The most rotten eggs..

[ktbug545]

hey everyone. It’s been a fun morning in our house.

First of all, my protein skimmer.. I’ve only been running my skimmer at night bc it makes my tank cloudy when I turn it on. Any ideas what i Can do to make this stop?

Second, we woke up this morning to an awful sewage/rotten eggs smell.. we frantically ran around the house trying to find the source.
We couldn’t find it, and were very close to calling a plumber.
I do my water changes on Sundays, so i was getting all my stuff together. I opened the door to my sump and almost fell over bc I had found the source of the smell. It’s HORRIBLE. Seriously rotten eggs. Of course i started freaking out, but all my fish looked to be acting normal, so i tested my water, And nothing came back abnormal. (Deep breath) So i started pulling out my filter media. But nothing i pulled out had that “smell”. I started googling of course, and i found something that said if a pump runs dry for awhile it can create that “rotten egg/sulfur” smell.
We came home last night from a friends bday, and the water in the sump had gotten to low, and the pump was pulling air. ( no smell last night). Woke up this morning, and half expected to find sewage back up. It was SO strong. Could the smell take that long?

Has anyone ever experienced this? I’m still super worried about it because it smells so bad. My tank water doesn’t smell. Just the air around it i guess? I feel like i should be able to pull something out of the tank or i should be cleaning something.

Ideas? .

 

[DJF]

You may want to consider running activated carbon in the tank if you are not.

 

[ktbug545]

Like add it to the filter sock?

 

[DJF]

Yes- or media reactor but the filter sock will work. If you run in the filter sock, use a media bag if you can.

 

[ktbug545]

Yes- or media reactor but the filter sock will work. If you run in the filter sock, use a media bag if you can.

I can absolutely do that. That would be an easy fix. The only thing is that the water doesn’t smell... do you think it will help the pump at all? Assuming that’s the issue?

 

[Steve1025]

Hi
The cloudy appearance could be micro bubbles that the skimmer is producing, you would have to check the skimmer height in the water is correct as recommended by the the manufacturer, you could put a sponge bubble trap before the return section of the sump.
I've had the rotten egg smell on a nitrate reactor I used years ago it would drip feed a food liquid through the unit to feed bacteria in a type of mesh, when it got clogged up it would produce that smell, something awful.

 

[Scurvy]

How is the tank stocked? Newer system or older established tank?

Typically this is a smell Ive encountered with a large scale bacteria die off. For instance I had some sand and rock in a 5g bucket with heater and powerhead. I had added some Microbacter 7 and was dosing NoPox every few days along with a few cups of tank water to sustain the bacteria. Did this for a couple of months but a week or so after I stopped adding tank water the bacteria began dying off producing that unmistakeable stench.

Odd it would happen in an established tank but if a food source is exhausted the bacteria could be dying off.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I have a skimmate container that only gets emptied about once a month. This think reeks of the thiol/sulfhydryl (rotten egg) odor. I typically warn whoever is on the first floor that I'm emptying the container into the first floor toilet. It then lingers for a half hour or so.

I'd first be looking at your skimmer cup / collection container.

 

[DJF]

I can absolutely do that. That would be an easy fix. The only thing is that the water doesn’t smell... do you think it will help the pump at all? Assuming that’s the issue?

Logic behind the carbon would be to make sure if there is something in there you’re getting it out. I wouldn’t trust my nose.

 

[ktbug545]

Thank you all for your replies. I clean my skimmer cup out each morning, since I run it over night.

This tank has been set up since early December. It’s a 75 Gal. Tank with a 20 gal. emerald trigger sump. I’m running a NYOS QUANTUM 120 Protein Skimmer.

If it were bacteria die off, wouldn’t the water smell? And wouldn’t I be getting high ammonia results?

 

[xaflatoonx]

Something may have died in and close to the sump area. Check around the tank. A fish or something could have jumped. Check everywhere around. Or even inside the cabinet around the sump. This is for smell.

Put a filter (blue/white) pad right before the return chamber. So that any micro bubbles are eliminated. Skimmer should NOT make your tank cloudy.

 

[Scurvy]

Take a cup of water and put it into a jar or something with a lid and shake it up. Remove the lid and see if theres any smell to it.

If it were an electrical/equipment issue the smell typically isn't rotten eggs. Rotten eggs to me is more indicative of a biological or chemical.

 

[HB AL]

Did the carbon help? You might not think it’s in the water(system) but it has to be. It’s possible a large fish is rotting away behind your tank but it wouldn’t smell as bad as you describe. Is the skimmer cup full of old skimmate and overflowing, that would produce the horrible smell you describe. It shouldn’t be to hard to find the source of the smell. Post up what it was when you figure it out. Good luck

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Rotten egg smell is generally related to hydrogen sulfide gas in our tanks. It would be trapped under sand or in reactors with very very slow flow rate.
Your biggest culprit will be a cal reactor or denitrator. Or someone or something stirred up sand bed.
HS gas is not very soluble in water so it will be in air but can mix with water to cause fish to look and act drunk.
Air out the room and try to find the source of slow flow reactors or maybe someone stirred the sand.
Activated carbon will help reduce some of it.
Leave skimmer on and try pushing more air through the tank either with help of fans or more air in skimmer or air stone.

 

[2una]

Try leaving your skimmer on instead of turning it off & see if it stops happening
My guess is hydrogen sulphide
Maybe the water left sitting inside the skimmer when you turn it off is getting all the 02 used up & producing that.
Could also be why the tank goes cloudy when you turn it back on.

If you going to turn off again try smelling the water left in the skimmer

 

[lapin]

If all noses say its rotten eggs, it is hydrogen sulfide or last years Easter egg not found. If it is sort of rotten eggs then it could be skimate. If its more not sort of then it could be a dead rodent or rodent pee behind the stand. Is there any plumbing that has a trap that has trapped gas and could be releasing it occasionally.

 

[Saltyreef]

I had a rotten egg smell in my skimmer cup/sump after an algae outbreak that i scraped off into the water column to be filtered out by the filter sock. I added some GAC and GFO, rinsed the cup and the smell disappated quickly after.