My 55 Mbuna cichlid tank smells horrid- help!

R

r00st

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Jun 29, 2017
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I have had my cichlid tank up and running in my office at work for about five months now. This tank did NOT smell for the first four months.

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I put in a custom background which is made from stone veneer that I used aquarium safe silicone to stick to the back wall.

Originally I had about 9 2 inch cichlids along with a crayfish and a 6 inch common pleco. My substrate was pool sand (appropriately cleaned) with rocks from around my house (also boiled/bleach solution and cleaned very well). I also have two pieces of spiderwood that have been in since day one. I noticed the smell about three months ago and also noticed the rock was changing the white sand black, so I decided a week ago to change all the substrate thinking that was possibly the cause of the smell. I bought all new carib-sea cichlid gravel, replacing 99% of the sand, and also bought holey rock in place of the rocks from around my house. I also did a 50% water change, which I do once a week.

About three weeks ago (2 months after the smell first started) I added more cichlids, and now have about 20 2-3.5 inch cichlids. I did rehome the pleco due to worrying about the bio load when adding the new fish. I also added 3 2 inch synodontis catfish and two mystery snails. I know this is a heavy stock, but was recommended to me by many mbuna "experts" to avoid aggression. This has proved to be true as everyone seems very happy now- where as before the two dominant fish would beat up the others pretty badly (to the point I lost two fish).

About a month ago I added a second Penguin 350 for a total of two 350's. I keep all 8 filter slots filled and change the filters about once every 3-4 weeks.

Two months ago I added two purigen packs (that have now turned brown so need to be cleaned/recharged).

In a last ditch effort, last week I bought carbon and bags and have added about 2 cups of carbon to each filter (removing one filter panel to fit the carbon bag). This does not seem to have helped at all.

I have checked my water parameters and everything seems to be within spec. This tank is in my office so the smell is really bothersome to not only me but my clients, and co workers.

Last note- I have an LED light I keep on for 8 hours per day. I also have glass tops so the whole tank is sealed. I feed once per day so I really dont think im overfeeding, as all of the food disappears. Should I get rid of the lids??? Thats my last thought but I am by no means an expert, so im hoping someone else has faced this and has ideas.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!
 
The biggest problem I see is one 50% WWC isn't nearly enough for this bio load. Obviously you should verify this with a liquid test kit, but that stocking level would probably need something like 2 ~80% WWCs to keep healthy water parameters. I've never kept a thick enough layer of substrate to build up gasses and nastiness, but that can be an issue with sand. Your tanks and filtration will smell like freshly turned soil when all is well.
 
The smell is almost a rotten garbage/fishy smell. Nothing has died and I clean out all pieces of the filtration system when I change filters.

The room doesn't smell until I open the lid to feed the fish in the morning and then the smell lingers most of the day, within 10 feet of the tank.

I will start upping the water changes immediately. I, too, was concerned about gasses trapped in the sand (which was about 3 inches thick) but now that there is gravel (1.5 inches thick) I dont see how I would still be facing that issue.

Any concern with the lids? The lids do develop algae pretty quickly but I wipe them down once every two weeks, eliminating 90% of the algae growth. Would it be better for the tank to be open air vs having lids? I am concerned about losing my snails or a fish jumping out if I did that though.
 
You don't mention what the smell is like. If it is like rotten eggs then my guess would be hydrogen sulfide, and I'm suspicious it is as the sand is turning black. If that the case then I agree you need to step up your water changes and also stir the substrate to improve oxygen levels so you don't create more hydrogen sulfide.
 
A couple of the rocks I pulled out did have a slight sulfur smell to them. The overall smell is more of a rotten garbage smell. One of my co workers says it "smells like farts" so almost a sewage type of smell.

I do have a 6 inch bubble wand/wall hooked up to an air pump so that, along with both filters running should be oxygenating the water pretty well.

I will do 2 water changes per week and hopefully with the new substrate/carbon and other steps, this clears up. I love the fish but the smell is really hard to live with.
 
Gotta say this is perplexing to me. You seem to have covered all your bases and the purigen and carbon should definitely help. Tank looks clean (thank you for pictures cause my first thoughts would certainly be dirty tank) and at their current size you aren't exactly overstocked yet (you will be when they are grown but that is the way with mbunas as you said). What are your nitrate levels currently?

I would try pinpointing what smells or at least eliminating what doesn't. Take a cup of water into another room and see if it smells on it's own, a piece of wood, a piece of rock etc.

Good luck with your Mbunas, they are a handful but rewarding.
 
Check and see if there is any uneaten food on or under the tank trim as this is usually the most common cause of smells.

What brand food are you feeding and is it pellets or flake or something else? Sometimes this is also a common complaint.

Also check for any missing fish that may be trapped in or under the rocks.
 
Thanks everyone for the advise.

Oddly enough this afternoon my office does not smell, nor does the tank (just the earthy, albeit slightly "fishy" smell). This does happen (the smell comes and goes) but I am hoping maybe all the above changes helped.

Also- I am about to do a 60-70% water change right now, using Prime as my water conditioner (as I do every time). I just tested my parameters (so, week old water):
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 0

I didnt bother testing anything else after seeing those three zero out. Hopefully I can report back on Monday and say the problem is solved, chalking it up to the bad sand/rock combo that was previously in the tank.

As far as food goes- I have been all over the map. I originally was using omega one cichlid flakes. Those are now gone (a week ago). I am now using a combination (@ each feeding) of these three:
API Cichlid Pellets
New Life Spectrum Pellets (small)
Omega One super veggie pellets (small)

Once I use up what I have, I will probably stick to the new life spectrum pellets- as that is what my LFS and some local cichlid keepers have reccomended.
 
Something fishy about those test results. You should definitely have some nitrates with that fish load after a week. The tests may not be working correctly, are you using strips or a liquid test kit?

I loved NLS for my Mbuna, they did too. :) Their colors were amazing and they got to great sizes. I bought it by the bucket lol.
 
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