slimey and stinky tank

[Lydia]

I have a friend who had a gallon glass bowl with a Betta in it. The Betta
recently died and she mentioned possibly wanting either another Betta or
maybe something else for a small tank. So for her b-day I got her a small
tank kit. I thought it might give her a few more options for stocking while
not getting her too committed if she decides not to become more involved
with the hobby. It's a "minibow" 2.5 gallon that came with a small Whisper
filter and a lighted hood. I also purchased a heater that was supposed to
be good for 2-5 gallon tanks and I gave her some brand new, unused gravel
that I had left over.

So she got it all setup and let it run for a week while she decided what
kind of fish to get. At the end of the week there was this kind of
white-ish slim layer on the top of the water and covering things under the
water like the filter, heater, and gravel. And the water STUNK! We didn't
know what the heck was wrong so she took everything out and washed it all
off with hot water and re-added the gravel, filter, and heater. Now, a few
days later, some slime seems like it might be forming and it's starting to
stink again.

What's going on? Does she have funky water maybe? I have the very same
tank that is always running for my hospital tank and I've never had this
problem. And she didn't have this problem with the gallon Betta bowl.

Thanks for your ideas,
Lydia

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: slimey and stinky tank
>From: "Lydia"
>Date: 2/25/2004 4:39 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>I have a friend who had a gallon glass bowl with a Betta in it. The Betta
>recently died and she mentioned possibly wanting either another Betta or
>maybe something else for a small tank. So for her b-day I got her a small
>tank kit. I thought it might give her a few more options for stocking while
>not getting her too committed if she decides not to become more involved
>with the hobby. It's a "minibow" 2.5 gallon that came with a small Whisper
>filter and a lighted hood. I also purchased a heater that was supposed to
>be good for 2-5 gallon tanks and I gave her some brand new, unused gravel
>that I had left over.
>
>So she got it all setup and let it run for a week while she decided what
>kind of fish to get. At the end of the week there was this kind of
>white-ish slim layer on the top of the water and covering things under the
>water like the filter, heater, and gravel. And the water STUNK! We didn't
>know what the heck was wrong so she took everything out and washed it all
>off with hot water and re-added the gravel, filter, and heater. Now, a few
>days later, some slime seems like it might be forming and it's starting to
>stink again.
>
>What's going on? Does she have funky water maybe? I have the very same
>tank that is always running for my hospital tank and I've never had this
>problem. And she didn't have this problem with the gallon Betta bowl.
>
>Thanks for your ideas,
>Lydia

Well, sad to say there's not much more you can put in a 2 1/2 g tank than you
can in a gallon bowl.
You're still talking one male Betta Or one Paradise fish, or maybe 3 White
Coulds, 2 Guppies (I would suggest 2 males so there wouldn't be any babies,
because you'd be over loading such a small tank).
That's about it.
You say she set it up and let it run for a week. Why?
Just running it for a week isn't doing anything except using electricity.
As for the slime and stink....was the filter running too?
Did you dechlorinate the water?
Did she use any cleaners before setting it up?
Did she add anything to the tank, such as food (even though there wasn't fish
in it)

[Lydia]

"TYNK 7" > wrote in message
...
> Well, sad to say there's not much more you can put in a 2 1/2 g tank than
you
> can in a gallon bowl.
> You're still talking one male Betta Or one Paradise fish, or maybe 3 White
> Coulds, 2 Guppies (I would suggest 2 males so there wouldn't be any
babies,
> because you'd be over loading such a small tank).
> That's about it.


Oh really? I was just figgurin' that by having another 1.5 gallons would
give her room for another inch of fish. But it's more of a tank than just
the bowl she had so maybe it'll get her hooked and she'll move to a 10 or 20
gallon someday :).


> You say she set it up and let it run for a week. Why?
> Just running it for a week isn't doing anything except using electricity.
> As for the slime and stink....was the filter running too?


The filter and the heater were what was running for a week. We thought it
would be good to have the water running through the charcoal in the filter
cartridge and she was playing with the heater to get the temp. where she
wanted it and stablized.



> Did you dechlorinate the water?


I don't think she did anything to the water.


> Did she use any cleaners before setting it up?


I know she didn't use any soap when rinsing off the tank either time. We
were just talking about that at lunch yesterday.


> Did she add anything to the tank, such as food (even though there wasn't
fish
> in it)


I don't think so.

I'll get an update from her at lunch today and see how it's going. Thanks
so much.
Lydia

[Lydia]

My friend just stopped by (we work in the same building) so I asked her how
the tank was doing. She said it does smell a little, but not as bad as
before and she *did* put some water conditioners in. She said she put
AmmoLock in the first time. The second time she used the Stress Zyme and
another she couldn't remember the name of but she thought had to do with
dechlorination that came with the tank. She definitely didn't add any food
without fish being in the tank.

Another point to mention, if it makes any difference, that she reminded me
of was that for the first week there was a lot of condensation on the inside
of the hood and she says that seems to be a lot less now. And she was
wondering if the difference between the temp. in her apt. and the temp of
the tank makes that condesation and/or has something to do with the
situation. Her apt. is really poorly insulated and temp. is around 63-65
degrees F, but she's got the tank at 72 degrees F.

