Stinky cannister

[Brookster123]

I've heard people talk about how bad their cannisters smell when they clean them. Mine usually smell like fresh earth, i don't mind it..
Well.. when I moved and tore down tanks I left my zoomed filled to preserve bb. 2 weeks later I crack that bad boy open and holy rotten.. it's smelled like bad shell fish, my gf came down and asked why it smelled like low tide on the cape haha.. just thought I'd share. Anyone else??

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[brennae]

Wow that's awful! I'm going to keep that in mind. My only complaint about canisters is that I have a really hard time getting them open when I first shut them off. Sometimes removing the hoses on the Fluvals helps but the suction is a killer for me.

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[PassengerTN]

I'd think that's from becoming stagnant. Both my cans smell like fresh earth, as you mentioned.

Jesse

 

[Brookster123]

Think it has any effect on bb? Stagnation? Think it would ok... rinsed the bio media and stuck it in 2 ac 70's on a new tank.

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[ImACoolguy]

Very interesting. Yeah mine has never smelled that bad lol.

I can testify to the stinky stagnant water though.


Caleb

 

[Delapool]

Sounds similar to mine where it was off for a week, went anaerobic and got a bad rotten egg gas smell on restarting. I gave up and cleaned it. There was no mini-cycle but can't remember if I got an ammonia reading or not.

I suspect (but have little to back this up) that the bacteria are fairly tough once established and they get more resilient the longer the filter is running and they colonise the bio-media. Just an idle thought though. Also suspect (hope!) that the bacteria can go dormant for a bit if they can't get enough food, low oxygen, etc.


Last experiment I did I cleaned canister filter and let it sit over night filled with tap water. Restarted with no ammonia spike at all. This was just an experiment though and I had backup filters. But it did suggest the bacteria can survive for a bit in our tap water. It would be interesting to test that again using water from inland towns where I know they use stronger chemicals in the water.

Would be interesting to see if there was any ammonia reading on restarting?

 

[Gillie]

Sounds similar to mine where it was off for a week, went anaerobic and got a bad rotten egg gas smell on restarting. I gave up and cleaned it. There was no mini-cycle but can't remember if I got an ammonia reading or not.

I suspect (but have little to back this up) that the bacteria are fairly tough once established and they get more resilient the longer the filter is running and they colonise the bio-media. Just an idle thought though. Also suspect (hope!) that the bacteria can go dormant for a bit if they can't get enough food, low oxygen, etc.


Last experiment I did I cleaned canister filter and let it sit over night filled with tap water. Restarted with no ammonia spike at all. This was just an experiment though and I had backup filters. But it did suggest the bacteria can survive for a bit in our tap water. It would be interesting to test that again using water from inland towns where I know they use stronger chemicals in the water.

Would be interesting to see if there was any ammonia reading on restarting?

Yes the bb is a lot more resilient than most people are led to believe. I rinse all of my canister media and sponge filters with tap water during maintenance. Chlorine doesn't kill enough bacteria to make any noticeable difference before it gases off or gets neutralized.