I had just put two powerheads on my UG filter and all the gunk beneath made its way into the water column. I had performed a 15% water change before taking the ratings above. I have since done 3 water changes about 30% each since the 9th. Today my ratings are as follows:
Ph: 6.0
Ammonia: .25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
My tank water smells funky from across the room, and is actually the worst its been thus far today. Can anyone explain the improvements/worsening of my levels, and the funky smell? I have a 20 gallon and established it 2 months ago. I recently (after putting the powerheads on and doing a water change) took out 7 barbs from the tank, so I have 2 baby angels and 2 bala sharks... plan on keeping it this way. Any suggestions on what to do next or how to rid the smell? thanks
You still have a critical situation going on and the smell is a symptom. I think it's ammonia. You should aerate more till things get better, you should do a 30% water change every day till things get better, pH goes to 7.0 or higher, and condition the water really well (it's OK to put a bit more conditioner in than they say and it should have an ammonia blocking ingredient), you should put in extra new charcoal, buy a sponge filter that can slip onto the intake of your filter to increase the biological cycling ability, buy a product called cycle which will put living good bacteria into your system adding some every day, and hardly feed at all till things get well. It's the food that ends up messing up the water and you can control that by stopping for a day and very slowely bringing it back. If you don't have anything like ammoblock in your conditioner you might want to get some ammonia absorbing chips to mix with the new charcoal. Then feed your fish from now on less than they will eat if they stuff themselves. They don't need to eat as much as they want. Try almost not feeding for a few days, and gradually increasing the amount as things get better, but not as much as before. Tap water from municipal water supplies is often very alkaline, like 8.0pH, so you might want to have that checked before you put it in your tank as well. You can do all these things without much cost. (1)Cylindrical sponge filter, (2)Cycle brand bacteria, (3)new charcoal, (4)almost stop all feeding for a few days till it gets right. (5)Daily 30% water change till it's right with no bad smell. Can you find some Java moss? If you can it will grow in almost no light and it'll help the cycle a lot. Good luck!
Ok ... I did one more water change and let the tank sit overnight. I took a test of the ammonia today and its at zero finally. However, the funky smell was back again today... so I cleaned the intake tube of my Biowheel Penguin 150 filter and also replaced the filter cartridge (second one in two weeks)... I also ran my biowheel under warm water since it was stinking (not sure if anyone has encountered this problem as well), and put everything back and added Cycle to the biowheel and the tank. The smell has gone down a bit, but have been fighting this for a good week and a half, so my fear is it will return to smelling again tomorrow. I just don't know what it could be... it doesn't smell earthy or fishy, just musky so i'm clueless. help
I don't know what you're feeding your fish, but you should be basically starving them till the smell is gone. Did you check the water when the tank wasn't smelling? It could be that the ammonia has gone up again which could kill the Cycle bacteria if it hasn't taken hold yet. If there is ammonia again it could kill all the good bacteria and you'll be back to starting the cycle with new bacteria again. Have you tried ammo-lock? This is a chemical that converts the toxic ammonia to non-toxic ammonia the biological filter can then convert more easily. There is also aquarium charcoal that's mixed with ammonia absorbing chips. This might help till you have a good colony of beneficial bacteria going. Are you sure you don't have a dead fish hiding behind a rock or something? That may be the cause of the smell. I'm trying to think of everything. Some water companies have changed their additives from using just chlorine to also using chloramines or chloralamines. Some of the older water conditioners don't convert some of these new additives. Make sure you have one that converts more than just chlorine.
no dead fish... haven't fed them for 2-3 days... have zero ammonia so i added the cycle to the tank and the biowheel. Really can;t tell any difference of anything ive done except give back all 7 barbs to the store, now i only have 2 angels and 2 bala sharks and my pleco... this is the only different thing aside frm my powerheads... no algae of any kind and done plenty of water changes.... will check for any leaks when i return home but i doubt it, since its acrylic and brand new. and yeah i add amquel and nova something each water change, and plenty of it (conditioner and detoxifier and slime coat). Maybe its a phase.... we'll see. will keep testing water for next few days.
It sound like you're doing everything right. Cyano-bacteria smells musty, but you would see green slime all over your tank and you say there's no algae. Where do you live? Maybe if you're in the middle of nowhere the Cycle is old (though even if there is a little bacteria left alive it still should work). I think things should get better.
not a drop of algae (of which im proud, as i had earlier problems with this if u remember)... live in los angeles and bought the cycle from a petco (which is about the only thing i buy from them apart from fake plants). I prefer my lfs.
