Live Rock Stinks Bad!!!

[shallowreef]

Okay so when my tank Cracked last Sunday I pulled my Live rock out and stored it in a Brute Garbage bin that had pre mixed saltwater in it. Now In that bin i had a RIO 2100 in there for circulation. I don't know if the pump went out on me or what but Sunday i go to check on it and the smell almost made me puke. I mean it smelled bad!! So i didn't see any flow on the surface so i figured the pump either has a lot of rock blocking the flow or its dead. So i threw in another Rio 2100 and a MJ1200 to stir it up. One of the guys at my LFS said to do a water change and get some surface agitation going. I have no idea what could be rotting in there considering there is no heater in there. I mean it smells baaddd!!!

What should i do? I was gonna start with the water change.

???

 

[Krish]

I'd go with the water change as well...You may have experienced some sort of die-off which may be the reason for the smell. I know what you mean though...Smells like rotten eggs sometimes

 

[Scooterman]

Ever turn off your pumps? Just the sitting water will stink suddenly! Water movement allows gasses to exchange, heater is a good idea to help keep things stable.

 

[shallowreef]

Well another thing is that i have the lid on the garbage can so not much gas can escape. And now the smell is so gross that if i leave it open the whole basement will reak! I guess i'm not gonna have a choice.

 

[mmkeeper]

Maybe try splitting it into two batches, so you can have more flow.

 

[NaH2O]

I agree, see if you can divide it up some. It sounds like you are re-curing your live rock. If you have a skimmer you can also stick that on there. Don't worry....the smell will go away. Do some water changes on it, too. If necessary, you can do a complete 100% water change, and that will probably help alot.

Were you able to get all of your livestock out of the tank? What about corals stuck to the rock?

 

[shallowreef]

Corals look like almost all of them made it. I think i lost a few colonies of Zoas. Any corals that were stuck to rocks went to the LFS.

Fish weren't so lucky...

I lost: My shark, Porkfish, Niger Trigger, Convict tang, a really beautiful wrasse that i don't even know the name to and my most favoriate fish...my beloved blue tang that i have had since I first started my Saltwater venture. That fish hurt the most when i found it dead.

I'm not giving up though, my new 210 is installed and is 3/4 of the way full with RODI water. I should be back in the game by the 4th of July.

 

[NaH2O]

Ooo Sorry about all that. Hang in there! Let us know how the set-up goes!

 

[CarlaW]

Wow, sorry to hear about this. As Nikki said, stick with it, it will be back better than before.

You have alot going on in that Live Rock bucket, see if you can get a skimmer on there to help out.

 

[shallowreef]

Well live rock smelled a lot better last night. I guess the extra flow from those other two pumps really helped.

I think the garbage bin that i used to store water in is leaking now so i will have to get rid of that two which really sucks!

What do you guys use to hold and store water in?

 

[NaH2O]

I use the Brute garbage cans to store water. If you don't want to go back to the Brute cans, you can always try something like this (space dependant): Plastic Tanks, or these, which you could find at your local Tractor Supply: Water Storage, Sprayer Tank

 

[CarlaW]

I used one of those 100 gallon feed troughs I bought at the local ranch supply store.

 

[NaH2O]

charlie - are you talking for water storage, or for the rock? I thought he was asking about water storage. Maybe I am misunderstanding.

 

[CarlaW]

I misunderstood Nikki, my bad. Although, I know people that use those for water storage too, they are just a little large and unsightly!

 

[shallowreef]

I need a something to store water. Preferably tall, round, not that wide and cheap. I will more than likely just go with another brute garbage can.

I will check out those sight you gave me Nikki.

Thanks Charlie and Nikki for the ideas.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Well live rock smelled a lot better last night.

Put a skimmer in with the rock, it will help a LOT!

 

[ecobalance]

Maybe you crushed a snail

Ever smell a dead snail?I can't think of a worse smell

 

[shallowreef]

Ever smell a dead snail?I can't think of a worse smell

+10000!

I had a dead one in my tank once and i made the mistake of turning it over and i released the rotting gas that was building up insie the shell and the bubbles rose to the surface and it stunk up the entire basement. I think you may be right.

Tonight i am aquascaping my tank so i guess i'll find out tonight.

Also my garbage can isn't leaking. It was a hose from the dehumidifier that leads to the drain in the basement. It got knocked loose and was leading right next to my tank. So thats good for me.

 

[Scooterman]

Well glad to see some good news, hang in there!