weird smell in fish room

[DrBDC]

I came home from work last night and there was a weird smell in the fish room. The tank had a white haze to it as if something spawned. My ORP had dropped to 210! But I never smelled a smell like that. I checked equipment and nothing burning up or anything. Nothing dead or even looking funny. My skimmer had overflowed and the bubbles were larger than normal. I wasn't sure what was up but I did a 32 gallon water change, cleaned the ceramic airstones and stressed out. After cleaning the stones it was the same large bubbles. This morning the ORP has rebounded 50% of the way back to normal and the skimmer bubbles are great again. So either something in the water changing the bubble quality or the air pump sent something?

No one was home to have sprayed anything or messed with anything. Well our 10 y/o and my grandmother but I got out the halide pendant and tied him to a chair for a heavy interrogation. I'm at a loss as to what happened and my only guess is a heavy spawn but to smell it? Could the linear piston air pump have done some weird thing and then corrected? Only recent changes was a very large harvest of cheato that I took some to GWA and some to Saltyunderground. I'm doing another 32 gallon w/c late this afternoon after the salt has had time to mix well just in case.

I'm rambling a bunch but any theories?

 

[Letmegrow]

Did any of the Macro in your tank go sexual ?
Do you hve any anemones ?

 

[DrBDC]

Update on my tests. I didn't test last night since there was def. something in the water and didn't want to take the time when a water change was going on anyway. This morning 0 for amm, nitrites and nitrates. Flat 0 no iffy colors even.

Being the furnace room too does Laclede ever add somthing for smell different than the usual odor they add to help you smell it? If so, maybe it just was coincidence that it happened at the same time.

 

[DrBDC]

My macro looks good. No anemone's. At least not any that are desirable.

 

[Letmegrow]

Have you a carbon monoxide tester ?

If your furnace or anything is spewing gas and the skimmer is in the same room, maybe it got inducted into the skimmer.

 

[MayoBoy]

Did you have the furnace off over the weekend and back on yesterday? Something may have settled on the heat exchanger and then burned off when it kicked on.

 

[Letmegrow]

That always creates a lovely smell.

 

[DrBDC]

That's where my guess is going now since we actually turned the a/c on for a little bit Sat eve as the humidity built up. Then yesterday it got cold. But when it all happens at the same time it's a lot of coincidence and I have to keep it in mind. It was a spicy/sweet smell which I've never had the furnace make when burning off dust.

 

[stlouisguy]

Only thing I can think of is if you have any water mains in the room. My main pipe into the house was so cold over the weekend from the water, but the house was open and so much humidity in the air, the entire pipe and the ground under it was dripping wet from condensation. If anywhere in the room water dripped onto something all day you could have had a chemical reaction or short

Just a thought

 

[Sk8r]

carbon might not be a bad precaution.

 

[DrBDC]

I did change my carbon out last night that I run in a phosban reactor just in case it was some bad chemical or something. I even put double my usual amount in it. I might change it out in only a couple days again just in case.

 

[rgpennell]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6951646#post6951646 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DrBDC
It was a spicy/sweet smell which I've never had the furnace make

I was thinking perhaps you shouldn't head down to the fish room on Chili night - at least until I read that it smelled "spicy/sweet." On that note I think I will leave this thread before I am accused of making comments about your wife's cooking. :lol:

Rob

 

[DrBDC]

:lol: I don't have any chili corals so I know it wasn't the fish!

 

[dela]

How often does your skimmer overflow? Seems like your skimmer is always overflowing. I'm getting paranoid putting a new tank with a new skimmer in the livingroom!

 

[DrBDC]

I keep a wet skim going and "normally" skim about 5-10 gallons per week. When the setting has the foam that close to the top of the neck it only takes a coordinated spawn to quickly make another 5 gallons. It's always when the overflow bucket is almost full anyway. Murphy's law. If I were to back off the skimmer I would cut down a lot of overflows but then the debate over wet skim or dry skim begins. Since mine is in an unfinished room with the sewer drain right next to it, I let it skim wet w/o overflow worries. I have a little wet alarm that sits on top of the salt bucket I use for the skimmer overflow which goes off when it's full so that I don't suddenly skim 20-30 gallons out w/o knowing it. If you are in a room where overflow matters I would keep to a dryer skim than I use for sure.

I did finally figure out the smell though. I had cotton stuffed around the tube leading to the overflow bucket and about a year ago I used liquid potpouri on it to help with smell coming out. It had been so long I forgot I did that and when it got wet again, it reactivated the smell and I had a smell mixed with poop, spawn,and potpouri. Very bizarre smell.

 

[dela]

poop, spawn,and potpouri

:lol:

 

[StupidsReef]

Ahh, so you found it! Good deal Dr. I was wondering what was the issue. So nothing happened with your tank then right?? That's all good??

 

[DrBDC]

Everything is doing great.