About 4 days ago, I set up a new aquarium. I used new gravel, new (fake) plants, and new ornaments. The heater, lights & filter are also all new. I used a water conditioner as per the instructions, but no other chemicals/salt in it at all. The next day, I placed my male Betta in there. He's doing fine, but now the tank really smells awful. The smell has wafted through the whole house, and almost smells like rotting vegetable matter mixed with sour milk. The water was slightly cloudy yesterday, but is clear today. I've not fed the fish too much - he has eaten everything I've put in there. The tank is a 10 gallon (40 litre) tank. My fish was previously in a much smaller tank, and had only one ornament in it and no gravel. It never smelled at all. Any ideas from anyone fish-savvy?
2007-06-26 21:54:01 · 5 answers · asked by MJF 6 in Pets ➔ Fish
My guess would be because it is all new - your tank is just starting the cycling process. Your betta is producing ammonia, and you don't have the bacteria built up in the gravel to converrt it to nitrite, then nitrate. That's what the cloudiness in your water was as well - the bacteria that are present were multiplying quickly to take advantage of the ammonia as a food source.
Eventually (3-6 weeks) your tank will fininsh cycling and have the bacteria you need, but until then, you need to do some frequent water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite (and odor) levels down. Around 25% of the water volume each change, and when cleaning the filter, don't clean it using tap water - there are bacteria on it as well and the chlorine/chloramine in the water will kill them. Instead, use a small container with some water from the tank to rinse the filter media.
2007-06-26 22:03:44 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
its ammonia -- part of the nitrogen cycle your tank will go through. the cloudy water was bacteria -- now its gone you need to start doing water changes. gravel vacuum and change about 10% of the water every 2 days and you should be fine. i would start with about 25% though since it stinks. chances are good if it went that crazy that quick you are overfeeding your betta. just give him what he can eat and nothing more -- mine get about 4 pellets a day.
2007-06-27 12:29:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your tank is still cycling. Just do a fifty percent water change it should decrease the smell a bit. I have the same setup accept for the plants. I have java moss.
2007-06-27 05:51:39 · answer #3 · answered by koo_homie 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Did you wash your gravel under running water for 10 mins?
2007-06-27 06:21:05 · answer #4 · answered by ann s 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you need to clean the whole lot again and rinse the gravel in a bucket, clean the filter. start again with all the correct chemicals from a pet/fish shop. put a little bit of salt and ad real plants as they are natural filters, same as the algae that grows on the gravel.
2007-06-27 06:04:21 · answer #5 · answered by fee 2 · 0⤊ 4⤋