Regular Member uberleslie Posted August 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2008 Yesterday morning: dining room/living room smelled fine. Yesterday afternoon: dining room/living room was STINK-O! Thought the culprit was a garbage can or the garbage disposal, but nope...it was my poor fishies! I was due for a large weekly w/c anyway, so I did one. Scrubbed the glass, filter box, plants, etc. Rinsed the filter media and inside the filter. (Exact same routine as last Sunday.) But boy-o, it was bad. I had some brown algae on of the river stones, the silk plant, and the filter intake, but not tons. And the water was perfectly clear. I'm not letting my nitrAtes get over 20ppm either. Guess I'll just have to do a weekly scrub with my w/c to keep it at bay... Also, my filter media have carbon inside. So I'm thinking that this might be some of the stink-o issue too. I have 2 identical filter pads (the ones that come standard with the Emperor 280), and the bio wheel. I swapped out one of the pads with a new one, but I'm sure I'm only prolonging the problem of carbon in my filter. So what sorta media fits the Emperor 280? Can I just cram random media in there? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member vickielm Posted August 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2008 Well Leslie, a lot of people do. You can also buy filter floss at the lfs and make your own filters. I don't get the smell though if you are doing weekly wcs. I usually keep the carbon in my filters and don't have a smell, although I don't change them until they are clogged and unusable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member uberleslie Posted August 25, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2008 I guess that's why I'm sorta looking for a possible cause and hypothesizing...I'm doing large weekly changes, and my nitrates are in check. So brown algae shouldn't be a big deal, but it's definitely there... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member vickielm Posted August 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2008 I notice that especially in warmer weather if I keep the tank lights on all day while I'm gone to work, the brown algae builds up faster. Here lately I have just opened the curtains and blinds (not next to the tank...just in the room) and let them get indirect natural light. I have noticed a significantly less amount of that brown junk. I turn the lights on when I get home around 4 and leave them on till I go to bed. But whats puzzling me is I didn't know that brown algae had a smell. I realize it likely does when you get the stuff out of the tank, but I've never noticed it make my water smell so much that I could smell it when I walked into the room. I could be wrong, but I have a terrific smeller, really, and I've never smelled my tanks at all. You are doing weekly wcs. (We laugh because there are about 5 of us who do them on Sundays) Your nitrates are fine. Even if your filter media is goopy they shouldn't smell until you remove them from the tank to swish them. So where is the smell coming from? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member gunbunnyj Posted August 25, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2008 Did you notice it after you fed them? My tank gets brown algae occasionally but I never smell it. But the instant I feed my fish, my room smells. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member uberleslie Posted August 26, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 26, 2008 Not really. I fed earlier in the day (8ish), and was gone a couple of hours and then came back (4ish) to stink-o. I had probably a worse brown algae growth a couple of weeks ago with no smell...so that is weird. I have started turning off lights during the day, but the room does get some sun from a sliding glass door -- 1/2 blinds closed...no direct light. Very strange. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member vickielm Posted August 26, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 26, 2008 Well as long as the babies are ok, maybe it was just a fluke. If it happens again though I would definitely investigate everything to find the source of the stinky smell! I know your fish are healthy and you take super good care of your water and tank, so it has to be something fairly simple. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dfernandez77 Posted August 27, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 27, 2008 Do you have gravel, or barebottom? How big is the tank? How many fish? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member uberleslie Posted August 28, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 20 gal. 2 fish (in sig) -- yes, there are plans to get a bigger tank. 1/2 barebottom, 1/2 gravel (about 1in or less), with riverstones separating the two. i feed on the barebottom side, so i can make sure they eat it all. the more i think about it, i'm wondering if the broccoli i put in in the morning (left it there for about 45mins-ish) made the big stink somehow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dfernandez77 Posted August 28, 2008 Regular Member Share Posted August 28, 2008 the more i think about it, i'm wondering if the broccoli i put in in the morning (left it there for about 45mins-ish) made the big stink somehow. Nope, the broccoli didn't do it. I feed my girls broccoli nearly every day. I'd be willing to bet that there's waste accumulating in the gravel. My tank had a funky smell before I went 100% bare bottom. It also seems to help that I always add a tonic dose (1.5ml per 10 Gal) of Melafix to the new water every time I do a change. I hope you find the issue and solve it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted August 28, 2008 Admin Share Posted August 28, 2008 Gravel will make that tank more stinky....also the build up of brown gunk in the filter. Oh and if you get a canister make sure you rinse it out once a month it gets stinky too 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member uberleslie Posted August 29, 2008 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 29, 2008 Hmm...it remains a mystery. Hopefully it won't get stinky this week too. I'll do another w/c on Sunday... I do gravel vac every time (Python) and the last two times I've scrubbed the gravel around with a brush to get some gunk off. (I always wash the river stones and plants too.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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