Bought my 9 yr old a 3 gal. fish tank has a cool filtering system - different from when I was a kid and had fish. Anyway we ran it for 24 hours like instructed, the man from the pet sotre had me add Aqua Safe to the tank. We added fish 24 hours later like he said. One fish and the algae eater died. So I went back to the store three days later and the girl sold me live bacteria (stress zyme) and instructed me to add to the tank and do this once a week for three weeks. So far I have only added one dose and the whole tank smells including my son's room. Is this normal? The smell is really bad, although so far the other fish seem okay.

Thank you.

Patty

Good heavens what a smell a fish tank has. I know from experience having had 24 different fish tanks in my home years ago in Florida was like. I can recommend that you immediately throw out all the water from the tank and rinse it out with fresh water. I would then start over with fresh water. If you have a water filter like a Brita run the water through that. Then put the water into the tank and let it there for at least 3 days using the water filter and air stone turned on. After 3 days I would put in some "starter fish" usually very small inexpensive fish and let them live there for at least a week. Algae eaters are very delicate fish and should not be added right away to a new aquarium.

You should get a plecostamos fish. They are the sucker fish that clean up the tank walls. I have had just about every kind of fish in my aquarium days so I'm almost an expert.

I had a whole house water filter that used charcoal to clean the water with. That was my secret to being able to keep the fish tanks. Oh, algae is natural for fish and if your tank has green algae on the sides, it's normal. Also do not place the tank where it will get direct sunlight. This could probably have caused the enzyme to stink.

You can get guppies in different tail configurations or gouramis. They are easy to keep. Stay away from discus fish as they are very delicate and not easy to keep. You may have good luck with angel fish. They are interesting and pretty easy to keep.

If you added gravel to the tank be sure to have rinsed it out when new at least 15 minutes. If you are going to redo this tank I would suggest rinsing it out at least 10-15 minutes before adding new water. Definitely get rid of the old stinky water and start over.

Patty, How is your situation now?
I'm not a big fan of the product stress Zyme.
It contains live active bacteria and enzymes and it is very common and easy
To overdose a small tank with it.
Any time there is a foul oder (or any oder at all)
Coming from an aquarium there is a problem or an imbalance.

I'm sure the pet store advised you to use the StressZime to kick start
The nitrogen cycle (the aquarium cycle), but starting over with preferably
1 or 2 small fish that are capable of living in a 3 gallon tank is best until the cycle is complete.
You'd have less problems and once the tank has established the cycle, you can add more fish.

Guppies were a good suggestion by twinkiedooter and they are fun to watch as well.
Unfortunately the others would not survive in a 3 gallon.

Please let me know if you are still interested in help.
What fish and how many do you have in the tank?

Just be sure to you use the Tank Safe in the brand new water. Forgot to add that to my post. Good luck with your new tank.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Good heavens what a smell a fish tank has. I know from experience having had 24 different fish tanks in my home years ago in Florida was like. I can recommend that you immediately throw out all the water from the tank and rinse it out with fresh water. I would then start over with fresh water. If you have a water filter like a Brita run the water through that. Then put the water into the tank and let it there for at least 3 days using the water filter and air stone turned on. After 3 days I would put in some "starter fish" usually very small inexpensive fish and let them live there for at least a week. Algae eaters are very delicate fish and should not be added right away to a new aquarium.

You should get a plecostamos fish. They are the sucker fish that clean up the tank walls. I have had just about every kind of fish in my aquarium days so I'm almost an expert.

I had a whole house water filter that used charcoal to clean the water with. That was my secret to being able to keep the fish tanks. Oh, algae is natural for fish and if your tank has green algae on the sides, it's normal. Also do not place the tank where it will get direct sunlight. This could probably have caused the enzyme to stink.

You can get guppies in different tail configurations or gouramis. They are easy to keep. Stay away from discus fish as they are very delicate and not easy to keep. You may have good luck with angel fish. They are interesting and pretty easy to keep.

If you added gravel to the tank be sure to have rinsed it out when new at least 15 minutes. If you are going to redo this tank I would suggest rinsing it out at least 10-15 minutes before adding in new water. Definitely get rid of the old stinky water and start over.

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I have read your answer to his problem an I think is great but one question while I'm doing this to my tank (10 gallon) what do I do with the fish? I got a male betta , 3 panda catfish, an 2 white clouds.

Yes what to do with the fish while cleaning the tank, I have 6 female guppies and 8 tetras?

Get some special bags from the pet store, the kind that the fish are in when you buy them.

If you can't do that, or they won't give you any then just some nice clean jars or cups will do the trick. If you have a warm water tank though remember to float the fish again before releasing them back into the tank.

Even with small tanks, try not to drain out the whole thing while cleaning it. The beneficial bacteria in aquariums will die if they dry out.

Stress Zyme is not a bad product, but as stated before it is hard to dose on such a tiny aquarium. Only add a tiny amount when changing the water. In three gallons your options for fish will be limited, even though it has a filter.

A betta will be your best option. Two or three guppies will do fine. Danios are probably the easiest tropical fish to take care of. There are several varieties-- leopard, blue, zebra, long-finned, and GloFish. GloFish are really good for kids, and they're not dyed. They are a neon-colored danio that will glow under black lights. What they did to make them glow was genetically remove the iridescent gene from one fish and replace it with that a jelly fish. All GloFish commercially available are descendants from that one fish.

Keep in mind bigger aquariums are easier to maintain and clean. You can go longer lengths of time between cleanings. Plus there will be many more options for fish with a bigger tank.

Oh! And DO NOT get a plecostomus. If you have algae, try an aquatic snail or otocinclus-- a tiny fish similar to a plecostomus but no longer than two inches. Three gallons will never hold a pleco.

Sounds like you overloaded the tank too soon. Even small tanks need to develop good bacteria. Smaller tanks are always harder to take care of. WHen I first heard that, I thought it was ridiculous until I actually had a small tank. The same thing happened to me... cloudy water, smelly and the fish never lived. I actually had to change out the rocks and get new filters within 2 weeks of owning this tank.

You MAY have to get new rocks as well, and possibly a new carbon filter. If the tank just has the bubbler, then you may need to upgrade to a tank with at least a filter on it. The tank should cycle for a good two weeks. In that two weeks, your nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, PH and other levels in the tank are spiking. Each level spikes at a different time. This will kill fish. I do know that Danios are very hardy fish, but I still don't recommend adding them until at least the end of the first week. When I worked at a pet store, I heard people would put fish food in their new tanks to help the cycle along quicker. They told me they had success with that. You are also going to have to add live bacteria... That will push this process along fast as well. Seachem PRIME is a much better product and can be broken down in measurements for a smaller tank. I have heard also that live plants are very beneficial to helping a new tank cycle.

Once the tank cycles, you can start adding fish. Add two every week or so. Don't go to the store and buy the capacity of your fish tank, which I believe will be 5. The tank will be over populated too soon, and the fish will shock because the tank will spike again. Don't buy an algea eater until you actually see algea in your tank. They will actually die from starvation. The bigger they get the more they will be able to survive, but when they're smaller, they're searching for what they need... greens. Otocinclus is a great little algea eater, do not buy the chinese or pleco... they will outgrow your tank and are very destructive the bigger they get. You can also get a dwarf aquatic frog. They don't get very big and kids always love them in their tanks.