Weird Smell....????

[Jumpshot724]

I recently bought an Exo-Terra turtle cliff filter for my FBT tank, and it worked fine for a couple weeks. Then last week I noticed the water had a lot of white bubbles on top, and the water looked like it was carbonated (like soda) with tiny tiny bubbles in it. I immediately shut off the filter, checked it and found no issues, didn't smell anything, and left it off for the past few days. The water became clear (or should I say back to normal) pretty quickly.

Just now I tried turning it on again to see the same problem, only this time I smelled something almost immediately after turning it on. It smells like Sulphur (rotten eggs). The smell drastically decresed after I shut the filter off, but it is still there if you stick your nose all the way in the tank. Any ideas??

 

[Abrahm]

The first thing I would do is try to remove the white bubbles/surface scum layer. You can do this by laying a sheet of newsprint across the water's surface and then pulling it off. This layer can be made up of proteins or lipids (fats) from animals, food or plants in your tank decaying.

My guess on the origin of the smell is that this surface layer is stopping oxygen exchange between the water and the air. Normally air moves back and forth between the surface of the water and the air. Without that movement it is possible that there is a lack of oxygen in the water and anaerobic bacteria are thriving and one of their metabolic byproducts is hydrogen sulfide which produces a rotten eggs smell. It could also be a thiol smell from decomposing proteins.

I would make sure that your substrate is clean and doesn't have any uneaten food, dead plants, feces or other organic matter. Remove any dying plants from the water also.

After the skin layer is removed I would also turn your filter on and let it continue to run. The movement of the water should prevent the formation of the smelly gas. When you turn the filter on you may smell the gas but this is good because it is being removed from the water.

 

[Jumpshot724]

There were some leaves in the water decompossing, as well as some moss the toads dragged in. I took that out and ran both filters (I have the regular turtle cliff filter and a "natural" filter which is just a pump submerged in hydroballs under my land area that pumps up to a waterfall; I had the waterfall filter off for a few eeks because there were some leaks in the receiver bowl at the top of the tank I was trying to seal up 'cause it was soaking my background).

Anyway it seems to have resolved itself. I soaked up the top layer of the water with paper towel like you said and am running both filters now. I stuck my nose all the way in and don't smell a thing other than what the viv is supposed to smell like (very foresty lol).

It was just weird how all of a sudden it started up and now is gone. Very odd, all well.

Thanks a bunch!!!!