Reef bad smell

[Damdeno]

The smell is for like 6-7 months now that i can feel it in the room. Even after i do a water change or clean skimmer, change cotton filter media, smell is still there.

If i place my head on top of display tank's water level i can feel the smell coming from there.
Btw i have ALOT of snails. Every some time i see thousands of eggs on the glass. Ofc many snails probably are also dying in there but is impossible to finding what snail dies to remove it :p

I dont know of snails could make this smell

Dead snails really stink

 

[andreasch]

Just a thought..

This smell it could be from the food am feeding? Changing a brand could see a difference?

Or changing a brand of my Carbon? Maybe the one am using doesnt do much work with odors?

 

[Streetlamp]

This "redish" color on rocks is not coralline? is cyano algae?
My params:
Kh - 9,1
Ca - 400
Mg - 1340
No3 - 0
Phosphate - 0
Ammonia - 0
Ph - 8


My tank is 600 liters + around 70liters the sump. Am dosing 300ml of carbon according to Red Sea Reef Spec Carbon - active carbon instructions.

The smell is coming from the display tank and not the sump where is my skimmer. Cant be a dead fish cos the smell like i mentioned is constantly for months now.

If its a hydrogen sulfide problem how i can solve the problem?

im still saying cyano. The dark red on the rocks brush it gently with your finger tip and see if it brushes off easily. If so cyano looks like it’s on the sand too. It smells really bad. Try get your phosphate up a bit. You need some to keep nitrate in check.

 

[boacvh]

Just throwing a couple ideas based on smells I have had as well.
1- low flow in your reactors. Mine had very low flow at some point and while the reactor itself and the sump didn't smell, the water they put out made it to my DT was stagnant and smelled awful. Open reactors and make sure not the source.
2. Do you have a rim? My snails like to crawl outside the water into the underside of the rim and die there. They stink.
3. Check inside the overflow for algae or cyano.
Mine is pretty dark and I missed it for some time.

Anyway. Maybe 3 more things to just to check off your list. I would agree the smell is probably something exposed to the air.
Have you tried removing water to another room and see if the water by itself smells that bad?

 

[andreasch]

Media reactor with good carbon would be my first mode of action.

Which carbon you would consider "good"? Reactor works better than in a socket?

 

[andreasch]

im still saying cyano. The dark red on the rocks brush it gently with your finger tip and see if it brushes off easily. If so cyano looks like it’s on the sand too. It smells really bad. Try get your phosphate up a bit. You need some to keep nitrate in check.

How to do so? Closing phosphate reactor totally or increasing feeding? I wont cause problems by that? By the way also my No3 are at 0.

Btw to remove cyano algea is not suppose to lower no3?

 

[Topekoms]

When was the last time you vacuumed your sand? I would also check overflows for detritus and snail shells. If your sand isn't getting stirred up by a goby or by you. You could be getting pockets of gas

 

[stanlalee]

Which carbon you would consider "good"? Reactor works better than in a socket?

I use Rox 0.8 which is "suppose" to be the best at removing different size organics (some carbons are good at large organics and others just small because of the pore sizes) but for odor I don't think you need the best. I use a $40 BRS mini reactor. I imagine a sock or media bag works too but with a reactor you don't have to worry about effectiveness of placement, flow thru etc.

 

[John08007]

Does it smell like rotten eggs? If so thats hydrogen sulfide. Do you possibly have a dead fish partially buried in the sand? Reactor with hardly any water flowing through it?

 

[Streetlamp]

How to do so? Closing phosphate reactor totally or increasing feeding? I wont cause problems by that? By the way also my No3 are at 0.

Btw to remove cyano algea is not suppose to lower no3?

did you try brushing off the red with your finger or a clean toothbrush?

 

[Uncle99]

This "redish" color on rocks is not coralline? is cyano algae?
My params:
Kh - 9,1
Ca - 400
Mg - 1340
No3 - 0
Phosphate - 0
Ammonia - 0
Ph - 8


My tank is 600 liters + around 70liters the sump. Am dosing 300ml of carbon according to Red Sea Reef Spec Carbon - active carbon instructions.

The smell is coming from the display tank and not the sump where is my skimmer. Cant be a dead fish cos the smell like i mentioned is constantly for months now.

