wretched stench!!!

[justinx]

Okay, I have a couple questions. First off, i have read about this for months now and finally got it up and running. (waited to move) Anyway, first off, i have a 20H tank with about 20-25lbs LR and 6lbs LS from several well established tanks (i did a little shopping at a few friends houses) I have everything in the tank and am really worried about the structure that i have built collapsing. Everything feels stable when i push and rock it, but what if the sand moves around? And the major problem that I (read as girlfriend) have is that my entire apartment now smells like rotten eggs baking in the noonday sun. I know this is normal, but how long will this last and is there anything that i can do to speed it up?

 

[bang guy]

Sand, believe it or not, is tough to move around and almost impossible to compress.
Feel free to do partial water changes to take the edge off the smell. If you can visible see any dying sponges, scrup them off and siphon out the remains.

 

[wamp]

Are you running a skimmer? If so, the collection cup is a good source for this roten smell. You can run carbon on the tank and help a little with the smell.

 

[richard rendos]

Carbon, carbon, carbon....takes the stench out! Change it every couple of days until the smell goes away.

 

[justinx]

Yeah. i am running a skimmer, and i have cleaned it twice already, and even today, the smell has declined significantly. What about the rocks though? How important is it to keep my sand bed open. I was told to keep as much rock off the bottom as possible, but with the way my rocks are shaped and what not, i cant quite do that. is this a big problem?