Salt Water for New Tank (was "Ummm...quick question...")

[tywtly]

Ok, so I finally got my tank set up, and I have a little question. Now, this might be normal since the tank is only a day old, but it REALLY stinks. I mean bad! It's stinking up my whole room! I haven't added salt to my tank yet, if that has anything to do with it. I'm waiting a little while before I do, so I can go ahead and let the tank cycle out a little bit. Please reply fast, cause I need a solution to this smell! It kinda smells like death...

 

[Opcn]

Is there something off the sand that could stink? You filled it with freshwater, you weren't foolish enough to add live rock to that freshwater were you? maybe something stuck in some equipment?

What si the smell like?

 

[shipposhack]

Yeah if you put live rock/sand in freshwater, it will kill everything living on it. Just cycle it with SW like regular.

 

[DHyslop]

According to your other thread you already added the live rock.

Everything on that rock is now dead, which is probably what you're smelling.

 

[Thales]

Oy!

If you put fresh water on live rock and sand, you get to kind of start over again. Pull the rock and put it in a bucket. Pull the sand and put it in another bucket. Drain the tank. Add saltwater (or freshwater then salt). Then add sand and rock. The water change should cut down the smell (you could also run extra carbon in your filter). You will be looking at more water changes over the next couple of weeks, and you may or may not have smell issues. You will prolly have a longer cycle due to this mistake, and you may want to inoculate your tank with sand from an established tank along with a piece or two of live rock.

Sorry this happened.

 

[Thales]

For the record, salt water should be added to freshwater not in the aquarium, but in another container completely. This will allow tweaking of the specific gravity without killing any animals.

 

[tywtly]

But the live rock was already dead. It's been dry for a really long time. And the sand was drywhen I got it, so I didn't think there was anything alive in it....crap.

 

[tywtly]

Can I bypass the whole starting over thing by just running a lot of carbon or something like that? It's next to impossible to drain the tank and start over.

 

[tywtly]

Sorry for the double..uh, triple post, but... !!! I can't believe I was this dumb!!! I really should ask before I act...

 

[Opcn]

If it was dead rock the FW mistake wasn't a huge one, in my experience SW tends to hold smell down better (I just added my dead rock to salt water) however life begins growing on the rock within minutes of you getting it wet and changing to SW will kill off that new life. Personally I would recomend draining out the nutrient soup you have right now just because FW is cheap, then putting in SW and keep in mind that the more tie you have the lights on the more Algae will grow and the more of those nasty chemicals will be consumed. You could order some grunge from GARF.org which would help.

 

[tywtly]

So just running a lot of carbon wouldn't work? Crap. I guess I'll just drain it then. CRAP!!! : mad :

 

[tywtly]

Then I guss here's the plan: I'm gonna buy 50 ft of airline tubing to reach from the tank to the window and drain the tank. Then I'll take everything out of it. Then I'll refill it with saltwater and put everything back in. This is gonna suck. Is there no shorter way?

 

[Animal Mother]

Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

Start over man.

 

[tywtly]

Well, I just got back from Wal mart, and they didn't have any airline tubing, so I'm gonna have to wait till tomorrow to go to a pet store. I'm starting over. Thanks for the help, you guys always have the answers. Man, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow...

 

[Opcn]

Faster to buy a proper siphon hose, siphon the water out in to buckets (you are going to need several buckets in order to maintain your water quality) and then mix the new salt water.