# Smelly Tank!!!!!!!!!!!



## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

So I did my first water change in 15 months on my 55 and the first for my 20 long in 13 months. I was feeding them and got a whiff of what smelled like a pond, while I am happy with my low maintenance tanks I don't want that pond smell so I completed a 50% water change on both tanks and smell nothing. So I think I will from this point on start doing at least a 20% monthly to avoid a swampy smell. There is also a good chance that I may start using 1 filter in the 55 over the next couple months, have not completely decided yet.
Some of my L. Goodei








My Darters still going strong








1.5 month old Bass








My newest members, E. Evergladie


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello dirty...

Am surprised you didn't kill off all your fish with that flush of pure water. After all that time without a water change, one would think they had all gotten used to the poor water conditions. 

Way back in the day, tank keepers thought water changes were bad. One thing changed their mind and that was large, frequent water changes. All of a sudden fish were more colorful and living longer, surprise, surprise.

The smell you're talking about is built up fish waste in the water. I like to think of my tanks as unflushed toilets and there are fish living in them, so I make sure I flush them regularly.

Welcome to the real world of routine tank maintenance!

B


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I have been keeping tanks for a while now, it is over the last year and a half I have decided to try this out. I had always kept up with my maintenance prior to this, I was simply working on this to see if it would indeed work and thrive and it has I just do not want the smell and do get what you are saying. I have both these tanks running for over a year and 1 death in the 20 gal, and my fish have been bright and beautiful the entire time. I would leave it be but again that smell was toooooo much for me.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Thats one of the main reasons I quit with the natural tanks. Couldn't stand the smell.


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

Truthfully it makes me reconsider my thoughts on that last big discussion concerning Bob. Yes they went a full year+ but there was definitely a negative to it, and if I can't stand the smell I do not want my fish living in it even though it did not kill them it can not be good for them to live in. I can defend it with the idea that they live in those conditions in the wild in some of the retention ponds here in Florida but if I can give them better quality of life why not!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Thats why his tanks aren't allowed in the house.  His wife can't stand the smell


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Thank you for sharing your experience in a straightforward way. Your honesty about the up sides and down sides will help others learn. I think one problem with 'natural' tanks is that you tend to get two extreme sides of the argument. Discussions about it end up in shouting or posturing matches without any learning being done. 

Personally I'm not a big fan of the no water changes thing, I think common sense dictates that if you add food and top up water regularly without any water changes eventually unhealthy levels of something are going to build up. I do think though that plants do a great job of filtering and a well balanced planted tank can have quite different maintenance from your average tank and still be healthy.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

All tanks have a little smell, yours was just made worse by the rotting peat underneath.

What type of Bass is that? LM?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Forgot to ask....along the period where you were doing no water changes or filters, did you have any other type of flow from a powerhead or anything like that? What was your ph?


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

Yes LM Bass.
Never measured Ph
Used a air pump for minimal movement.
Maybe this will get me smacked around a bit here but oh well, In the 4-5 years I have been in this hobby I have never once taken any tests. I have been very blessed by the fish gods that of the 20+ different tanks I have had set up I had never had any tank crash or disease outbreak of any kind, just algae which I dont mind much. I do understand that this does not mean it will never happen, I do realize that it could happen at any moment and I do take a lot of risks and I am sure sooner or later my luck will expire. However up to this point I have re homed way more fish than I have lost, and like I stated I have had one death in over a year and that was 1 H. Formosa that was full grown and I would think was natural causes.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello again dirty...

I don't think not testing the tank chemistry is a bad thing if you do large, frequent water changes. I tested my "fish in" tank daily during the cycling process, but haven't tested any of them in a long time. 

I was told when I started in the water keeping hobby several years ago that if I changed out half the water in the tank every week or so, I didn't need to test. The reason was the water wouldn't be in the tank long enough to get dirty before it was replaced.

If you follow a sound tank management routine, there's no such thing as luck, just preparation.

B


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

well I can tell you I may not do the WC weekly but it will be more often to avoid this again.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Okay, that's cool. Was just wondering if you saw the same things that he says that he sees regarding ph, but nobody else.

