Help our fishy tank is stinking!

[THOR]

See being fish tank noobs we kept dumping these shrimp pellets fish food into the tank for the first couple of days. We finally caught on that the food would disinegrate on decompose on the bottom, impossible to net up. Bought a slime sucker fish that's supposed to eat the discarded food on the bottom and all it does is stay stuck to the side of the tank. Well now the tank is really beginning to smell fishy uke: Makes my son's room smell like rotten fish Is there any sort of chemical I can use to fight this smell? Today I stirred the gunk up off the bottom and netted as much as possible out and rinsed the filter, I need to buy a new filter this weekend it is so clogged with old food. Obviously if there isn't a chemical solution we need to empty the tank, clean the rocks and fake plants and start over. I would hate to do that since the fish are actually seeming to dig it and swim around more and the two oscars swim to us to be fed. Any suggestions on a different food? I got the shrimp pellets which they eat, but when they chew em excess food spurts out of their gills and we got this floating food that just sits on top and not get eaten. If I need to I wouldn't mind getting a bunch of feeder guppy's every week and feed them those if it will keep the smell down. I know the smell is from the old pellets we littered the tank with cuz the smell is distinclty rotten seafood smelling. Any suggestions besides getting a bigger tank would be appreciated

 

[Haoleb]

you do realize you have to change the water, usually once a month or so. i do mine whenever its convenient. which is usually over 1 month. more like 2-3.

Just buy one of them siphons from walmart or whereever stick in in the gravel and suck all the junk out, then replace the water. only suck out maybe a 1/4 of the water each water change till you get to know what yer doing. then replace the water, you should also go to the pet store or walmart and buy a bottle of this stuff called Stress Coat, and Stress Zyme. and dump it in there after each water change (instructions on bottle) you should also keep a supply of filters on hand. dont bother rinsing them off, when they get clogged. toss em.


And once you get off and going and stuff you will get to knowin what your doing and stuff. I used to get mine smellin sometimes but not anymore, unless the water needs to be changed really bad or someone dies.

 

[Fisherdude]

Hi THOR...

My wife and I have been doing the tropical fish thing for over 20 years. We actually got up to the full saltwater marine aquariums, complete with shrimp, crabs, anemones, and very expensive fish. Too many job transfers made too many moves. Although, believe it or not, we once moved a bunch of fish in a plastic bag and an insulated box in the overhead of a United flight from California to Chicago!!

Here's some thoughts for your tank:

1. A hungry fish is a happy fish. Do not overfeed. If food is dropping to the bottom before it's all eaten, it's way too much. Just a sprinkle. If you're using frozen or live food, the same applies. Just what the fish can eat in five minutes or so. Literally!

2. If it smells like rotten fish, you've got a serious problem, and you need to fix it quickly. Otherwise, you're going to start losing fish.

3. Do a partial water change immediately. Do you have a siphon? It's a fat plastic tube attached to a piece of flexible tubing. Use it to suck up as much crud from the bottom gravel as possible. Get the siphon started, and keep pushing it into the gravel and sucking up water and debris until you've drained 1/3 to 1/2 of the tank. Then replace the water. Be extremely careful that the water you put in is at the same temperature, at least within 2 or 3 degrees.

4. When you start a new aquarium, it takes a few weeks for the bacteria that normally live in the gravel to begin to grow. These bacteria assist in the breakdown of waste material. Until this happens, the aquarium is a bit "fragile".

5. As Haoleb mentioned, you will need to do a partial water change once a month or so. And don't overfeed!

As a secondary point, how big is the aquarium, and how many fish? The old rule of thumb is one inch per gallon. That is, if you have a 20 gallon, you can have 10 two inch fish, etc. Do you have a back filter and also a power undergravel filter? Or do you just have an undergravel filter with airlift tubes? Or no undergravel filter? The more filtration the more you can "push" the old rule, but don't overdo it.

Let me know the size and how many fish, what kind of filtration, and what you've done so far to address the situation, and I'll give you as much help as I can.

Right now we're down to a 55 gallon hexagaonal show tank with fancy goldfish. Much less maintenance. Although, I was down in my shop last week listening to music when I heard water dripping through the floor from above. Overflowing back filter.

It's always something!
Clay

 

[THOR]

Just a 10 gallon starter tank, we've only had it going with fish in it for less than two weeks, the excess food is the root of the problem we now only drop a pellet in at a time and if they don't eat it we go get it out.

I don't have a siphon would just any sort of hose work?

When I do a partial water change do I need to dechlorinate the water before we put it in or just dump the water in and add a packet of the dechlorinator PH stuff right away?

We have a 3" oscar a 1 1/2" oscar a 3" sucker thing and 4 - 1" silver fishies.

 

[Fisherdude]

Any plain old garden hose will work just fine. No problem at all. Keep rinsing out the back filter as it clogs.

I would suggest dechlorinating the water first, let it sit for an hour or so, and then put it in. Make sure the temp is the same as the tank. Btw, unless your water is pretty heavily chlorinated, I've never bothered with it. Oscars and catfish aren't that touchy.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to let you know that you have the wrong fish for a 10 gallon tank. A tank that small has absolutely no room for error, i.e. overfeeding. It will go bad in two days. Those oscars will get 10-12" long and as big around as a rolled up newspaper, or at least they'll try to. I'm talking full pan-sized! A 10 is basically a beginners tank for kids and guppies. The only way the one inch per gallon will work in a tank that small is with a few small tropicals, such as neons, swordtails, mollies, guppies, etc. A 20 gallon is really the minimum. Oscars will be outgrow a 50. I'm not kidding.

As I'm sure you've already found out, once you get into 50's and up, it gets really pricey really quick. Bigger back filters, bigger undergravels, bigger powerheads, it just doesn't quit. If a bigger tank is not an option, your other alternative is to take the oscars back. Whoever sold you oscars for a 10 gallon tank really doesn't know what he's doing.

Believe me, you're going to be astonished at how fast they grow. Btw, in one sense, the oscars will help with the overcrowding. As they get bigger, the rest of the fish will disappear. Every single one.

Keep me posted,
Clay

 

[Haoleb]

i dont think a hose would work that great because you cant really get into the gravel. and you might end up sucking the gravel out!

the siphons are like 3 bucks. your going to need one anyway so just buy one

 

[Kim G]

Thor
There aren't any magic bullet "chemicals " you can dump in to help your situation. Problem number one- your tank is new and has not cycled. Number two- you have more than the maximum number of fish inches your aquarium could possibly support, even it was a matured tank ( 3-6 months after cycling). Number three- it sounds from your description that you only have a small corner filter for your tank. Woefully inadequate for even 4" worth of fish in a 10 gallon. If you wish to continue in this endeavor and want to be successful, you will have to be prepared to work very hard to make up for the shortcomings you have already encountered.

1. Do an immediate 50% water change on your tank with water that has been de-chlorinated and the temperature within 2 degrees of your tank water. Siphon as much gunk as you can from the gravel using a hose. If you haven't bought a cleaning hose, a clean piece of rubber or plastic tubing that has not had any chemicals through them ( No hoses used for siphoning gasoline) will work. A piece of garden hose can work in a pinch.

2. Do this every night for the next week. I'm serious. Your water is way to polluted. There aren't enough bacteria built up to handle the bio load you are asking them to handle and the only way to keep everything from dying in their own waste is to dilute the water as much as possible. With as many fish you have in your tank now, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes 3 months for your tank to cycle.

3. Invest in a better filtration system NOW! Either an undergravel filter or a power filter.

4. Heed the advice that has been given to you in this thread and the previous thread where you asked for help. THERE ARE NO MAGIC BULLETS. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR GOOD HUSBANDRY.

Good luck - you're gonna need a lot of it.

Notice I didn't say "Get a bigger tank" but I will say that for the fish you have in there now, the tank is a death trap.

Kim

 

[THOR]

Well I got a siphon "gravel vaccuum" and siphoned all the water out to about 3" of water, took the plants out and cleaned them, used the net repeatedly to get floaties, refilled the tank, dechlorinated and set the PH and changed the filter on the filter. Water looks and smells about 1000 times better. We put the plants back in such a way as to leave an open area so that we can easily get uneaten food out right away We aren't gonna feed the oscars for a couple of days and then put in 10 more feeder guppies They don't stay for long When the Oscars get too big we will probably get another tank, I am sure I can find a decent sized one used. But for now we will stay with the 10 gallon and keep learning Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[THOR]

Here's the fish tank:

 

[THOR]

Action fish shot

 

[merrylander]

We have a 600 gallon (or thereabouts) fish pond back of the house in a grove of trees. You haven't smelt anything until you clean out one of those. Probably why the expression 'pondscum' is really derogatory. uke:

Reminds me that I should make sure the stocktank heater is keeping an opening in the ice so those 20 odd fantails can still breath.

Rob

 

[Haoleb]

Oy yo yoy

Thats some murky water ya got there :worried:

 

[Jack G]

As stated elsewhere...

This venture will fail. The fact that the oscars aren't dead yet is a testament to their Ruggedness.
You have too many fish for that tank, you overfed, and you did it too soon.
Get yourself a good sized(read oversized) filter for your tank. That *might* help.
You are also having a bacterial bloom(cloudiness). You will need more oxygen in that tank. Now.
While this is going on, I would recomend getting another tank(29gal or so) and setting it up now to get it stabilized while you struggle with the 10 gal.
Kim's advice is dead on-follow it.
Jack

 

[Haoleb]

the oversized filter thing is probbly a good idea. i have a 20 gallon and im using a filter thats made for something like 60 gallon tanks. but it keeps the water crystal clear!

 

[D-Zyne]

Except in emergency situations (and yours may have been an emergency situation), its never a really good idea to change ALL of the water at once....changes should be done gradually over the course of several days, generally no more than 25-30% at a time. All goes back to the bacteria build-up and nitrogen cycle and all that.

But we admire your tenacity (and the fishies as well). Don't give up!

 

[Andyman]

Yep bud, you need a bigger tank. Too bad summer's over; I used to see a couple every weekend. In fact, I have a buddy who raises African cichlids and trades aquariums; he'd tell me about stereos he found at sales and I'd turn him on to fish tanks.

Check out your classies for a used one. We got our 90 gal saltwater setup w/base and a whole bunch of hardware (heaters, skimmers. filters, lights, wooden stand) for less than what the tank cost. You should be able to get all you need for under $100, prolly less.

 

[THOR]

It's much less cloudy today, that pic was right after the changing of the water.

I know, I know bigger tank yada, yada, yada, I knew I shoulda just bought the tank with the artificial fishies that just swim around

 

[Fisherdude]

Keep your head up!

Don't get discouraged. Believe it or not, you're going through your learning pains the right way, with a small tank and inexpensive fish.

Not that I'm suggestive you should be conducting live sacrifices!!!

Btw, unless I missed it, I don't recall you saying exactly what kind of filtration that you have. As was mentioned, the small inside-the-tank corner filters are completely inadequate, but in your photo I didn't see one, so I assume you have an outside back filter. If you got one for a 10, it would be "relatively" inexpensive to replace it with a filter sized for a 20. A little more water flow and filtering power gives you a lot more "protection" against boo-boos, plus, if you do get a larger tank, you've already got the filter.

Anyway, stick with it! You have a very pretty setup. No more fish, feed carefully, let it settle in, regular partial water changes, and if you're keeping the 10 for a while, take the oscars back to the pet store as soon as they start getting to 4" or so. Any bigger and they really won't be happy in that tank. Tough to swim when you don't have room to make a u-turn!

Get a few books and magazines at the pet store and read, read, read.

Have fun!
Clay

 

[THOR]

It's an over the back type, when I can I'll get a bigger one

 

[JDaniel]

Thor - there's a joke lurking around that your thread title, but I'm gonna be good today and not type it!

JD