chiqui bb
Reefing newb
My water smells musty and I don't know why. I do regular water changes with RO and all other parameters are okay. The only change to my tank is the addition of caulerpa plants recently. Could this be the cause?
Water smells musty
- Thread starter chiqui bb
- Start date
XxKnuckleheadxX
Reef enthusiast
hows your water flow? could be because of stagnent water...
dcantucson
Reef pro
Run some Carbon in a canister filter for a few days and it should clear it up.
chiqui bb
Reefing newb
I'll try the carbon and redirecting the flow. Hope this helps cause it really smells BAD! Thanks.
dcantucson
Reef pro
Maybe a dead snail? They reek!
XxKnuckleheadxX
Reef enthusiast
yeah because your tank should smell like the ocean. not musty
chiqui bb
Reefing newb
Could be a dead snail. I put 7 nassarius snails (1 big, 6 small) in about a month ago. I routinely see 5 of them when I feed the fish and I know the biggest one is in the sand (never comes out but still alive). So 1 is missing. If it is the snail, the only way of finding it is to poke around in the sand bed and I worry about creating a mini cycle. Is it okay to just let the cuc take care of it?
XxKnuckleheadxX
Reef enthusiast
if it is dead let it be. 1 dead snail wont do anything in your 55gal. but who knows if it is a snail causing the stink. lol
KidJ57
Struggling Reef Addict
I doubt it, my crab kills snails all the time...never stunk till I was dumb enough to leave one in the trash for a few days before I let my crab "clean out" the shell entirely...NOW THAT STUNK!
winyfrog
Yep!
Maybe your skimmer is dirty? You can add carbon or calcium powder to your skimmer cup this will absorb the stink :)
chiqui bb
Reefing newb
Cleaned the skimmer & cup over the weekend and use carbon regularly. I can't imagine it's one little snail, besides, it's not a "dead" smell, just like a musty basement. I'm leaning towards increasing the water flow and changing the carbon.
winyfrog
Yep!
Do you have a leak somewhere, maybe water splashing onto your hood or stand? If its a musty smell it might be wet wood...
chiqui bb
Reefing newb
Nope. I only smell it when my nose is directly above the water. It's something in the tank.
bjohanson1234
.........
How are the nitrates? High nitrates can sometimes cause the water to stink a little. Atleast that has been my experience
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
1) Take a flashlight and look carefully under and around the stand for anything wet and moldy. A flashlight is one of the most useful tools for my tank.
2) Test for nitrates and phosphates.
2) Test for nitrates and phosphates.
chiqui bb
Reefing newb
Mystery solved. I adjusted the position (not the bubble flow) of the skimmer last night and this morning the musty smell is gone. I must have moved it at some point and not noticed. The cylinder and the uptake tube were not exactly parallel but once I corrected this the skimmer seemed to be working better. Geez, I didn't realize the unit was so sensitive!
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Skimmers can be a pain in the butt! They're one of those "can't live with them, can't live without them" things. Glad you solved your problem.
