraminate, there can be plenty of bacteria growing in it. Here in the forum we are usually focused on the bacteria in the filter but that ignores other types of bacteria also present in the water.
The good bacteria we try to encourage are chemolithoautotrophs (litho="eaters of rock" (!) - they transform basic non-organic molecules into the compnents necessary for thier life) whereas there are also heterotrophic bacteria present in the water. The heterotrophs are the ones that break down the leftover food, the plant debris and the fish waste into ammonia, which then feeds the autotrophs in our filters. In reality a mix of many different species will be found in greatly varying amounts on and in everything in the aquarium.
If you introduced a filter with bacteria to a bare tank of tap water (dechlored or not) you would soon have enough decomposing organic matter from the now-dead bacteria to be able to smell it (probably some "rotten egg gas" from sulfer-dioxide or other organic components.)
If the tank was bare it still might need a scrub of the walls and filter components to rid this smell. If it had substrate, that might contribute even more smell and need a good bucket rinse.
~~waterdrop~~
It was bare the only thing that was in there was substrate and an airstone, 2 bubble curtains and an UGF. The water although conditioned was not cycled. I was getting ready to start a cycle. I heard it was a good idea to run it through the filter before starting a cycle.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Ok that makes much more sense. I'd probably just do a complete water change - unless it smells really bad still, that should take care of it.
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