Hey all,

Last night I noticed that my tank was letting off a chemical sort of odour. The characteristics of the odour almost seem like I shouldn't be near my tank without a gas mask on... This is no joke either! The tank is in my bedroom and I am getting a little concerned that I might get adverse health effects if I don't get to the bottom of this.

Nothing has changed about the way I operate/maintain my tank since day one (it has been up and running for about 7 weeks). If anything, I havent done a water change for about 3 weeks, but that's about it.

I have been dosing Excel daily since day one and I use Flourish weekly.

I know this post its a little odd, but hoping someone else has experienced this before and can shed some light on what is causing this odour. Thanks...

This what else I have in the tank, its pretty bare. The smell seems stronger on the side with the heater.

What kind of odour is it, chemical, organic? What are your WP?

Just to start getting rid of the smell(for your health) I would get a small AquaClear hang on filter(or similar) & remove the normal media & put a big bag or either Purigen or Macropore in there, this will remove anything that will be causing the odour but we still need to find to root of the problem so it doesn't continue.

Its a chemical smell. Reminds me of paint or similar.

I know it sounds silly, but the smell has now taken over my bedroom. I had to sleep with the door and window wide open last night because I was getting a headache from the smell.

When I get home, Ill check my WP and my heater. The smell is more prominent around where the heater is.

Failing this, Ill look into getting a hang on filter as you have suggested Jay. Thanks :)

Edited August 16, 201411 yr by mst_mugen

Wait, could it be ammonia? Im not sure as I don't know what ammonia smells like, but a quick google search says it smells like chemicals?

Why are you dosing Excel and Flourish, when the tank is bare?

Take a sniff of the Excel, and tell us if the smell from the tank is similar.

To me, glut (glutardaldehyde) stinks. Which is essentially what excel is.

Prime also stinks of sulphur. Are you using too much ?

Here is a little cut&paste of glut facts ...

Health Hazard Summary: The most common effect of overexposure to glutaraldehyde is irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. Glutaraldehyde can also cause asthma and allergic reactions of the skin.

Odor and Appearance: Glutaraldehyde is most often available as 50%, 25%, or 2% solutions in water. A 2% glutaraldehyde solution is "activated" by alkali for use as a broad-spectrum disinfectant. Glutaraldehyde solutions are pale yellow liquids that smell like rotten apples. Glutaraldehyde is slow to evaporate into the air unless heated.

Edited August 16, 201411 yr by jayc

Why are you dosing Excel and Flourish, when the tank is bare?

Take a sniff of the Excel, and tell us if the smell from the tank is similar.

To me, glut (glutardaldehyde) stinks. Which is essentially what excel is.

Prime also stinks of sulphur. Are you using too much ?

Here is a little cut&paste of glut facts ...

Health Hazard Summary: The most common effect of overexposure to glutaraldehyde is irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. Glutaraldehyde can also cause asthma and allergic reactions of the skin.

Odor and Appearance: Glutaraldehyde is most often available as 50%, 25%, or 2% solutions in water. A 2% glutaraldehyde solution is "activated" by alkali for use as a broad-spectrum disinfectant. Glutaraldehyde solutions are pale yellow liquids that smell like rotten apples. Glutaraldehyde is slow to evaporate into the air unless heated.

Sorry, by bare I mean not that much in it. I have Mini Pellia (hence why I am dosing Excel + Flourish) and about 10 Neos. It won't be the Excel as I have been using that since day one. However, I will take a wiff of it when I get home and let you guys know, although Im 90% sure its not the same smell as Excel.

I was gonna suggest it be the smell of prime as well...I noticed the is placed on the side you said smells, that stufff has a very strong smell to it.

Have you used the substrate before? If so, it may contain a lot of organic material that has started rotting, and the substrate looks deep enough to go anoxic (low oxygen) so could be producing noxious gases. Do little bubbles float up from the substrate?

Ok, I smelt the Prime and Excel and neither of them smell like my tank.

My Ammonia is at about 2 and Nitrates and Nitrites are 0.

I took out the sponge filter and did a 90% WC (yes I know, not good for shrimp) and the smell has greatly reduced. Ill see if the smell builds up again over night. I won't put my sponge filter back in, Im just using an air stone atm.

The substrate is new and I haven't noticed any bubbles rising to the surface from the substrate. Ill stick my long tweesers in there tomorrow to try and free up any gases that may have built up over time in the substrate.

Is this a new set up? Sounds like your tank may be cycling still.

I'd recommend leaving the air filter in, plant any plants you intend on using and hold off on any further dosing just to let your tank stabilize on its own. Just go the ol' K.I.S.S method and keep it simple, the only reason your tank would give off a chemical smell is if there is an abundance of something in the tanks water, the fact the smell reduced after a water change also kinda confirms that, with just a small portion of slow growing moss in there I don't see a huge need to the extra dosing.
Excel btw can melt mini pellia in higher concentrations, so if the daily dosing is slowly increasing the amount present in the water there may be a point that your moss suffers.

 

Good luck though! keen to hear how things go :)