My tanks horrible smell

[gio28]

so for about a month or so my tank has been giving off this gross smell. its in my room so i guess im used to it by now but every time my parents or someone walks into it they instantly notice it... and they assume its me lol.
anyways i have a few guesses as to what causing it:
-my anemone is dying/dead because it went behind the rocks in the shade and is always closed up. and i've heard they smell nasty when they die.
-my carbon is old (although its chemi pure elite i got a few months ago)
-idk what else
anyone know what the cause is or want to take a guess? thanks.

 

[meowzer]

If you think the anemone is dead...get it out...do a water change....and change your carbon
better yet....change your carbon anyway

 

[small triggers]

you should actually change your carbon ONCE A MONTH,, that could be part of it, the anemone could be the other part or your tank could be giving off nitrogenous gas,, do you have any bubbles in the sand or on the rocks that looks like yellow air bubbles??? what else is in your filter, and when was the last time you cleaned that,,(should be done atleast Bi-Weekly with a canister filter)

 

[gio28]

i think i will change the carbon later today or tomorrow when i do maintenance and hook up my sump hopefully.
anyways...i guess it could be the anemone...id hate to get rid of it if it was not dying though...how can i tell for sure?
my sand has a small amount of clear bubbles...no yellow from what i can tell. i just cleaned my filter a few days ago. ill go through the procedure:
-i have a sponge, carbon, and biomax in my power filter
-usually i take all of them out and swish them in the WC water that i take out. the biomax i never replace along with the sponge...in fear of me losing my good bacteria. the sponge is brown though but i clean it out throughly. and my filter does smell like crap now that you mention it...maybe i need to replace the sponge. would the biomax need to be replaced too at a later time?

 

[small triggers]

i would alternate changing things out every other month, so you arent changing everything out at the same time,, that being said ICKKKYY i hate when stuff starts to smell, is your flow good too by the way? could it have anything to do with surface adgitation?

 

[gio28]

i think i will first replace the carbon...then later on this month replace the sponge once my sump w/ chaeto + DSB is running to prevent a spike... just in case.
my tank is 36 gallons and i have 2 koralia 2's in there. they are across from eachother pointing slightly downwards though so surface agaitation is minimal with just my power filter doing anything for the surface. my overflow has teeth though and im getting a skimmer soon so once my sump is hooked up the overflow will skim that surface gunk into the sump and my skimmer should take care of it from there i hope.

 

[meowzer]

If you lift the anemone up...and it is slimey...and hold it up to your nose...Believe me....you will know if it is dead....it will have a smell that is worse than you can imagine

 

[gio28]

lol i'll try to get that thing out from behind my rocks...and have it detach itself from them.
i also noticed that when i touch it it dosent sting me at all..or very little. it probably dead :/

 

[meowzer]

it is still attached???? HMMM...usually dead things let go...LOL

 

[gio28]

lol...my anemone is very weird

. i think it sandwiched itself between a rock and the glass so maybe it is just wedged in there...i will have to find out later i guess.

 

[flower]

A dead critter would make the ammonia spike...what did your last water test show? A dead anemone looks like snot...all stringy and slimy..goo just oozing around it. A healthy anemone my shrink up but stay firm ....squishy but solid.
I would change my type of filter...I use a caniser system and just rinse my pads in saltwater. It cleans them wthout killing my good bacteria and it is contained, so no concern of weird smells.

 

[gio28]

i actually dont have any ammonia tests at the moment

...besides the lame test strips.
im gonna check the anemone and see whats up with it.
when my sump gets hooked up i will be so relieved that i can do maintenance with my media a whole lot easier. i am just gonna put the sponge and carbon in the baffles and the biomax i will throw away once my sump is established enough to replace the bacteria im throwing away on the biomax.

 

[gio28]

so i just checked my anemone...it doesnt shock me when i touch it but it has a strong hold on the rock and it is firm but squishy...so i assume it is ok. idk though...i'll see if the smell goes away when i replace the carbon and the sponge filter...i guess i'll have to deal with it for now,