Cat pee smell
- Thread starter WhiskeyCoffee
- Start date
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scriptmonkey
Valuable Member
Noticing the same and my tank has nothing in it....i pulled my felt filter socks and it was very strong. Wondering if it is the sock material?
-Using Reef Crystals
-Some socks from Amazon, used it to clean up the tank after pump controller failed.
Will throw the carbon reactor online this week and see how it does.
-Using Reef Crystals
-Some socks from Amazon, used it to clean up the tank after pump controller failed.
Will throw the carbon reactor online this week and see how it does.
scriptmonkey
Valuable Member
Will test tomorrow....would be funny to have ammonia and nothing but water has been in it.
Might be from some of the bacteria and tiny inverts in your LR dying. Why its spiking as ammonia. Several small water chnages over a several days might help with whatever has degraded and entered the water column and perhaps reseeding with pods when done.
fishcrf450r
Active Member
Make some more rodi water , give it a sniff then let it sit for a few days covered and give it another snif . I would bet you smell it in your rodi water . Ammonia from the chlorimines in your tap water at your new house .
Breakthecycle2
2500 Club Member
Maybe you ticked the wife off and she peed in it?
spacetime
Active Member
Did you re-use your substrate? If so did you wash it out very well? How did you transfer everything else over to the new tank?
If your tank hasn't crashed yet I would add a bottle of Dr Tims salt water and whatever is the clean up or some other brand of bacterial supplement.
If your tank hasn't crashed yet I would add a bottle of Dr Tims salt water and whatever is the clean up or some other brand of bacterial supplement.
OP
OP
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
Weird, I'm using Reef Crystals as well. I'm going to do some tests and update this thread.
To others suggesting it's actual cat pee, I don't see how this would be plausible. The odor is evident when smelling both my display tank and my sump. I don't smell it when sniffing the stand or the floor around the tank. I only get whiffs of it when I walk in the vicinity of the tank and most strongly when I sniff near the water.
Ghxst
Well-Known Member
A Brute 20g with the lid on. The water got too hot the first day so I shut it down then tried the next but got busy. 4 days in it had a brownish coat around the brute and by the time I was going to change the water it stunk. I dumped the entire batch and started over with no problems. It was reef crystals salt but up until then never had that issue. I am sure no one ticked in my water or the OPs tank, it sounds like an ammonia issue after a tank move or water sitting. I would run carbon and do WC until it goes away. Let us know how testing goes. GL
OP
OP
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
Ok, I'm really bad at interpreting results so I'm gonna post some pics.
dKH: 8
This is water straight from my tap (well water) any chance this API test kit is screwed up?
dKH: 8
This is water straight from my tap (well water) any chance this API test kit is screwed up?
Last edited:
Sorry for a short answer originally.
If you are actually smelling an ammonia (cat pee) smell from your tank/sump water the ammonia levels would have to be high enough to cause significant problems. Your fish or inverts would not be happy.
The two ammonia tests also seem to support this.
If you have standing RODI there is the potential for "water souring" where organics and other things are absorbed by the standing water and can smell bad, but not an ammonia smell.
Perhaps other more experienced folks can dig into the nuance here and provide an explanation.
Given that livestock/inverts are alive and non-stressed and tests show low/zero ammonia I still think it's something else in/around your tank that's related to the move or your new home.
If you are actually smelling an ammonia (cat pee) smell from your tank/sump water the ammonia levels would have to be high enough to cause significant problems. Your fish or inverts would not be happy.
The two ammonia tests also seem to support this.
If you have standing RODI there is the potential for "water souring" where organics and other things are absorbed by the standing water and can smell bad, but not an ammonia smell.
Perhaps other more experienced folks can dig into the nuance here and provide an explanation.
Given that livestock/inverts are alive and non-stressed and tests show low/zero ammonia I still think it's something else in/around your tank that's related to the move or your new home.
There is a chance, but that ain't right.
Tag Randy.
Tag Randy.
OP
OP
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
@wpeterson Can I use a Red Sea test kit to test my tap water? I tested my tap with API freshwater kit and it's showing over .5ppm...
Tagging @Randy Holmes-Farley to see if he can help me debunk this situation...
Tagging @Randy Holmes-Farley to see if he can help me debunk this situation...
tyler1503
2500 Club Member
Not sure if it would be ammonia related. I've never smelt cat pee from any tank I've cycled. Not my own personal tanks or when I worked at the LFS.
Don't rule it out, but it seems unlikely to me.
Like someone said before, put some tank water in a cup and leave it in another room. Wait till the scent leaves your nose (a big whiff of raw instant coffee will clear your nose) then smell the cup.
If it's definitely coming from the water, I'd do a water change and run carbon.
Maybe buy an ammonia alert badge to be on the safe side.
Don't rule it out, but it seems unlikely to me.
Like someone said before, put some tank water in a cup and leave it in another room. Wait till the scent leaves your nose (a big whiff of raw instant coffee will clear your nose) then smell the cup.
If it's definitely coming from the water, I'd do a water change and run carbon.
Maybe buy an ammonia alert badge to be on the safe side.
Don't speculate trooper.
Its all good.
Its all good.
OP
OP
WhiskeyCoffee
Well-Known Member
I have an Aqua FX Barracuda. I just used it for the first time on well water when previously I was using it on city water, no strange smells coming from my tank.
Here's a ammonia test of my tap water. I don't know what reading this is but would my RODI fix this?
It actually apperars its a very common problem if you google it. In both freshwater and salt water.
Sadly it's endless speculation threads.
I guess I never googled cat urine smell aquarium.
Cat urine smell reef aquarium.
Sadly it's endless speculation threads.
I guess I never googled cat urine smell aquarium.
Cat urine smell reef aquarium.
scriptmonkey
Valuable Member
I just pulled all my filter socks and washed them so we will see.
I will run the gambit of tests this evening after work and will post results. I am expecting zeros due to having a completely empty tank except salt water but you never know. I'm not too worried about it as I asked my soon to be wife to smell and she said it just smells salty.
I will run the gambit of tests this evening after work and will post results. I am expecting zeros due to having a completely empty tank except salt water but you never know. I'm not too worried about it as I asked my soon to be wife to smell and she said it just smells salty.
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