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Help with BGA and Nauseating Smelly Water!?

2K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  gemini2 
#1 ·
Hi all. My first post. And hopefully the beginning of a long fish keeping career - if this experience doesn't do me in first :x

My tank's (10 gal) been running for about 5 weeks. Memorial Day weekend, I went away for the long weekend. There were the beginnings of some algae on the tank walls, but nothing prepared me for the mess when I came back. Tank was taken over by slimy, smelly algae (I assume BGA). My chain sword was dead (It had been dying slowly - I think not enough light - now have 2.6 wpg CF). Java Moss was a mess too. Did a ~40% water change immediately, but no effect. Did some research and started erythromycin treatment. - 1/2 Maracyn tablet, going on two days now. I did another ~50% water change yesterday. Today it smells so bad I can't spend too long in the same room with the tank as the smell is absolutely nauseating! Is this a really bad BGA outbreak and what to do??? Help!!
 
#2 ·
i had a horrible bga outbreak, but there was no smell with it.

have you checked the inhabitants of the tank? if a fish died and is decomposing then it would cause that smell. i had that happen to me once, a kuhli loach died on me, and i didn't see it. i can't even describe the smell of that tank, just nasty.
 
#3 ·
No dead fish... Just a really really nasty sickening odor. I've only got three red wag platies that I've had since the beginning. They seem pretty healthy and active. Had some snails, but I've taken them out as I see them, and haven't seen any in a while. My ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are negligible. pH is about 7.4. Haven't measured phophates.

I am seeing bubbles trapped in the substrate that were not there before, that occasionally bubble up. Another thread mentioned this in conjunction with BGA. I took out all the rocks I had in the tank, deslimed them as best I could and have left them out. I currenly have a large stand of wisteria dominating one side of the tank. It's doing pretty well. Java Fern and Amazon Sword on the other side of the tank. The Amazon doesn't look too healthy, maybe 'cos I didn't have enough light, but have been using the CF for about 2 weeks. I use Seachem Flourish tabs in the substrate and Kent Freshwater Plant supplement. I haven't used any iron, potassium supplements...
 
#4 ·
What color is your CF bulb? I had some pretty bad BGA in my 15g tank with 4100K CF bulbs. I did water changes, maracyn, etc. and while those remedies helped, it kept coming back. I removed as much of it as I could with a siphon and shortly thereafter changed to a 6500K CF bulb. I haven't seen it since. I'm not positive the bluer bulbs did the trick, but that's my experience!
Also, clean out your filter!
 
#7 ·
Well I know when my tank got funky, everyone suggested it to be bacterial.
I did a 50% water change for about 3 days and the smell never returned.
As for the algae, I don't know what to tell ya. I am battling green water right now :cry: .
I have recently added hornwort and anacharis, so hopefully they will help w/ the algae.

Good luck! I know how icky a funky smelling tank can be!
 
#8 ·
I'm going to do another 30% water change and add another 1/2 maracyn tablet. Hopefully that should do something.

Also, I forgot to add earlier. I have an anubias nana as well. So I'll have four plants, three fish, plain gravel, supplements for plants. Would it be a good idea to add any more plants?

Any other ideas anyone?
 
#9 ·
okay, those bubbles that you mentioned...i suspect that what actually is are pockets of anerobic bacteria that live in the substrate. when these come to the surface and pop, they smell like rotten eggs. sound familiar?

if that's it, the best thing to do is first off, take out your fish. then you need to get all those pickets of air out of the substrate, and while you're at it remove some because you probably have too much if these pockets are forming. these bacteria won't kill your fish, but they will stink up the house!

clean out that gravel the best you can, and make sure that when you clean the gravel with your weekly water changes, you really get down there and clean things.

this problem is commonly seen in tanks with sand substrate, one of the potential hazards of the stuff!

another thing, that auqaclear jr. is really not enough filtration imo. you might want to think about upgrading that, or inceasing water changes.
 
#10 ·
A few years ago I had a tank develop a nasty odor. There were no other symptoms and nothing I did would get rid of the odor. I finally ended up tearing the tank down and replacing everything in it. It never returned after that and to this day, I still don't know what caused it but I do know that it wasn't anaerobic bacteria, I'm familiar with that odor and this was definitely not it.
 
#11 ·
True BGA is very, very unpleasent smelling. Kind of like nasty compost or seaweed. I feel your pain, as I just had to fight this crud off in two of my tanks. You're on the right track though, so dont feel bad.

If its bad enough that you have to use EM to kill it, you should not be changing any water while you are medicating. When you do, you lower the concentration of the medication and are lowering its effectiveness. I use 1 tablet per 10 gallons for 5 days to get rid of it.

After the 5 days I would do a substancial water change, and if there is still algae remaining I would treat for another 5. No more.

Once you have it receding you should be able to keep it in check with regular maintenance (water changes)
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all the advice and tips everyone. My tank's healed itself (with a little help from me, it appears) I'm doing water changes once a week, about 20% or so. Gonna add some more plants and see how they do. Then add a few more fish. Couple of otos to keep the other algae down. And maybe a few amano shrimp. We'll see how that works out.

Cheers!
 
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