If its a hydrogen sulfide problem how i can solve the problem?

Usually see coralline on the glass, round purple patches like a circle which grow bigger.
Unless you scrap it off regularly.

 

[andreasch]

im still saying cyano. The dark red on the rocks brush it gently with your finger tip and see if it brushes off easily. If so cyano looks like it’s on the sand too. It smells really bad. Try get your phosphate up a bit. You need some to keep nitrate in check.

So IF coralline is not suppose to rub off when you scratch a rock, looks like cyano to you? Compared the 2 photos.. first is the one i sent couple of days ago and 2nd is today after i tried scratch the rock with my hand.. it looks this "purpleish" color to get off (with some difficulty ofc but it does).

This means i get a cyano and not coralline? And how i can fix it? Cyano and (algae in general) is not suppose to fight them with low phosphates and No3?

 

[andreasch]

Am attaching the following if it can help.

1. First attachment are 2 photos of the tank. First one is before i scratch the rock with my hand and second after the scratching. The purple color seems to get off with some difficulty. Is this means that purple color is not coralline and i got a cyanobacteria problem? If yes, how i fight that?

2. Second attachment is the ICP test i just received. Sulphur looks lower than the acceptable values. If that an issue? I heard that sulphur could cause this rotten eggs bad odors. This is when sulphur has higher values than the accepted ones, or also the lower i have here can make a problem?

Maybe these 2 attachments can help make the problem more clear? :)

 

[andreasch]

Just throwing a couple ideas based on smells I have had as well.
1- low flow in your reactors. Mine had very low flow at some point and while the reactor itself and the sump didn't smell, the water they put out made it to my DT was stagnant and smelled awful. Open reactors and make sure not the source.
2. Do you have a rim? My snails like to crawl outside the water into the underside of the rim and die there. They stink.
3. Check inside the overflow for algae or cyano.
Mine is pretty dark and I missed it for some time.

Anyway. Maybe 3 more things to just to check off your list. I would agree the smell is probably something exposed to the air.
Have you tried removing water to another room and see if the water by itself smells that bad?

1. Actually the flow in my phosphate reactor is low but they told me thats how it should be in order to work better and lower the phosphates. In nitrate reactor i think is not so low. How i can know if its low or not? :)
2. I have rim but the snails that get up there dont actually die.. they just hang there i think. IF they die they wont drop off?
3. No algae in overflow, but check the photos i just posted to tell me what u think about cyano please :) And whats the solution to it if i got cyano..

 

[andreasch]

When was the last time you vacuumed your sand? I would also check overflows for detritus and snail shells. If your sand isn't getting stirred up by a goby or by you. You could be getting pockets of gas

I vaccumed less than a month ago. Doint that doesnt help the problem. Pockets of gas means i got a sulphur problem right? Can you see the ICP test i just sent in my previous post to tell me if i got a sulphur problem? Sulphur is lower than the accepted values.

 

[andreasch]

Usually see coralline on the glass, round purple patches like a circle which grow bigger.
Unless you scrap it off regularly.

I still dont have clear if i got coralline or cyano problem. I cannot distinguish them. dont know how to understand what the purple color on rocks is.

 

[Streetlamp]

Cyano will brush off easily. Coralline won’t it needs the be scraped off. For example rub of finger tip or tooth brush will lift cyano off.

have you a pice of rock you can easily remove? If so take it out and have good sniff. Cyano has a pungent smell not like eggs.

 

[andreasch]

Cyano will brush off easily. Coralline won’t it needs the be scraped off. For example rub of finger tip or tooth brush will lift cyano off.

have you a pice of rock you can easily remove? If so take it out and have good sniff. Cyano has a pungent smell not like eggs.

Did you see the new photos i sent you. the comparison of before and after?

 

[Ippyroy]

What kind of drain do you have? Could something possibly have gotten stuck in an E drain and died?

 

[andreasch]

dear hobbyists.. i still didnt get a solution to my problem :( i re-send you the ICP test and 2 photos of my tank after i tried to scratch the purple color on rock to see if its cyano.

From ICP test i see "sulphur" on lower levels than the accepted. You told me that sulphur smells like rotten eggs.. This is happening in case of sulphur being higher than normal or it can causes odors problems also on lower than normal levels?