Just some questions - thank you !

[Roxanne]

Hi everybody,

Hoping you can advise me on the following :-

1) My tank has a smell ! When I go near to the tank and sniffed, this smell is at times strong and other times, not so strong. What is producing this smell please ?

2) At the LFS, there are 'zeolite rocks' being sold. The label on the package says these rocks will absorb ammonia, nitrite and other toxics. Is this true please ?

Does it really mean if we put-in these rocks into the tank, we need not do weekly water changes anymore ?

By the way, there is no 'prescription' on the bag. Don't know how many rocks we should put-in for our tank-size. Any suggestions please ?

3) What is the orginating country of the motoro ray ?

Some LFSs told me there is a 'season' for this motoro ray. What does this mean please ?

Thank you, everyone, good weekend,.........

 

[nitrous]

idk the answer for them but it may help them fore the 1st if you know your water perameters and whats in the tank/size

 

[bman]

Describe the smell, and like nitrous stated, if you know the tank's water parameters that would b more helpful. Also, how long the tank has been set-up.

I do not know about the zeolite rocks, but if you are in the middle of a cycle and still have ammonia levels, there will be an ammonia smell to the water. An earthy smell is apparently normal.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I would not use the zeolite. They do not take the place of water changes. You will lose water due to evaporation but the disolved minerals will be concentrated at a higher level. Water changes is the only thing that will remove the excess nutrients. IMO as long as you perform regular water changes and your tank is cycled, you should never have ammonia or nitrites in your tank. Therefore you do not need the zeolite.

I have heard of individuals using the Zeolite in their filter in place of carbon, but I don't have experience using it.

 

[Jchillin]

The Motoro ray is a stingray from South America, from the Amazon. I have no idea of what season the employee is referring to.

 

[Roxanne]

Describe the smell, and like nitrous stated, if you know the tank's water parameters that would b more helpful. Also, how long the tank has been set-up.

I do not know about the zeolite rocks, but if you are in the middle of a cycle and still have ammonia levels, there will be an ammonia smell to the water. An earthy smell is apparently normal.

Bman and Nitrous,

The tank has been around for almost 1.5 months, and it still contains ammonia, from the tests I have done. A few fishes inside.

This smell is still present after a 70% water change.

But the 'unusual' thing is : this smell comes and goes. Sometimes it's strong, at other times, it is barely 'smellable'. There was one time when I came home from work, it was a hot day, and I could smell the smell from 2 meters away from the aquarium.

I'm afraid I can't tell the difference between an earthy smell and ammonia smell.

The ammonia content is the reason why I wanted to use zeolite. Seems I can't get my tank to cycle properly.

Comments please,..........

 

[An t-iasg]

What is the size of your tank, and what kind of fish and how many? The first thought that comes to mind is that you are overstocked, since the smell is still around a month and a half later. But that's just a guess until you post how many/what type of fish you have.

Unfortunately, it is not unusual for a tank to take longer than 6 weeks to properly cycle. It shouldn't take too much longer, though.

Can you post exact ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings?

What kind of filter do you have? Have you ever rinsed the media in tank water that was removed from a water change? (don't rinse media under the faucet). This may help with the smell, but don't do this until your ammonia readings are consistently 0. You don't want to disturb the colonizing bacteria that resides in the filter. You don't want to use zeolite for this same reason. The zeolite absorbs ammonia, and the good bacteria have nothing to feed on, so they die. When you remove the zeolite, the tank has no bacteria colonies to remove the ammonia, and you get an ammonia spike and have to wait for your cycle to start all over again. The only situation that I would use something like zeolite is maybe in a QT tank or during an extended power outage.

 

[Roxanne]

Sir,

Thank you.

Concerning the motoro ray, is it easy to care for this fish ? Does it require consistent good water quality ? What about food please ?

Thanks again,.........

 

[Jchillin]

Check these links for more info:

Ray

Ray1

Ray2

~still awaiting your tank specs to help with your existing issue.

 

[Macrosill]

From what you have stated, the smell was really bad on a hot day, sounds like ammonia causing the smell.

When was the last pwc you did. If you keep up on them and the water parameters are all within normal limits there should not be an odor emanating from the tank.

You said "The tank has been around for almost 1.5 months." It is now March. That means you set it up sometime in the end of Jan. or beginning of Feb. Where are you located? I want to go there, where it is HOT in Jan. It has been really cold the past few nights in NY.

Good Luck,
Brian

 

[Roxanne]

Jchillin,

Thank you for your links. They are very helpful.

Macrosil,

I'm located in Singapore. Sorry about the cold at your place.

Guessed I'll be using the zeolite stones after all. The ammonia smell is too strong, and my tank hasn't cycled yet.

I supposed after putting in the zeolite stones and these stones absorbed the ammonia, my tank should not smell anymore, right ? Don't like the smell,..........

 

[Skyrmir]

Doing several water changes in a row will cut down the smell considerably. Since your cycle is going to take a while you may want to just keep doing 25% water changes daily until you know your water parameters and your cycle is finished. That should keep the smell down and your fish alive until it's done.

 

[pwrflpills]

I feel like there's a communication barrier here.

Roxanne, please post the specs and water parameters so we can help you.

The smell could be anything from ammonia in the tank to a bottle of Prime next to your tank with dried solution around the cap (happened to me before and it stunk!).

Also, didn't people advise not to use zeolite and now you say you're going to use it? Am I missing something?

That motoro ray is pretty awesome, but be sure that you have a large enough tank before you go buying anything like that. Posting your specs would help people here provide their 2 cents.