Maybe since it's not as bad smelling this time and not any visible slim yet,
it will be ok now.

Lydia

[Keith J.]

There is a difference in aquarium smells. An offensive , rotten-egg smell is
bad. A healthy aquarium will have a good, earthy smell, similar to moist
potting soil.

"Lydia" > wrote in message
...
> My friend just stopped by (we work in the same building) so I asked her
how
> the tank was doing. She said it does smell a little, but not as bad as
> before and she *did* put some water conditioners in. She said she put
> AmmoLock in the first time. The second time she used the Stress Zyme and
> another she couldn't remember the name of but she thought had to do with
> dechlorination that came with the tank. She definitely didn't add any
food
> without fish being in the tank.
>
> Another point to mention, if it makes any difference, that she reminded me
> of was that for the first week there was a lot of condensation on the
inside
> of the hood and she says that seems to be a lot less now. And she was
> wondering if the difference between the temp. in her apt. and the temp of
> the tank makes that condesation and/or has something to do with the
> situation. Her apt. is really poorly insulated and temp. is around 63-65
> degrees F, but she's got the tank at 72 degrees F.
>
> Maybe since it's not as bad smelling this time and not any visible slim
yet,
> it will be ok now.
>
> Lydia
>
>

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: slimey and stinky tank
>From: "Lydia"
>Date: 2/26/2004 12:17 PM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>My friend just stopped by (we work in the same building) so I asked her how
>the tank was doing. She said it does smell a little, but not as bad as
>before and she *did* put some water conditioners in. She said she put
>AmmoLock in the first time. The second time she used the Stress Zyme and
>another she couldn't remember the name of but she thought had to do with
>dechlorination that came with the tank. She definitely didn't add any food
>without fish being in the tank.
>
>Another point to mention, if it makes any difference, that she reminded me
>of was that for the first week there was a lot of condensation on the inside
>of the hood and she says that seems to be a lot less now. And she was
>wondering if the difference between the temp. in her apt. and the temp of
>the tank makes that condesation and/or has something to do with the
>situation. Her apt. is really poorly insulated and temp. is around 63-65
>degrees F, but she's got the tank at 72 degrees F.
>
>Maybe since it's not as bad smelling this time and not any visible slim yet,
>it will be ok now.
>
>Lydia
>

Tell her to toss out that Stress Zyme. It's bunk. Doesn't work. *says* it will
help cycle the tank and add beneficial bacteria...but it has the wrong bacteria
in it...so it is a waste of her money.
If she wants to use the only product out onthe market with the correct bacteria
to cycle it..get her to get Bio Spira, made by Marineland.

[~*~ Vosklady ~*~]

On 27 Feb 2004 02:26:19 GMT, (TYNK 7) wrote:

:>Subject: Re: slimey and stinky tank
:>From: "Lydia"
:>Date: 2/26/2004 12:17 PM Central Standard Time
:>Message-id: >
:>
:>My friend just stopped by (we work in the same building) so I asked her how
:>the tank was doing. She said it does smell a little, but not as bad as
:>before and she *did* put some water conditioners in. She said she put
:>AmmoLock in the first time. The second time she used the Stress Zyme and
:>another she couldn't remember the name of but she thought had to do with
:>dechlorination that came with the tank. She definitely didn't add any food
:>without fish being in the tank.
:>
:>Another point to mention, if it makes any difference, that she reminded me
:>of was that for the first week there was a lot of condensation on the inside
:>of the hood and she says that seems to be a lot less now. And she was
:>wondering if the difference between the temp. in her apt. and the temp of
:>the tank makes that condesation and/or has something to do with the
:>situation. Her apt. is really poorly insulated and temp. is around 63-65
:>degrees F, but she's got the tank at 72 degrees F.
:>
:>Maybe since it's not as bad smelling this time and not any visible slim yet,
:>it will be ok now.
:>
:>Lydia
:>
:
:Tell her to toss out that Stress Zyme. It's bunk. Doesn't work. *says* it will
:help cycle the tank and add beneficial bacteria...but it has the wrong bacteria
:in it...so it is a waste of her money.
:If she wants to use the only product out onthe market with the correct bacteria
:to cycle it..get her to get Bio Spira, made by Marineland.

I agree . . . Bio-Spira indeed will do the job. Tell her to get just one
ounce which is good for 30 gallons and have her put the whole package in
(bio-spira cannot be overdosed). Or you can suggest she just put half
the package in just in case her biological filter is thrown off down the
road she'll have the leftover for backup (she'll need to store the
leftover in the fridge).

For further Bio-Spira info see:
http://marineland.com/products/mllabs/ml_biospira.asp

I'd also suggest she just dump the water currently in the tank, rinse
everything and start over with fresh water.

Hope this Helps! :)


Regards,

~*~ Vosklady ~*~

Be exceedingly humble, for the fate of man is but the worm.