# Smelly Canister



## Tomp91 (2 Jul 2020)

Since switching to canister filter I have found my tank water is smelly and the filter its self stinks when its opened to clean it. Never had any noticeable smell issues with internal ones.

Is that a thing  or is it a coincidence and I should be looking for the source elsewhere?


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## jaypeecee (2 Jul 2020)

Hi @Tomp91 

Has your external filter sucked in any tank inhabitants? If you have a lot of livestock, it would be relatively easy to not spot if a fish, shrimp, etc. had gone missing. Have you checked the impeller compartment on your filter?

JPC


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## Simon Cole (3 Jul 2020)

@jaypeecee is absolutely right. The worst smell I ever had was due to a single dead snail


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## GHNelson (3 Jul 2020)

Or dead beneficial bacteria!
hoggie


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## lazybones51 (3 Jul 2020)

Could be cyanobacteria? It gives the water a "pond" smell.


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @Tomp91
> 
> Has your external filter sucked in any tank inhabitants? If you have a lot of livestock, it would be relatively easy to not spot if a fish, shrimp, etc. had gone missing. Have you checked the impeller compartment on your filter?
> 
> JPC



Before I stuck a pre filter on it. I did find a little baby guppie surviving in there! Am guessing a few of his friends weren't so lucky! I have cleaned it since though.




hogan53 said:


> Or dead beneficial bacteria!
> hoggie



 What could of happened to cause that? 

I ran it with my internal as well for a few days so bacteria could "move house" might not have been long enough. I thought because the tank was a couple of years old all that stuff would be well established.

So am thinking I'll give the filter a really good clean and a few days of water changes. What can I do to encourage new bacteria? I have always used the bottled  stuff (stress zyme or similar) but read somewhere on here that's usually already dead when you get it? Are there any good ones?


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

lazybones51 said:


> Could be cyanobacteria? It gives the water a "pond" smell.



The tank is relatively free of any green stuff that's not supposed to be there! Barely get any algae or anything these day in that one.


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## dw1305 (3 Jul 2020)

Hi all,





Tomp91 said:


> tank water is smelly and the filter its self stinks when its opened to clean it. Never had any noticeable smell issues with internal ones.


Yes it shouldn't smell at all, either the water or the filter.





hogan53 said:


> Or dead beneficial bacteria!





Tomp91 said:


> What could of happened to cause that?


It sounds like you aren't getting enough oxygen into the filter and the nitrifying micro-organisms can't cope with the ammonia load (if the smell is ammonia like?). If you get more of a rotten eggs smell? then things have gone a bit further and you have <"hydrogen sulphide (H2S) production">. 

What media set-up do you have in the filter? <"It may be the filter media">. 

cheers Darrel


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

Oxygenation! Because I wasn't able to use the spray bar I had already been concerned there wasn't a enough surface movement. I just stuck my old internal back in with no sponge for that mad surface agitation.

Any other things I can do to increase oxygen quickly, or is surface agitation my only weapon?

I have to find a way to rig the spray bar up! Ive got a sharp right angle to contend with.

I reckon that's it.


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

I have a Eheim Classic 250, setup as the instruction suggest with included media (ehiem mech and eheim substat pro) minus spray bar.

This was (supposed to be) an upgrade from a  Fluval U2 which is a great filter just ugly as sin.


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## dw1305 (3 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





Tomp91 said:


> Any other things I can do to increase oxygen quickly, or is surface agitation my only weapon?


If you have plenty of plants in active growth they should help. Other than that the internal sounds a good idea. I'd probably give the filter media a good rinse, if you have livestock in the tank I'm not sure what is the best way forward.

cheers Darrel


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

The tank is overstocked with guppies I cant stop breeding and have no where to re home. 

Full strip down and rebuild of everything today with focus on surface movement. Thanks for the advice!

I'll post if it clears up!


