New Tank for Frog - Whole House Stunk The Next Day!

[Luis]

Hello Everyone,

On Sunday we transferred Leap (our African Clawed Frog) from the 3 gallon tank she's been in for the past half year to a brand new 10-gallon tank. We put some new gravel on the bottom, a decorative rock/cave in the middle, and filled it with dechlorinated water. Leap went in but seemed nervous (not her normal swimming self). Over the top we put a screened reptile cover made for 10-gallon tanks to make sure she stayed in. Leap is the only inhabitant of this tank.

Over the next day or two the whole house (main floor) was smelling so bad, like some kind of dead animal or something. The wife describes it as rotten eggs. We concluded it was the water in the tank by taking out a bucket full and taking a good whiff.

So last night we changed out most of the water, cleaned most of the gravel, and installed a new carbon filter that's sized for a 10-gallon tank. I can't remember the brand, but it was from our local PetSmart and hangs on the outside of the tank. (Leap seems to have like the filter - now she's swimming up a storm like in her other tank.)

We're hoping this setup will prevent further smells - is that wishful thinking?

When Leap was in the prior tank, which had a built-on plastic cover which only had a few vents cut into it, we never smelled anything that bad. Then again, I don't think we ever purposefully smelled her water from that tank.
There was a small in-water filter.

Is this smell normal? Is it so strong because there's more water and its practically exposed directly to the air (compared to the original tank which probably sealed in any odors)? Should we get a more solid cover to keep the 'bad air' in, or will the smells stop due to the filter? It's so bad we're afraid to have guests over!

My wife got home this afternoon (Wed.) and it seems like the smell hasn't decreased any. Do we need to give the filter more time?

We've raised leap for the past year from a tadpole, but we're still pretty new at this! Thanks for any info!

Luis

 

[Zagz]

You say it smells like rotten eggs? I have 2 ACF's and their water doesn't smell like that at all. I'd give the filter a chance and do small water changes daily to keep the smell down until the filter has a chance to work.

 

[crazycat]

the water really shouldn't have a bad smell.

have you noticed any algae? bga (cyanobacteria) smells like rotten eggs.

that's weird though--you didn't smell it when you changed over the tanks--i was thinking it could have be gasses trapped in the substrate--but that wouldn't make sense if it only occurred AFTER you changed the tank.

was there anything else you added to the tank? new decor, wood, plants?

 

[Luis]

I didn't notice any algae. Nothing else was added to the tank other than what I already mentioned.

The smell still was around tonite, although not as 'bad'. My wife described it now as a little 'orangey' if that makes any sense. To me the basic smell was still there but there was also a different odor in there that I could detect, like there's a different chemical reaction going on now than before.

Anyways, the water looks much clearer now that the filter's been running for over 24 hours.

We'll probably do the small water changes and see if that helps.

Thanks Zagz and crazycat!

 

[Zagz]

Let us know how you make out. Hopefully the filter will solve your problem.