Strong smell coming from new Aquaclear sponge

[Karen B.]

Greetings!

I bought 2 boxes of Aquaclear filter insert foam (for 20-50 gallons)

I rinced them as instructed but they still smell chemical or something. Is it normal? I wrote to Hagen about it and they said no. However when I read some reviews on the product, some people do mention the smell…

[Tihshho]

It's just the off gassing of the materials that are used to make the foam. Generally, this should go away with a good wash with some hot water. 

[Karen B.]

On 8/31/2021 at 12:40 PM, Tihshho said:

It's just the off gassing of the materials that are used to make the foam. Generally, this should go away with a good wash with some hot water. 

Hot water and soaking didn’t make the chemicals smell go away. Hagen wrote : »Dear Karen,

The package could have been exposed to something while being stored in the retailer's warehouse or during shipping.  There should not be an odor and I would not recommend using it.

Thank you,
Caren Arsenault
Customer Service
Rolf C. Hagen (USA) Corp. »

I bought it on Amazon. I’ll go get my next one at a LFS. Am curious to see if the smell will differ.

[Tihshho]

If that's the case I'd reach out to the seller and get a return underway as well. Worst case, they may offer an exchange.

[Guppysnail]

I’ve used a lot of Aqua clears and none ever had a smell to me. 

[Patrick_G]

The response from customer service seems like spin to me. Caren A should just send you a new sponge! I have a feeling these things go right from China to Amazon. It doesn’t seem likely it pick up an odor sitting in its box in a modern warehouse.

I bet if  it was Aquarium Coop they would send you a new set of sponges. 

[westennity]

I agree with you, the plant itself looks rather attractive, but I am not fond of the smell either. If you cannot give it away, you can try some smoke odor eliminator, which will remove its fragrance, not just cover them up; it worked great in my case. I am an allergic person and very sensitive to many smells, but this professional odor removal saved my life. I think it is the most effective odor remover against all types of smoking odors, marijuana, cigar, and even long-lasting cooking odors. Happy I have it in my house.

Edited October 28, 2021 by westennity

[WaFfLe]

Is it the new re branded fluval sponges? 
I wonder if it was a bad batch. Also, does it smell like cigarettes, grease and depression? (That smell that hits you when you walk into harbor freight)🤣

Edited October 26, 2021 by WaFfLe

[Guppy Guy]

I’ve been using aquaclear sponges for awhile now, and I’ve never had any problems with chemical smells. When they are new, they smell a little like the polyester that they use in stuffed animals, but quickly goes away in the water.

I do recommend buying from a LFS as amazon is making freaking billions of dollars right now, so one less customer won’t really hurt them. Another bonus to going to an LFS is that the employees usually have tanks of they’re own, and will have more valuable information than amazon will help you with.