Sour smell, new aquarium

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bassman

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Aug 24, 2004
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I have a 55 gallon aquarium qhich has been set up for almost 2 weeks. I have an undergravel filter
Emperor 280 Biowheel
2 large pieces of driftwood that I bought from the pet store
natural colored pea gravel that was rised off well before I added it
a couple plastic plants
5 Tetras and I added 2 snails last night.
(PLAN ON ADDING MORE FISH SOMETIME SOON)

I set up my tank about 2 weeks ago. The tank is older but I have bought all new equipment for it. About 4 days ago I went to add my biowheel and realized that my tank was too close to the wall. Being that it was only set up for about a week, I figured it couldnt hurt to take out 50% of the water so I could move it. Did that. Everything seems to be fine. PH is good. I have a ammonia strip on the tank and its reading fine. I wouldnt think ammonia levels would be a problem at all with such a new tank and half water change a week into the set up.

I came home today and lifted the lid to feed the fish and it smelled sour, almost like an ammonia smell. Like I said b4 it looks good. The biowheel is even getting rid of the tannin in the water. So it is also clearing up. Any Idea what the smell could be. The only thing I have done is add a couple snails. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
hmmmmm... sounds to me like you're going through an ammonia phase of the cycle. I'm not sure of what an ammonia strip is but maybe someone else could help in that area. Your tank has only been set up for 2 weeks and you've got fish in there so regardless of whether you've done a 50% water change, the cycle and the ammonia phase is still inevitable. Actually the water changing and ammonia phase are vital in the cycling process...
 
Ditto. Your ammonia levels should be climbing. cycling is inevitable in a new tank, as are big water changes. read the cycle sticky at the top of this forum fore more info on how the cycling process works.
 
I agree - you're probably smelling ammonia. It could also be nitrites, since you're two weeks into the cycle. Nitrites in a tank smell, IMHO, like a pile of dirty socks!
A fully cycled, balanced aquarium has very little odour - to me (I have a VERY sensitive sense of smell, so this might just be me) it smells kind of 'green', a bit earthy, like garden soil. Strong odours coming from your tank are usually a sign of either ammonia, nitrites, or sometimes it's the tapwater itself that has a sulphury or other smell.
 
Sounds like I need to do a water change then. This is all very new to me. Had a salt water tank about 10 years ago. I followed a book closely with alot of success. I am doing this one totally blind. This site is very useful. Thanks again!
 
The easiest way to get rid of the smell (and some of the ammonia) in the short term is to add more activated carbon and zeolite to the filter. If you can spare the money add a Whisper 30-60 to the aquarium (it's only about $30 at Wal-Mart) and stuff the filter cartrages with ammocarb. It's also an easy way to get more water turnover in your aquarium, plus the Whisper cartrages are easy to clean and are a lot more reusable than Tetra would have us to believe (plus the fact that you can stuff the bags with carbon).
 
The ammocarb will be against productivity of the cycle. It will take up the ammonia that is needed to feed the beneficial bacteria.

The best thing to do is keep up your water changes and get an ammonia test kit ASAP, as well as a nitrite and nitrate kit. I've seen those ammonia strips I think (they kinda look like a stick-on-thermometer on they go inside), and I personally wouldn't trust them. Dropper kits are usually the best.
 
I did buy a ammonia kit. Everything tests zero. I will take my water up to the pet store and have them test it, just to be safe. I am wondering if My driftwood isnt causing this smell. My tank is crystal clear. Everything tests good and my fish are really active. I bought some driftwood at the pet store and made the mistake of not soaking it b4 I put it in there. It almost seems as if my tank would start smelling not long after the water change. Could this be possible?
 
I've got a fairly new, very large piece of driftwood in my 45g and it emits a smell, but it smells like (not being sarcastic here) wood - nothing unpleasant, a bit like the sawdust smell of a lumber yard.
If the fish are fine and the ammonia and nitrite are 0, I'd add some carbon to the filter and see if that takes care of the odour.
 
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