Artificial Coral and smell

[ElisabethB]

Hello!
I have never had a saltwater tank. Large investment for sure. I do have a question. 3 weeks now set up. I have live rock with holy rock and live sand. My local fish store said I could add artificial coral decorations. So I did. Saltwater safe decorations and I placed them in the tank yesterday. When I raise the lid I can smell the decorations. Is this ok and will that go away? So lost.
Thank you.

 

[LaloJ]

Hi Elisabeth, I'm not so sure about that, I have never used artificial corals, but I do not think the smell is a good sign, I would remove the decorative elements and leave only the rock, what are you using as filtration and what capacity is your tank? Usually, ask questions on the forum before buying anything they sell you in the store, just to be safe.

 

[bribo12]

I agree, I’d also run carbon to get any toxins out and do a water change. Those decorations may be ok in a fw tank but saltwater has a nasty effect on things and could have possibly caused paint or something to leach off it. Honestly removing them will make your tank look 100000x better as well

 

[Sniperhank]

If there is a smell, they need removed and washed and rinsed well until the smell is gone. Saltwater is quite caustic when it comes to the things that go into it. Can easily strip off paint off aquarium décor into the water column and cause issues.