On the LM Bass, not sure what strain you have but you realize he will be trying to eat everything in your tank, right? Some grow over 1lb per year. I have caught Bass that were just 6-8" long on baits that were longer than they were (artificial type). At 6mos old, I don't see anything in your tank bigger than he will try to eat. I hope you have bigger plans for him. You can try to keep him full other ways, but instinct will override everything. I had always wanted to keep one myself and get a 125g for it. Once I got my first 125g, I realized they were still too small.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I would still change 25% weekly. You can find fantastic fish in nasty water, but if you look at their history, they are often trapped and hanging on in the hopes of flooding changing their environment. With lots of small changes, you don't get as much of a bounce as you will with monthly ones.
I'd kill for your tanks (well, not really) and you have fish that would be fascinating to keep, especially since you can go check their environments anytime you are curious. That's a great thing. I especially want your tanks to flourish, not just so you can enjoy them, but so you can keep sharing info on them!


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## clep.berry (Mar 4, 2012)

I don't know how to take this...
I've killed more fish than you in the last month with regular water changes...
Natural method? Well, anyone with a background in science can tell you otherwise - it's just not natural. Call it minimum maintenance if you wish.
What concerns me intellectually is how things are balanced out. as water evaporates, things get concentrated. food, poop, pee - anything that's not volatile.
So my idea of "natural" would be to replace the evaporated water with Pure H2O - not tapwater.
Hopefully the plants & bacteria can break down the rest.
But in spite of that, the experiment was a resounding success! Congrats (But then I guess the fish did more than you to that tank!)
I'd be very curious as to GH, KH pH and alkalinity in that tank.
Apart from that - welcome back to the pleasures of crystal clear water and eternal fiddling with the myriad of parameters!
cb


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I always topped off with treated tap water and never had a problem with clear water, it was always clear and to over a year to get that smell. I am also a habitual over stocker, but what I enjoy is the information shared here because there are so many different experiences with similar techniques. I still will maintain what I have been doing just with wc's worked in. My tanks are dirt with sand cap. I am myself sometimes shocked when I think that there are those out there that follow a strict regimine and have many deaths and struggles and here I am with 1 recorded death in over a year, again my experience and would not recommend anything I do(or do not do) to others whether new or experienced. Even in the past with my tropicals and Cichlids I have never tested my water and am guilty of being impatient for a tank to cycle, I am gonna take a leap and say that the fish gods smile on me maybe because I am an avid fisherman and have never fished for food and do not eat fish, have always caught and released and have never killed a fish while doing so.

JR-
I do plan on once I move investing in a 280 Gallon tank for Bass and sunfish, there is a guy locally that has several XL tanks and he will be holding the 280 for me, and I do have the last Bass that I grew out swimming in the tank at Bass Pro here in Orlando. Right now I have 2 that are about an inch or so and about 6 that are half an inch or less. They are fed regularly on frozen blood worms and to take pellets and flake eagerly.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Orlando.....would love to fish the Harris chain of lakes. I was born and raised in Jacksonville and have never fished them. I'm on the Potomac every weekend and only once this year it hasn't been Sat and Sun. Good to know you're a fisherman.


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I try to get out every weekend both fishing and collecting, I do love the fish here in florida, way better than when I was in Pennsylvania!


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I got to take a quick glimpse at the Orlando area for the first time this Spring, and may get to go back next year. The people I'd travel with are talking about amusement parks and beaches, while I'm thinking "ditches and streams....". 

I have kept a lot of Canadian native species, but the breakdown for them comes with my unwillingness to freeze my house and let them have the cold cold water their life cycle demands. I stopped keeping them as I learned how much they need that. But if I lived where you do, with beautiful local fish that are relatively easy to provide for, I'd be doing a lot of Elassoma and molly hunting.


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I can go just about anywhere around me for Mollies, H. Formosa, L. Goodei, F. Jordanella, several different top minnows but I happen to be centrally located in a spot where there is only one small area where I have found Elassoma Evergladei, Though I am determined to locate E. Okefenokee. I have also found a few different types of catfish and larger sunfish.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You just need to watch out for Gators doing that stuff.


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

I actually caught my first gator a while back, I was fishing off of a dock in some weeds and a baby gator took my lure. I see them most places I go and they usually keep their distance but they watch everything you do. It is kinda un-nerving!


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

Here is one of the last Bass I got.... This one was 31 inches and just under 7lbs, hard to tell the true size by the pic but one of the biggest I have caught.


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