Need help-stinky tanks!!

[kristal822]

we have 3 tanks at our house; a 10, tall 20, and a 30 that we just got recently. We keep everything super clean and healthy and have had succesful tanks until the other day. We set up the 30, completely clean, new filter and all. filled it with our tap which we have used before with no problems.. it STUNK BAD like rotten eggs/dead fish smell... we had put in 4 small cichlids, and they died a day later, (probably from the smell!) it got gradually better after 2 days of no fish and running the new filter.
we decided to change our whole 20 gallon also.. now it has nice goldfish who are happy n healthy, but now the smell is THERE too!!! its bad! we tested with drops and everything is fine but the pH..
now today, our 10 gallon is the same... stinks!! what in the world could be the cause of all three which were nice clean happy tanks before!!!??? only the pH seems off.. what is up?? there are no fish in the 30 or the 10... thanks!

 

[musicman]

Did you dechlorinate the tap water before you used it?

If the chlorine in the tap water killed off the beneficial bacteria in the tank then you would have a bunch of dead stinky bacteria.

What are your water test results?
What makes you say that the pH is off?

 

[kangster]

do you gravel vac.?
what kind of a gravel or a substrate do you use?

 

[Drewbie]

i noticed if the ammonia gets to high it will stink

Got test your water then test your test kit to make sure they are working

Bring a smaple into your lps they will usually test it for u

 

[newfound77951]

Is your tap water smelling or the tanks? Do you have a well or city water?

A rotten eggs smell (hydrogen sulfide) from the tap is a sign of anoxic groundwater (no oxygen). Hydrogen sulfide will kill your fish. Fortunately, as you've noticed, it will disappear on its own after a couple of days. Before you do water changes you'll need to "de gas" the water in a tub or bucket of some sort until the smell goes away. Aerating the water will help speed up the process. I am not sure if dechlorinator would help.

 

[fort384]

Is your tap water smelling or the tanks? Do you have a well or city water?

A rotten eggs smell (hydrogen sulfide) from the tap is a sign of anoxic groundwater (no oxygen). Hydrogen sulfide will kill your fish. Fortunately, as you've noticed, it will disappear on its own after a couple of days. Before you do water changes you'll need to "de gas" the water in a tub or bucket of some sort until the smell goes away. Aerating the water will help speed up the process. I am not sure if dechlorinator would help.

Agreed! I used to be on well water and it had this same issue. Your best bet would be to set up a big rubbermaid container in the garage or something and let the water sit a day or 2 before you use it for a water change.


As far as your fish deaths in the new 30G -- a new tank, with new filters, new everything is an uncycled tank. My guess would be adding the 4 fish in without cycling the tank (or seeding it with material from 1 of your other tanks) could easily have resulted in an ammonia spike, which would have at the least weakened your fish and made them more susceptable to any water condition issues resulting from H2S.

 

[kristal822]

thanks everyone! we did a big water change with all the tanks and now we will see... just gonna run em without fish for a bit to get them stabilized hopefully!

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

well keep in mind.. without ammonia.. nitrites cant eat.. and die.. without nitrites to eat.. nitrates die.. keep a bit of flake food in the tank at least while there are no fish in there to keep what live bacteria you have in them left.. alive.

 

[kristal822]

thanks for the help! our 10 gal is now awesome.. but maybe the food flake is a good idea, since we're not sure when fish will be in it..
our 20 is better...but cloudyish now.. fish are happy tho
but our 30..super cloudy, smell is near gone.. maybe another water change?? let me know if u have a tip thanks again

 

[musicman]

Water changes are a good thing. They may temporarly add to the cloudyness but will help clear things up after a couple of hours.

What kind of cloudyness is it? A milkey grey cloudy, or a peasoup green cloudy, or some other kind of cloudy?