Smelly water

I just did a 10 gal water change - it's 55 gal tank. We also had added 3 pecies of live rock. When I did the water change - i did cleaned the sand/CC and moved a good bit of sand around when we added the live rock. After a few hours the tank started smelling really bad - like rotten eggs. Before the water change the water smelled fine. We used distelled water bought from walmart. After we noticed the smell we removed the 3 new peices of live rock and placed them in the sick tank. However the rock didnt smell that bad. What could be the cause - rock - or stirring up the sand/CC? Please help my whole house smells!
 
we currently have 4 cartiages in the HOB filter. Your going to shoot me - but we dont have a home test kit yet. We have also relaided on the LFS for our testing. I have a kit on it's way - the test were fine when we went to the store today.
also should LR be quartined when you 1st bring it home?
does distilled water need to be treated before putting in the tank - other than making it saltwater?
 
we have had the tank for 2 to 3 months - 1 clownfish, 1 small blue damsle, 2 black tip sharks that was converted from fresh water , 1 horseshoe crab, several small cleaner crabs
it was fully cycled before we added anything live other than the sand and current LR
 

aceguitar1

Member
I made the mistake of buying non-cured live rock when I started my tank a couple months ago. For the first two or three weeks it smelled terrible. I'm not an expert, however I would assume that if you did in fact add non-cured live rock, it could start a mini cycle... Anyone think they could back me up or correct my statement?
 

meowzer

Moderator
OK....so you added this rock...AFTER...the tank was cycled?? as ACE said...let ,me ask was this rock fully cured? YES...uncured rock will cause a rise in parameters....
 
it was supposed to be fully cured when we bought it - and yes we added the rock after the tank was fully cycled - i will post a pic of the sharks in a min - anyway we removed the 3 peices we had added to day and placed them in a separtate tank - should we recure it? if so how long does it take?
 

aceguitar1

Member
A little off topic here, but I didn't know it was possible to convert fish from fresh water to salt... How does that happen?
Correction, I used google :) Sorry for the stupid question.
 
There is no such thing as stupid questions - I never new this either until our LS did it - it's the closes thing to a real shark - for now - DH is despeartly wanting a 185 or larger tank so he can have a shark - I think it's a bad ideal - but who am I
 

mkroher

Member
Originally Posted by swilliamson79
http:///forum/post/3153044
There is no such thing as stupid questions - I never new this either until our LS did it - it's the closes thing to a real shark - for now - DH is despeartly wanting a 185 or larger tank so he can have a shark - I think it's a bad ideal - but who am I
That's a "Columbian Shark". It's really a cat fish. They start off as babies in freshwater, and need brackish water when adults. They can also be in full salt. They get very large (14"). They will out grow that 55gal in a year. They are fun to watch and really cute when they are babies. They lose that cuteness after 9 months or so, and start looking like an ugly cat fish.
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/aqual...ian_shark2.jpg
Also, those "sharks" will eat anything it can fit in its mouth. After the lights go out, count your other fish the next morning.
I would return them to the store.
 
Live rock will give off a odor when some of the "live stuff" has died off. Now you say the rock no longer smells but if I had to guess the smell was originally from die off on your rock that was washed off in your water.
Even if you buy "fully cured" live rock you can have die off in shipping etc. Also sometimes a business saying live rock is fully cured is a selling point.
Main thing you need to do I say....water changes. If I'm correct the die off will cause some spikes in your system. IMO
 
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