My rock smells like BUTT! Seariously!?!?!?!?!?

[sikpupy]

Okay, so, I know salty watered stuff is supposed to be on the fishy side, like at the beach, but, I pulled a rock to stuff some Nori on it and something smelled funny. I thought it was my skimer at first but then i realized it was the rock I was playing with. I took a closer whif and it smells like plain ol raw sewage.
Okay, i know thats not normal and something is amiss. I am going to assume that my bacteria died maybe? What is the smell of raw sewage? It does NOT smell like skimmer, the rotten egg odor, it smells like sewage! I think my rock died, lol.
What stage is/are my rocks in from that smell?
How long does it take to go from "butt" to normal fishy salt water smell if in fact that is the case?

 

[btldreef]

The rock is dead and needs to be re-cured if it stinks that bad. Curing rock can take different time lengths depending on how you do it, and how dead the rock is. There's a ton of opinions on how to cure live rock on this site and all over the internet. Good luck

 

[mr.clownfish]

HAHAHAHA that happened to me once!
it really sucks. i had some coral in there that was not doing very well. i transferred the coral into my other tank. then i took all the rocks out (about 20 pounds) and really mixed my sand up, then i put the rocks in one by one shaking them profusely making lots of dirt and gunk fall out. then i turned the lights off for about 3 weeks and didnt touch the tank, the smell was gone and all my nitrites where at 0. It did like another cycle. then i placed the coral back, they did much better.

 

[aquaknight]

Nori, as in the dried sheets you feed to tangs?
If so, it's that. Dried nori smells absolutely terrible after a couple days sitting in a tank. I use a mag-float to hold nori for feeding, and I have to clean it weekly, which is never fun.

 

[flower]

This has never happened to me...It isn't normal, and you do need to find out the WHY your rock died.....
Gunk falling off the rock when you shake it, tells me that a power head may have helped. I had a 55g that I used to have to clear off every once in a while with a (NEW marked FISH ONLY) turkey baister. ( got this tip from a book)
Now in my 90g I have lots of flow, 4 power heads...I did the turkey baister thing yesterday during my water change...nothing came off the rock. My corals are not being beat to death either.

 

[sikpupy]

Well, I nuked my tank with quinine, and, while they say it is safe for bacteria, i have another comment for you on that one. With that in mind, its still odd. I know what live rock decay smells like and thats not pretty, at all, BUT (pun intended) I have never, ever smelled rock that smelled like "raw sewage". Dank nasty death, yes. Raw natural gas/methane raw sewage smell............never.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by sikpupy
http:///forum/post/3150090
Well, I nuked my tank with quinine, and, while they say it is safe for bacteria, i have another comment for you on that one. With that in mind, its still odd. I know what live rock decay smells like and thats not pretty, at all, BUT (pun intended) I have never, ever smelled rock that smelled like "raw sewage". Dank nasty death, yes. Raw natural gas/methane raw sewage smell............never.

I would put the rock in a (FISH ONLY) tub one at a time and rinse it with saltwater, and use a turkey baister (NEW... mark it FISH ONLY) to squirt saltwater into all the tiny crevices. Then shake the rock in the tub to make sure all is loose.
Why did you use quinine? What is that for?

 

[sikpupy]

Its for Ich, a antimalarial drug. They even use it in gingerale, go figure. I guess the dosage I needed in the tank was/is more than the bacteria can handle. Some fish also can not tolerate it as I lost a few. The tangs did absolutly fine.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by sikpupy
http:///forum/post/3150244
Its for Ich, a antimalarial drug. They even use it in gingerale, go figure. I guess the dosage I needed in the tank was/is more than the bacteria can handle. Some fish also can not tolerate it as I lost a few. The tangs did absolutly fine.

Sorry to hear about all the trouble...Looks like another case of the cure is worse than the disease. Did it at least get rid of the ich?

 

[sikpupy]

Yea, it sucked cause it took out my Midas blenny, which I got on the spur of the moment decision for a really good friend. Out of the whole store, my friend was like "guess which one I like" and I went, two isles over and pointed it out to her. My friend comes over and visits alot and I wanted to give her something to see that she could enjoy, to say was hers. I guess, not so now.

I am kinda sentimental like that, lol.

Its been a week and ick free, but, we will see in time.