F#@!* Whats that smell..

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #1 09-30-2010, 06:54 PM

When you transfer the rock over to the new water, smell each piece and set aside the stinky ones. I had a tank break and the live rock in the barrel started smelling bad. Turned out some snails & sponges died but only a few pieces were affected. The other good pieces were transferred into clean water and after a week, when tested, the water was fine in those containers. The stinky rock I just pulled out and left dry sitting in my carport for now. The smell went away and later, I'll clean the dried rocks, reseed and let sit in some circulating water for several months to cure and become live again.

I ended up "saving" 90% of the rock by doing the smell test & only taking away the stinky rocks.

BiggerTrigger · #2 09-30-2010, 08:09 PM

Thanks for the replies. For what is worth the heaters being used were Ebo-Jagers.

I'll try the smell test

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #3 09-30-2010, 10:15 PM

If the rock smells like the sea (assuming you know what the sea smells like), then its most likely fine. If you get that gag reflex, then something like sponges or snails have died on or near it and the rock needs to be dealt with before you can use it in a tank.

purelife · #4 10-01-2010, 02:28 AM

It should be fine just do a change on the water..
I've had this happen to me before the rock is fine just a bloom of bacteria.

and yes it smell like sewer for sure, almost puked once into the foul water lol..

BiggerTrigger · #5 10-01-2010, 03:57 AM

We'll I transfered all of the rock over into new saltwater, actually didnt smell to bad at all today they did smell pretty bad yesterday. Got a new heater hopefully everything works out. I was hoping to have my tank running in a month, but it looks like I should cycle these rocks for at least a couple months??

Thanks