Recurring Stagnation Of Water

[Clownfish_Boy]

I am totally stymied as to why I have recurring stagnation of water in my 60g fish-only setup; I just made three consecutive water changes with a good vacuuming two weeks ago and my water is now beginning to stagnate again. It doesn't make sense; as I have a Marineland Emperor 400 GPH HOB motor filter and a 400 GPH power head at each end of the tank alternatively running via a wavemaker. I had removed the HOB Aquamaxx skimmer/filter unit and thus eliminated it as the cause..... Any ideas as to what could be causing the problem ? It looks like I have suffiicent circulation and aeration of the water, but I don't know if I'm getting dead areas anywhere.

 

[saltybees]

What do you mean by stagnation? Slime on top?

 

[JSchwarz]

I would consider removing the wavemaker and just let both powerheads go all the time. When you alternate the pumps you are halving your total water movement from them because you are only running 1 at a time. If you had more powerful pumps the wavemaker would be more effective, but for fish only it isn't really needed. It may also help to place one of the powerheads lower in the tank.

 

[Azedenkae]

Same question as @saltybees, what exactly do you mean by stagnate?

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

Same question as @saltybees, what exactly do you mean by stagnate?

The water is actually becoming stagnant with a strong odor of Hydrogen sulfide.

 

[saltybees]

The water is actually becoming stagnant with a strong odor of Hydrogen sulfide.

You don’t have enough of a sand bed for h2s to form, it might just smell stinky cause you don’t have enough overall flow or surface break. I’d add the skimmer back on it and get some stronger power heads or keep both of the ones you have running all the time and add more flow. Could throw some carbon in one of the HOBs and that could help with the smell too

 

[saltybees]

For reference I average 1200 gph in a 12g

 

[Azedenkae]

The water is actually becoming stagnant with a strong odor of Hydrogen sulfide.

Ah. Beats me then, sorry.

 

[N.Sreefer]

As the tank sits right now how many gph does all you equipment generate?

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

As the tank sits right now how many gph does all you equipment generate?

HOB Motor Filter 400 GPH, each powerhead 400 GPH; for a total throughput of 1200 GPH.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If those powerheads work, I do not see a way that tank is becoming stagnant enough to produce hydrogen sulfide. More flow is not the issue.

On the other hand, if there is a crushed dead and rotting organism under the live rock, that could do it.

Might you also be smelling something different than hydrogen sulfide? Reef tanks can have strong odors of organics (such as dimethyl sulfide) that are not a sign of "stagnation".

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

If those powerheads work, I do not see a way that tank is becoming stagnant enough to produce hydrogen sulfide. More flow is not the issue.

On the other hand, if there is a crushed dead and rotting organism under the live rock, that could do it.

Might you also be smelling something different than hydrogen sulfide? Reef tanks can have strong odors of organics (such as dimethyl sulfide) that are not a sign of "stagnation".

Just vacuumed a couple of weeks ago; the stagnation is accompanied also by cloudiness of the water. It was clear and smelling healthy til about three days ago. Maybe due to a bacterial bloom using up a lot of the oxygen in the water ?

 

[brandon429]

its palytoxin

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

its palytoxin

Palytoxin ? What causes that; where does it come from ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Palytoxin ? What causes that; where does it come from ?

He's either joking, or posted to the wrong thread. lol

 

[HuduVudu]

The top of your tank is completely covered. This is terrible for gas exchange.

 

[brandon429]

joke in poor taste/

I was hoping this would be a stuck ammonia reading thread, those are fun.

its not common to have that smell though, that's uncommon for systems with clear water/not high bioloads etc.

I used to have a brute that held changewater and smelled horrible if the lid was kept closed but haven't seen it in a reef tank, bad smells are highly uncommon for us

 

[HuduVudu]

I would suggest a skimmer for better gas exchange because you have no surface skimming, no sump and a closed top. An HOB would probably be ideal for you.

 

[brandon429]

has any animals been lost in this condition/ or do they hover at the top during the morning hours before lights on

 

[Rubberfrog]

Can we see a video of the surface movement? When you say hydrogen sulfide, do you mean it just stinks, or it stinks exactly like rotten eggs? Hydrogen sulfide has a very specific smell, not just a general stink stank stunk kind of smell.