BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Smelly Fish

This is kind of a weird problem, but one of my tanks smells :rolleyes: . It's the water I imagine, it smells like rotten eggs sorta. I can't imagine what it is. Also, there is a film on the top of the water which I thought was from the salt but now I am not so sure. The tank is 2 1/2 gallons with a heater but with no filtration. I have one tiny female in there and that's it. I was having this problem before when she was in a 1 gallon, so I bought the bigger house thinking it would help, but the smell is still there. The only thing I can think of that I do differently for this tank than my other non-smelly tanks is that I use Ammo-lock to treat the water. Does anyone have any idea what this is? I'm thinking maybe a bubbler would help but I really don't want the noise because it is next to my bed. I do about a 50% water change about every 5 days w/a gravel vac. Any ideas? <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Well I guess I am wondering why you are using amolock on this tank and not on the other? And I'll just go ahead and ask for Jilly if you let the dog drink out of this tank too LOL :devil:

The tank should NOT smell so something is going on here. What do you have for gravel? What is the temperature. Is there algae is it green or brown?

Maybesnails are dying inthe gravel or something like that. Do you see any slimey stuff on the fish's body. hmmm

I would
NOT use the ammon lock but use whatever you use in the other tanks...if this doesn't help after several 50 percent water changes I would put her in a smaller container, keep her warm enough, use half water from NON smelly tanks and half fresh treated water and do a round of bettafix..it won't hurt her if she doesn't need it, Then totally clean everything in the old tank with water, no soap whatever you use to "sterilize, drying it al in the sun always helps too, safer form of bleach. after the betta fix start at square 1 back in the 1 or 2 gal tank. what color are the fish wastes she excretes, maybe a parasite thing too.
hth
glo

that smell is probably rotten food, or something dead, as Glo said. Try a 75% water change and really get into that gravel with your siphon.

well, I don't think it is possible that it is any of those things, except maybe the ammo lock. I have only had her for a couple of weeks, and she stunk up the first tank and so I put her in a brand new bigger one. I use the ammo lock because her tank has no filtration to help prevent harmful buildups b/c the tank will never cycle. And I only put in about 1/4 inch of gravel so I can make sure it is sparkling clean when I change the water. Hrmmmph. This is what is so confounding. I did put in a new cavey thing in her tank. Maybe it has some weird residue or something, although I did rinse well with hot water before putting it in. I'll take it out and see if it helps. Thanks!

Glo..

What's the difference between brown algae or green algae as far as water quality goes? I have had both in my tanks.

Emg :rolling:

From what I have read, green algae although at times unsightly is not realy a sign of any majoyr water quality problems...brown algae on the other hand COULD be...yet it too is hard to totally illiminate, if you have it is it a good sign to do water tests and water changes on a very regular basis for some time to try to optimize our water cnditions. Guess the only other thing is to get them otos to help removeit as well...see following info

"Brown algae" (diatoms)
This is often the first algae to appear in a newly set-up tank, where conditions have yet to stabilise. It will often appear around the 2-12 week period, and may disappear as quickly as it arrived when the conditions stabilise after a couple of months. It is essential to minimise nutrient levels to ensure the algae disappears - avoid overfeeding and carry out the appropriate water changes, gravel and filter cleaning, etc. Limiting the light will not deter this algae, as it can grow at low lighting levels and will normally out-compete green algae under these conditions.

If brown algae appears in an established tank, check nitrate and phosphate levels. Increased water changes or more thorough substrate cleaning may be necessary. Using a phosphate-adsorbing resin will also remove silicates, which are important to the growth of this algae. However, as noted above, it is essentially impossible to totally eliminate algae with this strategy alone. Due to its ability to grow at low light levels, this algae may also appear in dimly lit tanks, where old fluorescent bulbs have lost much of their output. If a problem does occur, otocinclus catfish are known to clear this algae quickly, although you may need several for larger tanks, and they can be difficult to acclimatise initially

I love my otos! :love: They are doing a great job keeping the tanks clean. They have the cutest big black spots on their back just in front of their tail fin.

Once the algae is cleared out, you can put zucchini, cucumbers, yellow squash, or spinach leaves in for them to nibble. :music:

I had a couple of octo cats...but they all died ! All the other fish they were in with are fine and dandy. Guess they are just more sensitive than guppies and bettas. They sure did do a great job of cleaning the algae though! Just wish they weren't so tempermental!

Maybe I should try them in my daughter's tank again, as it seems to be cycled and healthy now. Her fish and thier water sure are sparkly clean and clear and the ammonia and nitrites are at zero....but the algae does crop up after awhile.

Emg <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Emg,
Sorry to be ignorant, but are otocinclus and octo cats the same fish? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> My otos seem to be pretty hardy and tolerant of temperature and water changes. In fact, Flash didn't seem to have any ill effects when the two froggies died. :angel:

Nann....I'm with you...I don't have a clue!! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> The fish we had were called...octoci..something..initis..or something or other <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> I Didn't write it down when I had the chance..lol.

Don't know why these fish died...one of them it was right after a change in water...yet the betta did fine. I think that scaleless fish are just generally less tolerant to change and a bit more sensitive than those with scales. I know on some of the meds I have they suggest smaller doses for scaleless fish...usually about half what you give the fish with scales.

Anyway, now that my daughter's tank seems to have cycled properly..I may try one again in there...plenty of algae to keep it happy for awhile! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Emg :love: