horrible smell

[kevinb64]

i have this hideous smell coming from what i can tell is the sump/refuge section of my setup. it started just a couple days ago, the tank is in the basement in an "office" and even with the door closed you can smell it throughout the house. at first i thought it was the pump going to my css250 ( i had to extend the tubing going from the pump to the skimmer because i have to run it external due to space.) but after having that disconnected for a day the smell is not getting any better.

there is caulerpa in the refuge but it is not showing any signs of going sexual. does this type of macro aglea emit a gross smell. it almost smells like there is a dead animal in the room that has been rotting away for a while.

does a pump smell this bad if it is burning up?

tank specs:

75g main
29g sump
2 mj1200
1 rio ?pump (works fine, no pressure loss)
quiet one 4000 return
css 250 needle wheel


2 clowns
1 goby/shrimp pair
few snails/crabs
1 emerald crab
1 fire shrimp
lots of live rock/sand
a large section of the sump devoted to caulerpa

any help would be great i need to get this smell out of my house

 

[Sk8r]

That's not good: sounds like anoxic conditions developing: ie, tank crash possible. Run carbon. What can you test for? I'd start with nitrate/ammonia, [carbon will help that], also salinity, alkalinity s/b 8.3-9.3, ph [7.9-8.3], and I'd up the flow to max, including getting a larger pump. I have not heard good things about Rios. For a 54, before my sump went to the basement, I ran a Mag 9.5 and didn't think it quite enough. I'd suggest maybe a mag 12 for that tank, but keep your mjs; and how is that skimmer working for you? Are you getting a cup every few days? And I take it you have located the smell to the sump itself, not the ambient area getting waterlogged from evaporation. PS: bless you for providing a list of equipment and occupants---you saved us hours.

 

[sanababit]

it could be something else like a dead animal, if it smells like something rotten then it could be a dead mouse perhaps since its in your basement????. if it smells like rotten eggs then it could be your tank, run carbon, if its your tank then that will help, good luck


sana

 

[kevinb64]

the rio is just in the displaay tank movin water around and the qo4000 is the return pump.

to be honest with you i cant even remeber the last time i have smelt rotten eggs so idont know if that is what the cause is. all i can think of is how nasty it smells.

im going down there as soon as i get done writing this to look around some more. ill do some testing also.

we just moved into this house so there could be some stress going on but everything including the fish, corals and anemone are doing great.

 

[pikachusalad]

Are you sure the smell is coming from your sump or tank - I know that's been asked...but if it is, is it just the sump or the sump and the tank? AND, is it the water? I think...if the water smells like dead animals, you should see some ammonia when you test.

Is it possible when you're feeding that the food is getting trapped somewhere - maybe under the lip of the top of the tank - evaporation and spray could be keeping it moist...

Could it be the filter sock (assuming you have one) in your sump? For awhile, mine was partially out of the water and would get stinky if I left it for more than a week (though, not "dead animal" stinky)...

 

[kevinb64]

nitrate less than 20
nitite 0
kh aprox.300
ph 7.8
salinity 1.022 (same as always)
ammonia 0

right now that is all i can test for i lost my other test equipment when i moved a couple weeks ago.

i have no filter sock and i am 99% sure it comes from the sump. in the sump there is three sections.

overflow which is where the water enters there is the pump to the skimmer there.

then the middle section that houses the caulerpa

then last the return section that has the quiet one 4000 back upto the tank

these all flow in sequence

 

[pikachusalad]

I know I'm only bringing up things you've already checked...but it's not the skimmer, is it? Maybe the cup doesn't seal, or you have a cup overflow tube that's blowing out stink? I can't imagine that'd stink up the whole basement though... I'm at a loss, but would be interested to hear what it was when you find out.

 

[Sk8r]

I'm wondering if you've got a problem developing in the sandbed. Carbon is your friend. And don't stir the sand!

Your nitrate is high. How much live rock?

You moved recently. Did you reuse your old sand? Did you cycle? This could be a problem. I discarded old sand when I moved, used my rock only, got new sand, did a 1-week cycle, no smell.

If you suspect your sandbed, prepare a qt tank and if it should start to cycle, get all livestock and inverts over to qt asap.

Get a conch---fighting conch of fair size. Or two. Turn one loose in the sump, one in the display. They can reach the depths of the sandbed and help it. Ditto nassarius snails [burrowers.]

Your ph is a shade low, not catastrophic, but watch it. Good on the ammonia.

I'm betting strongly you've got something nasty brewing in the sandbed that is bubbling up noxious gases, probably in the low-flow area of the sump, assuming you've got sand down there in your refugium. Do not, do not, do not stir or clean it! Let snails and shellfish handle that. If you don't have sand down there, start adding some washed sand, [wash in ro/di] in a glass, and just slowly start letting it build. It will help your upper bed.

Please! have that qt standing by. If it goes catastrophic, you'll see immediate oxygen shortage, maybe cloudy water, gasping fish, etc. And it never happens when the lfs is open.

 

[seapug]

If something was rotting in your tank or sump and stank as bad as you are describing, I would think you'd see at least some, if not severe, effect on your tank inhabitants. There must be something dead in the area near the sump. Could even be in the walls. Have your plumbing checked. Make sure the pumps aren't burning up.

Also, if it was coming from a single compartment in the sump, the entire wolume of tank water would have the same smell. I can't imagine a situation that would prevent the smell from marinating the entire system.

Either way, I'd go get a few large boxes of plain baking soda, open the tops and leave them sitting around the sump. That stuff has an amazing ability to absorb smells.

 

[kevinb64]

im watching it with my life. i actually called off work today so i can try to figure it out. im going to the store so i can pick up a couple things to get the skimmer going again. i moved it closer to the pump but i need a new fitting that needed to be replaced.

there is no sand in the sump just some rubble rock and the caulerpa.

my sand bed up top is kinda gross where ever the shrimp/goby team are not hangin out. im gonna pick up a couple conchs today when i go to the lfs and i will start a hospital tank too.

 

[Sk8r]

When I say add sand to the sump refugium, I mean a single old-fashioned glassful at a time, per every few days. This is fragile, and I wouldn't do it until you get this other smell problem handled. It would, however, improve your refugium.

Also, what kind of light do you have on that refugium? A PC light will work. Let's just make sure you don't have dying weed.

 

[hmello@bermexin]

Interesting just tagging along to see the results.

 

[kevinb64]

back from the depot and got the skimmer runnin again. i have an outdoor floodlight type light over the fuge it is a compact floorecent 6500k i think 65 watt. ill keep the updates im gonna try to get a handfull of sand and see if that is the same smell that i smeel out of the tank

 

[kevinb64]

ok i just dug out some of the caulerpa from the fuge and i think that is whats causing the smell. i pulled most of it out and only left a little bit that looks healthy still. a lot of it was white instead of green and had a bad smell like the rest of the basement.

i have some new salt water mixing right now so im gonna do another water change today or tomorrow and hopefully that will help a little.

if anyone else has any suggestions let me know and ill keep you guys posted.

thanks for the help
kevin

 

[backyardspecial]

I'm no expert on caulerpa but if a good amount of it dies I think it releases the nastiness it had collected over time back into your tank.

Hope those WC help you out.

 

[szwab]

If you are still not positive where the the smell is coming from I'd recommend turning off your pumps for a 1/2 hour or so so that the tank is not circulating. If it's as bad as you say it'll probably take more like 15 minutes to figure out where the smell is originating from. Also turn the skimmer off. Be mindful of the temps in the tank and if anything looks like it is stressing then turn things back on but for a short period you should be ok. If it's the tank you'll smell it from the tank if it's the sump you'll smell it from the sump if it's the skimmer the smell will likely go away a bit since you won't have air constantly pushing the smell out of the skimmer. Once you have isolated things then we can go from there. Hopefully it was the macro which is an easy fix. Pull out the bad and let the healthy grow back.

Usually if I get a bad smell like that it's because I have negelected to clean the skimmer cup out. Since you ust moved the skimmer is most likely working overtime pulling out the junk that got kicked up in the move. just a thought.

 

[kevinb64]

ok so i left for a couple hours with my wife and when we got back just a few minutes ago there was no more smell. so it must have been the caulerpa that had died.

well i would like to thank everyone who took the time to help and toss out ideas to me.

a water change awaits me so until next time happy reefing

 

[szwab]

glad to hear things seem to have worked themselves out.

 

[Sk8r]

Great! Stay on top of that water quality, skim, test, run carbon, and get yourself a great big ball of cheatomorpha under a PC light. That will be a lot more stable for you. Keep us posted how you do.

 

[Lotus99]

If you had a really big ball of macroalgae, the parts at the bottom or in the center probably weren't getting enough light, and died. It may have gotten damaged in the move, or just hadn't been thinned out enough.