I will wait it out and update my situation later this week, wish me luck. hopefully it will disappear as quickly as it came.
Well, I ran my biowheel under warm water a few days ago when i added the Cycle.... now the smell is completely gone, but today my fish are covered in fuzzy salt-like white tufts (kindy fuzzy in some parts, but im on the fence as to whether its ick, sounds more like fungus). I went to my lfs and they told me before i medicate to test my water. So i tested my water with the following results:
PH 6.2
Ammonia .25-.50 (in between)
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
I fear my cycle has started over? maybe after cleaning my biowheel it rid the good bacteria away? i figured my UG filter would have good bacteria in it and the cycle would have replenished it? any ideas what is going on... my fish look like they will be dead tomorrow!!? :(
I'm sorry you're having this problem continue. Either there is no beneficial bacteria due to continued toxicity and the new stuff you put in dies or there is a source of decaying material that is overwhelming the cycle. You might try rinsing the bio-wheel and filter cartridges in water that doesn't have chlorine in it, make sure you've cleaned the gravel really well(I stir up my gravel till the water is filthy and then siphon most of that crap out), because it's hard to get everything with those gravel cleaning siphons alone, and since you do live in LA like me if I were you I'd buy some Java moss. It's cheap, needs very little light, and it's really benefits the cycle. If you live in the valley or near I could give you some of mine. I end up throwing a lot away. Since the tap water you use is probably a pH of 8.0, to get it to 6.0 so quickly means you either must have a lot of decaying waste and or your cycle bacteria are dead and even the new bacteria are dying. I hope it gets better soon.
Yes i just did another water change, took a water test... my ph is 6 and my ammonia is at zero... im guessing the water change did this, so will take another test tomorrow to get more accurate results. The lfs telling me my ph is the cause of a lot of my problems, and that water changes are the best way to rid my problems. i feel i have been doing excessive water changes, but really no other option at this point. I will look into java moss, but not sure if this mixes with a UG filter. One of my bala sharks is swimming upside down, so I expect him dead by morning. And yes, I do believe I killed my good bacteria when I rinsed my biowheel with chlorinated water, I forgot that little bit of important info, lol. Im sure my cycle is starting over, which means algae will be coming back soon. Ahhhh, this is frustrating to say the least. Can't wait to get the hang of this!
I guess some parts of LA have different sources for their water, and maybe different pH's as well, but my water is 8.0 or higher, so if you did a 30% water change you should have a pH of around 7.0 immediately after, if you do the math. Where do you live in LA? Maybe I could come and look at your tank and find something you missed. The Java moss is good when tied to the wood you have and it won't bother any filter and I could give you some of mine. I have a test kit as well. I wouldn't want to drive to Anaheim or somewhere too far, but you can give me a call and I'm confident we can get things right quick. Check your in box. PS Just to be clear; I don't charge for this. I just enjoy trouble shooting.
Yes i actually tested my water straight from the tap... ph of about 7.6
About a half hour after my water change my ph was at 6.0 The guy at the lfs told me that my low ph combined with my higher ammonia was what was allowing my fish to thrive... he said that the combo of these two actually makes each less harmful to the fish. Alone though, each will hurt the fish, especially the ph, as it allows ammonia and nitrites to thrive easier in the tank, regardless if its cycled or not. i dunno, what are some causes for such a low ph... i do plenty of water changes... maybe the best thing is to just leave it alone for awhile.
wow... ¿you ran the biowheels under warm tap water...? that caused the mini cycles...
sounds like you have gas buildup, or organics in your gravel... i would vacuum the gravel a couple of times and leave the biowheels alone for now on...
another possibillity for the stinky water is internal worms or parasites inside the fish... since the bala shark is dieing, i'm pretty sure that's the source of the smell... i forgot what parasite it is esacly, but i would add aquarium salt just to be safe... that would also help with the ick...
if i were you i would quarantine the fish in a hospital tank and dissinfect the tank and filtration system...
good luck...
oh... BTW i live in bell gardens where the 5 and the 605 meet, and my tap water is 7.8... I heart our high ph water...
any chance of a gas buildup under my undergravel filter? will gas buildup drop my ph that fast after a water change? i have vacumed plenty but yeah, recently switched from air stones to powerheads for my riser tubes on my UG filter. All 4 of my fish are infected, so quarantining is useless at this point. if they die i will definitely clean the whole tank out and start from scratch... probably a fishless cycle, but at this point, am hoping things just bounce back. can't figure out whats making my tank water so acidic so fast. the smell is completely gone btw, as fast as it came it went. So thats good at least.
