# smell mystery?



## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

my tank stinks, alot. i cant figure out why. yesterday the temperature here was 99, my tank temp got up to 87-88 so i was did 2 water changes during the day to bring it back down. i also gravel vaced the whole thing. the tank has stunk since early that day. i have 2 emperor 400s running in the tank and i replaced one carbon filter from each filter as well. my tank is a 75 gallon. im not sure what to do here? will this problem solve itself. there isnt any pieces of fish or food or anything in there. i have 5 baby piranhas that are about an inch and a half so its hard to slow down or decrease their feeding. any suggestion or things i should try please, im desperate.


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## ICrazyChrisI (May 10, 2005)

I would say excess food, but you couldn't find any. See if your filter media has a LOT of crap/food on it


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## oojit (Feb 24, 2005)

Probably some rotten food hiding somewhere. Check behind some of the decor.


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

its the 3rd day its stinks, and its getting worse. i have ripped up the decorations and everything, but i was told it might be because my gravel is very high, so it might be air trapped underneath so im going to stir up everything and see what happens. a cycling tank smell would be much better at this point. 3 days ago i changed 3 out of the 4 media pads. last night i ripped aprt the filters completely to see if there were maybe any guppy parts or food that had gotten stuck somewhere, but i didnt find anything. i am getting really frusterated and i dont know what to do next, my roomies are about hateing me right about now. any suggestions at all would be great. thanks


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

so i totally removed everything from my tank, except fish, and i found 1 dead ghost shrimp in one of my plants. could 1 ghost shrimp cause that much stink? i also stirred up my gravel, but didnt find any air pockets or anything like that. it still stinks but the smell is less because i did a 25% water change as well. thats my 3rd water change in 3 days, is that good for the tank anyways to do that much? do u think that 1 ghost shrimp could foul a 75 gallon tank that badly? am i forgetting to do something? i also checked around the tank to see if any of the fish had jumped out or anything like that and were rotting, but nothing found. please help


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## boozehound420 (Apr 18, 2005)

stop feeing your piranhas spicy chili


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

couldit be just bad water? could the heat have changed it or tank out all of the oxygen making it stink? the only thing i can think is the heat effected it.. please any help. my tank still stinks. my roommates are hating me right about now. i have 2 air purifiers going in the room and it still smells. please help


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

yeh.sounds like rotting food somewhere in the tank


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

boozehound420 said:


> stop feeing your piranhas spicy chili
> [snapback]1083450[/snapback]​


2 l's in chilli !!!!!!!!!


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

im going to d a massive water change and just hope it takes care of it. there isnt anything in the tank except for the gravel and fish. i have combed threw the gravel and there isnt anything in there. it still stinks horribly. its over pworing my air filter and 2 glade plug ins. please any other ideas. is there any water additives or anything i can add?


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## theanimedude (Jun 4, 2005)

indullg83 said:


> im going to d a massive water change and just hope it takes care of it. there isnt anything in the tank except for the gravel and fish. i have combed threw the gravel and there isnt anything in there. it still stinks horribly. its over pworing my air filter and 2 glade plug ins. please any other ideas. is there any water additives or anything i can add?
> [snapback]1084720[/snapback]​


careful! dont get a bacteria bloom!!!


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

If you are a novice I wouldn't recomend a "massive" water change.

Do 25% a day for 3 days. Be sure your temp and pH of the new water are very close to current tank parameters.

I still say theres something nasty going on in your tank, and a big water change will only be a temporary fix.


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

if not a water change then what do u suggest? i opened up my filters and looked for parts of fish or anything that could be causing the smell and there was none. there is nothing left to check or change. am i forgetting something? im going to remove all the gravel next in hope that i will find something, but i have already gravel caced it and moved it all around searching for something and didnt find anything but 1 ghost shrimp, which i remomved and the stink still persists.


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## doctorvtec (May 15, 2004)

Ok, how often are you doing water changes? How much are you changing at a time?


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

i figured it out. its the food i was feeding, it just made the water stink even thought none was left in the tank, i changed food and it doesnt stink. i was feeding the hikari sinking carnivore pellets. when i feed brine shrimp and other things it doesnt stink, when i put in that it does.


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## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

indullg83 said:


> i figured it out. its the food i was feeding, it just made the water stink even thought none was left in the tank, i changed food and it doesnt stink. i was feeding the hikari sinking carnivore pellets. when i feed brine shrimp and other things it doesnt stink, when i put in that it does.
> [snapback]1089074[/snapback]​


I feed my p's the Hikari Sinking Carivoire Pellets as well but I stuff them inside pieces of Tialpia. This way everything is swallowed in one gulp, no mess is left.


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## indullg83 (Feb 26, 2005)

thats a good idea, hide it inside other food. i would really like to continue feeding them the pellets, but i cant stand the smell. is there any other sort of pellets that anyone reccomends that wouldnt cause this horrible smell? would cichlid pellets b ok?


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