Sulphur Question

[talenzmeier]

Greetings!

In my 58 gallon planted tank I have noticed a faint odor to the water. It kind of smells like sulphur. Is this anything to be alarmed about? By the way, NH4 = 0 NO3 < 0.3 and O2 is very good.

 

[Guest]

Kind of a rotten egg smell?

Possibly not good. it could indicate pockets of either dead water(no circulation for a long time), or a build up of hydrogen sulfide(swamp gas) in the substrate. Either one of these is really not a good thing.

If water circulation is lacking, usually in the corners, or in a really dense stand of plants, a powerhead can be used to augment your lower level circulation, and thinning out the plants in that area will help too.

If it's in the substrate, frankly I'm not sure what your next move would be. I'd try poking throught the substrate a bit, see if any bubbles come up, and if they stink!
Actually, If you find a big dead pocket in the substrate, My best guess would be, stir it up some and do a 25% water change.

Hopefully someone else will chime in on this as I'm not positive that what I've said would be the best course of action.

 

[Guest]

Well water or city water?

A lot of well water contains hydrogen sulfide gas. Where my dad used to live was really bad. You could not use the water out of the tap for hardly anything it stunk so bad.

 

[talenzmeier]

RO Water

I use only RO water.