Emergency!!
- Thread starter Shawna
- Start date
You already did it(water change). Now all you can do is wait. I don't hink there will be any major effects on your livestock. Most likely the mucky stuff is just leftover gunk from your tank that the filter has sucked up. Sometimes when I take out my filter media for a rinse, I get a small ammount of that stuff in my tank.
Thats what freaked me out in the first place and made me start messing around with it. 
I agree with the first reply that all u can do is a water change and be patient. If ur carbon pack smelled that bad, how often do u change it? Also how often do u feed ur fish? Ur tank is cloudy b/c of very very time particales of waste,dirt,food
ect... floating in the water. Let it settle in the gravel then do another water change gravel vac in a day or so. Also put a new carbon cartridge in ur filter. If its still cloudy in two or three days after ur second water change, go and by Clarity by seachem. This makes the tiny particales clump together maker ur filter more capable of collecting them in ur carbon cartridge.
ect... floating in the water. Let it settle in the gravel then do another water change gravel vac in a day or so. Also put a new carbon cartridge in ur filter. If its still cloudy in two or three days after ur second water change, go and by Clarity by seachem. This makes the tiny particales clump together maker ur filter more capable of collecting them in ur carbon cartridge.
Shawna, first, keep up the water changes. I also just want to make sure that it's an actually ammonia smell and not the smell of rotting organic debris? If it's a more organic smell, don't worry too much. If it's ammonia, I really think you should check your ammonia levels.
As for carbon in general, I REALLY hate it. You have to change it about every 2 weeks for your normal everyday stocking which seems like a really big pain to me on top of it not being necessary to even have carbon. I cut open the top of my filter cartridge, remove as much as the carbon as possible, rinse, then put it in my tank. Then, I don't ever have to buy a cartridge again either.
As for carbon in general, I REALLY hate it. You have to change it about every 2 weeks for your normal everyday stocking which seems like a really big pain to me on top of it not being necessary to even have carbon. I cut open the top of my filter cartridge, remove as much as the carbon as possible, rinse, then put it in my tank. Then, I don't ever have to buy a cartridge again either.
I agree with Puma, I just run sponges I cut to fit my HOB's. I keep some carbon handy in case there is an emergency and then I place some in some old nylon stockings and run it that way. The only thing an HOB needs is a bed for bacteria to grow on. Carbon is really useful for certain cases but not needed for daily use. Either sponges or bioballs etc... are a great choice for bacterial growth. Either should be cleaned every couple of weeks to avoid nasty gunk from building up. Rinse in old removed tank water or dechlorinated freshwater.