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## dw1305 (3 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





Tomp91 said:


> The tank is overstocked with guppies I cant stop breeding and have no where to re home.


That makes it a lot more tricky. Do you have some  floating plants? 

cheers Darrel


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

Just added some Limnobium Lavigatum yesterday kindly provided by Hypnogogia, other than that it has a big java fern and some random stem plants, not the beautiful growth you see round here but it does require the odd bit of trimming!


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## dw1305 (3 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





Tomp91 said:


> Just added some Limnobium Lavigatum


Perfect, I'd let them grow till they cover 3/4 of the waters surface. Because they have access to aerial CO2 they should be able to take up more of the ammonia, and hopefully keep your fish safe until the filter can take up more of the biological filtration.

Same applies to the stems, let them grow, if they reach the surface then they will have more filtration potential.

cheers Darrel


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## GHNelson (3 Jul 2020)

Add a sponge to the internal!
If you can source some mature media you could add some to the canister filter!
hoggie


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

hogan53 said:


> Add a sponge to the internal!
> If you can source some mature media you could add some to the canister filter!
> hoggie



Mature media from my gold fish's hang on back? Never been sure about mixing cold and tropical?

I'll be leaving the filters running side by side a lot longer next time!


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## dw1305 (3 Jul 2020)

Hi all, 





Tomp91 said:


> Mature media from my gold fish's hang on back?


Perfect.

cheers Darrel


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## milla (3 Jul 2020)

I know its real old school but the best way to  oxygenate the water column is with an airstone.


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## Tomp91 (3 Jul 2020)

milla said:


> I know its real old school but the best way to  oxygenate the water column is with an airstone.



I only have one pump and its powering a sponge filter on my shrimp tank. I did consider borrowing it for a bit!


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## jaypeecee (3 Jul 2020)

Hi @Tomp91


Tomp91 said:


> What can I do to encourage new bacteria? I have always used the bottled stuff (stress zyme or similar) but read somewhere on here that's usually already dead when you get it? Are there any good ones?



There are a lot of nitrifying bacteria products that are simply ineffective. _Stress Zyme_ is not suitable for what you want - it's what would be called an organic waste remover. I, and many others that I know, have had great success with Tetra _SafeStart_. It is readily available. This is formulated with the types of bacteria that will deal with ammonia and nitrite. If you choose to get some, check the expiry date on the bottle as these types of live bacteria have a usable life of around 8 months. Also, and this is very important, give the bottle a good shake before adding the contents to your tank. The mixture should be cloudy, not clear.

JPC


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## rubadudbdub (3 Jul 2020)

Tomp91 said:


> The tank is overstocked with guppies


If the tank and water smell after a filter change it does sound like ammonia is most likely. Are the fish OK? 

My only other thought to those offered above is uneaten food.  Are you feeding the guppies a lot of food which is sitting around, or getting sucked into your more powerful external during feeding?   The prefilter should stop the latter. 

Regular water changes until this settles seem sensible.


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## Tomp91 (5 Jul 2020)

rubadudbdub said:


> If the tank and water smell after a filter change it does sound like ammonia is most likely. Are the fish OK?
> 
> My only other thought to those offered above is uneaten food.  Are you feeding the guppies a lot of food which is sitting around, or getting sucked into your more powerful external during feeding?   The prefilter should stop the latter.
> 
> Regular water changes until this settles seem sensible.



Adding the internal filter back in with mature media and good surface movement has got rid of the smell already.

Feedings difficult to judge as there arent any real guide lines. "What they can eat in two mins" doesn't really apply to guppies as they eat until they bloated round balls in that time, am very cautions with it probably to the point the poor guys go hungry. A decent feeding guide line would be useful. Any excess is picked off the pre filter pretty quickly

There were casualties yeah, lost my five biggest adult males and am not sure how may babies because there beyond counting but didn't see any dead. Females must be more hardy!

I think its getting a lot better but not sure I'll dare take my internal out for a while!


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