Sand stinks! What to do?

[makofury]

Hey everyone, my tank was setup for about 10 months with 60lbs of Nature's Ocean live sand. Only one water change was done because I left the tank in my dad's hands who never did a water change when he said he would . I rinsed the sand out pretty thoroughly in freshwater but it still stinks. It smells like a rotten egg. Do I need to rinse it out more or is this normal?? Thanks for any replies.
MakoFury

 

[mpgt]

Did your fresh water rinse contain chlorine? If so, it probably killed millions of bacteria. I've never had a DSB, but I've read a lot recently. It seems that you need a balance of live sand, lots of organisms in it, and a "clean-up crew". I can't see ever rinsing it in fresh water. Maybe replacing some of it would've been a better choice.

 

[makofury]

Yeah, I knew that it would kill a lot of the bacteria by rinsing it in freshwater but I had to do it because it smelled 10x worse before I rinsed it. Im thinking of just adding live sand from this site along with live rock and a cleanup crew when this tank gets setup.

 

[jim27]

The sand probably stunk because it had die off on it which is noraml for ls. You shouldn't have washed it.

 

[mpgt]

If that's normal for LS, I think I can do without it. <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" />

 

[pontiac]

Is that really normal? <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> If it's going to stink periodically, i'm thinking about living without it too
Please, somebody knows if that's going to happen?
Thanks

 

[broomer5]

Any substrate has a stink to it after it's been in a tank for months on end, at least that's my experience.
Every tank I've ever torn down had substrate stench.
Lots of organic and chemical processes breaking down in most any substrate - organic stuff can stink.
Sulfides and sulfur compounds can stink like rotten eggs.

 

[troy mcclure]

Ive read that disrupting a deep sand bed can release needed traped gases. Maybe thats whats giving off that smell. <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[broomer5]

Between BlackDog's brine shrimp he left out of the freezer, Beth's homemade fish food blender residue, MakoFury and Sea Wraith's nasty substrate stench ... things sure are beginning to REEK around here tonight
<img src="graemlins//freak.gif" border="0" alt="[freak]" />

 

[beth]

Rotten egg smell=hydrogen sulfide.
I think your best bet would be to ditch the old sand and start anew. Bacteria is dead now anyway, after the FW rinsing. If you absolutely do not want to get rid of the sand, then try rinsing it in a bit of chorine...then rinse, rinse, rinse it clean. Leave it out in the sun to dry, turning it over and over within a dedicated container.
Well, broomer, if you're interested in talkin' about stinky stuff, let me tell you....I mixed up a fresh batch of fish food in my little food processor a couple of days ago; apparently the dish washer did not clean out the processor's blade stem well enough and, while getting my 4th of July food ready, I smelled this disgusting aroma....yep, rotten food processor. Thank goodness I didn’t chop up any veggies for our meal in the processor or it would have been one stinky, rotten squid smelling 4th around the picnic table!

 

[broomer5]

LOL Beth ..

 

[rockface]

that's why I like to use Black Diamond Carbon with my triggers. It make a world of diffrence.

 

[makofury]

Well, the sand doesn't really stink anymore. Im sure if I sift through it it will smell. So should I now use this as base sand and then buy 50 lbs or so of live sand from an online site? Right now I have about 60lbs, how much would I need for a DSB? I have a wet/dry filter but I hear that having live rock/dsb and wet/dry is not good, so im thinking of removing the bioballs from the sump. I think i'll be getting about 45-50 lbs of live rock next week. Any responses appreciated.
MakoFUry

 

[beth]

If it stinks, then it is rotten. Either don't use it, or bleach it out clean before using.

 

[makofury]

Well, I really don't want to throw out all this sand. Could use it as base sand and place that pure caribbean argonite on it, then place the real live sand from this site on top of that? Or will this disrupt everything? The smell is not bad at all anymore, nothing like before I washed it. And since the bacteria is dead isn't this sand just as good as regular base sand?
Thanks Beth or whoever replies,
MakoFury

 

[jdl/dayton]

Sea water is loaded with sulfates and whoever said it before is correct. Rotten Egg smell is Hydrogen Sulfide gas. The anaerobic microbes use the Nitrate as an oxidizer for the Sulfates in the water. Hense turning things into Nitrogen and Hydrogen sulfide. You need a clean up crew to churn up the dsb and release the gases before they can accumulate and poison the bed.