Extremely foul smelling substrate

[Karen B.]

Greetings nerms!

I was cycling a 10 gallons planted aquarium, leaving it alone for a couple of months at least (longer then expected because well… life happened). There was no HOB filter but there was a sponge filter.

I did nothing to that tank. No WC (except filling it back up to make up for evaporation), no vacuuming of the substrate either. There was some pest snails, I did see some detritus worms, algae built on the glass and my favorite bulb plant (don’t know the name. It has long narrow wavy leaves) rotted but the rest was fine.

Now I have an empty 20 gallons high so I decided to upgrade that 10 gallons. It will house a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides. While I empty the tank\removed the plants, it started smelling bad. And when I put the substrate in a bucket, the smell was just horrendous!!

I will rince the substrate in the aquarium water but at that point I am wondering if it can be dangerous for fish? Should I wash it clean in dechlorinated water instead, even if that means losing my cycle?

The substrate is stoney river black sand.

[Fish Folk]

Did you notice gas bubbles escaping as you moved the substrate around? Could be sulphur-based gasses.

But on the other hand, was there blue-green Cyanobacteria growing in the tank? That also has a certain stink.

Sometimes lots of plant decay and snail death adds up to bad stink in a healthy aquarium. I did a 50% WC on a cool water tank last week, and my goodness it stunk! I also don’t gravel vac in there. 

[Guppysnail]

On 5/2/2022 at 7:07 AM, Karen B. said:

favorite bulb plant (don’t know the name. It has long narrow wavy leaves)

Most likely Aponogeton longiplumulosus in case you want to get another.

I would rinse in decholrinated water.  Complete bacteria removal/sanitization cannot be accomplished from dechlorinated water. (Think of the lengths we go to sanitize other things) Especially if you are moving plants.  All you need is some BB and it will reestablish relatively quickly.  My understanding is your aerobic beneficial bacteria only lives on the top layer that has exposure to oxygenated water.  The smell is most likely decomposing matter beneath the oxygenation level unless it is Cyanobacteria (blue green slimey algae stinky stuff) when transitioning your sand to the new tank the layers will be mixed about anyway.  Hope that helps. 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Guppysnail
Fixing autocorrect “help”🤨

[Karen B.]

On 5/2/2022 at 7:13 AM, Fish Folk said:

Did you notice gas bubbles escaping as you moved the substrate around? Could be sulphur-based gasses.

But on the other hand, was there blue-green Cyanobacteria growing in the tank? That also has a certain stink.

Sometimes lots of plant decay and snail death adds up to bad stink in a healthy aquarium. I did a 50% WC on a cool water tank last week, and my goodness it stunk! I also don’t gravel vac in there. 

Thank you!

I didn’t see any cyanobacteria nor any bubble when I moved the substrate. At least that’s that. 
I hope fish don’t have a sense of smell, poor thing!!

Good news is I still have 2 weeks before they come home. 

[Karen B.]

On 5/2/2022 at 7:25 AM, Guppysnail said:

Most likely Aponogeton longiplumulosus in case you want to get another.

I would rinse in decholrinated water.  Complete bacteria removal/sanitization cannot be accomplished from dechlorinated water. (Think of the lengths we go to sanitize other things) Especially if you are moving plants.  All you need is some BB and it will reestablish relatively quickly.  My understanding is your aerobic beneficial bacteria only lives on the top layer that has exposure to oxygenated water.  The smell is most likely decomposing matter beneath the oxygenation level unless it is Cyanobacteria (blue green slimey algae stinky stuff) when transitioning your sand to the new tank the layers will be mixed about anyway.  Hope that helps. 

Yes, that’s the plant, thank you

it was the first time I ever saw it and my LFS hasn’t gotten any since either. But at least now I know what to look for. I used not to like it in pictures but I think it add character in a tank!

I will follow your advice and rince in dechlorinated water. I will feel better knowing it will be a bit cleaner. Anyway I heard from the breeder and wont be getting my apistogramma for 2 more weeks. 😭😭😭 So plenty of time for the seeded sponge filter, the plants and seeded bio balls to recolonize the aquarium.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer me!

[Guppysnail]

I love my Aponogeton longiplumulosus.  I did not like it at first either but now I love it. It’s on the left.

[Karen B.]

On 5/2/2022 at 9:03 AM, Guppysnail said:

I love my Aponogeton longiplumulosus.  I did not like it at first either but now I love it. It’s on the left.

With pretty guppy! 😍How many tanks do you have?

I have never been fond of plants - of any kind. But following Cory, I tested a few live plants and the behavior of the fish changed drastically so I converted fully to live plants. But I don’t have a green thumb at all. Sometimes I wish I could afford a CO2 system.

Same with non-aquatic plants but I have to admit yours look so stunning!

[Guppysnail]

I have 8.  I do not use CO2 or fertilizer.  If you have any plant questions feel free to ask.  I found trying things I like and ignoring what the internet says they have to have works best. Most easy plants die on me and ones I was told require co2 fancy lights and fertilizer that I do not use thrive.  I find the fun in the adventure of trying new ones and don’t beat myself up if they do not like me or my tanks I just move on. 

[anewbie]

I've had this happen before when the substrate contains a lot of aneraboic bacteria. If I move it - it gets exposed to oxygen that kills the bacteria and produces the smell. In my case I found it quite deadly to both fishes and plants and had to replace it. There are different types of aneraboic bacteria with different by products. One produces the famous rotten egg smell; another will produce clean smelling nitrogen (and cause cybo bacteria). I found the later not harmful and a bit of current removed the nitrogen fast enough to prevent the ugly green stuff from growing. 

-

As for Aponogeton of most sort - i have a love hate relationship with them. They can be quite stunning but most of them will eventually hibernate and some of them have to be removed to preserve the bulb during the rest period. I have a longiplumulosus in my 40 though it is some what more constrained than @Guppysnail; currently my favorite Aponogeton is Boivinianus; though even in a low-tech tank it can get quite large as shown in my 29:

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by anewbie