# Arowana question, making tank stink BAD? aka... my whole living room



## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

I purchased my first Arowana about 2 months ago. Super happy and active in a 6ft long tank with a couple Rotkeil Severums (they are total pals!), about 8 clown loaches and a few pleco varieties. Now.. ever since i got the Arowana.. my whole living room has stunk.. and i mean BAD! I have done multiple water changes and nothing helps.. Is it the food i was given to feed the Arowana? the food is by Hikari. The smell is absolutely repulsive.. ive been keeping all my windows open in my apt. and its starting to get cold! Has anyone experienced this before? Is there a food anyone can recommend that wont stink up my apt? or any other suggestions as to what it could be?

Thanks!!


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

If its the water smelling I would try Purigen. Otherwise, I'm not sure what the problem is or how to fix it.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

If the food they gave you is Hikari Massivore that would be the culprit, it's pretty stinky. I find that the Hikari Carnivore pellets don't smell quite as bad, but hopefully somebody with arowana experience might be able to recommend more food suggestions.


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## smccleme (Aug 20, 2012)

It may be some debris above the waterline on the underside of your tank rim, or braces. Wipe all the surfaces with a wet cloth. I'd also remove and clean any glass covers you have.


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## mike.m (Aug 5, 2010)

Size of aquarium first? You say 6ft long tank so I'm guessin 180 Gal,210 gal, or a 220 high?? What's your filteration on the tank?
It seems to be over stocked dependin on size of fish. How often are you feedin them?


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

its a 125 gallon tank. There is a Fluval FX6 running on it for filtration. I dont think the tank is overstocked at all... 
The food is Hikari food sticks floating protein-rich. I just checked the rims of the tank and there is no sludge or leftovers lingering at all. The lids on my tank are practically sparkling. I have never ever had this problem until i got the arowana and im really starting to think its the sticks i was given to feed it. hmmm..


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

I just read up on the Purigen, will definitely look into adding that into my filter! Sounds like good stuff to have going anyways, thanks for the tip Momobobo!


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Sarah, it might be some uneaten food in your filter? How often you service your filters?

also, make sure you accounted for all your clown loaches. One time, I was servicing one of my customer's tank, the smell came from a clown loaches swam inside the outflow part of the canister and stuck and died in there.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

I've personally gotten rid of Hikari Massivore pellets because they made my house stink. There's this thread http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/freshwater-chat-9/hikari-massivore-delite-83242/ where a couple people mention it. There are several threads on Monsterfishkeepers that talk about various Hikari foods stinking up tanks as well.

For the record, I'm not hating on Hikari as it's actually my favorite brand for fish foods ...some types just smell horrible to us humans, I'm sure they smell terrific to fish!


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Yup I agree with Pam, Hikari massivore/carnivore type pellets and sticks stink. My wife made me stop using those back in the day. Once I stopped, the smell went away quickly. Fish probably attracted to it too due to the stink!


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## stratos (Apr 21, 2010)

Get your aro onto cut up market prawn and just supplement once in a while with pellets. Keep the pellets in their bag in a tight fitting plastic container when not in use.

Sounds to me like you have a couple moist pellets somewhere (maybe behind the tank, under the side of the canopy, etc.). They can stink pretty bad.


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## Snugpuppies (Jun 7, 2014)

I have an arowana and a stingray in my 340g + a couple bichirs and clown loaches. The aro eats market prawns and smelt mainly...the others eat the hikari massivore pellets (sinking). I only give them small portions so the pellets are eaten up within about 3 or 4 minutes. I have 2 Fx5's + a fluval U3 on it. Can't say that I notice a bad smell from the tank - I do 40% water changes weekly. No charcoal.

I did have a 120 gallon with lots of dead spots between baserock and ornaments - that got to the point that I took everything out because it smelt so bad - never had an issue before I put in the base rock. Not sure I helped but you could alternate pellets versus prawns....that is if the arowana would accept pellets again.


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

All of my loaches are accounted for, they are about 4-5 inches long so thankfully none will be getting into those tubes. I clean my filter every 3 months and do regular water changes.. (i am due for a filter clean at the end of this month though so maybe that aspect isnt helping) i am definitely thinking that it is the food... my apt isnt smelling right now since the morning feed. Is there a food someone can suggest for arowanas that isnt going to stink my place up? I am currently using Hikari sinking carnivore pellets for my other fish, have never had a problem with odor.. maybe i should look into the floating carnivor pellets for the arowana? I cant believe how bad these sticks stink! Its actually boggling my mind that my whole apt can reak so bad when i put those pellets in the tank...


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

Is a mainly prawn diet ok for arowanas? When i got the Arowana the guy also told me to get frozen krill... so i did and when i tried feeding it the krill it sank pretty quick the arowana didnt go for any of it.


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

Do you guys feed your aros prawn once a day? My arowana is only about 10" long right now.. just a wee baby


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## Snugpuppies (Jun 7, 2014)

My aro is 14 inches long and I feed him daily - once a day. two market prawns. That's all he will eat...spits out the pellets or sticks. Will eat smelt but that is merely a treat. Make sure you buy the uncooked market prawns - thaw first and then peel. I cut each prawn into 3 pieces making each one bit sized. He knows when feeding is and I just drop 1 at a time to him. He pretty much eats out of hand. This way no pieces of prawn ever hit the bottom ~ in fact, it is barely in the water before he has it. Just keep the lid closed enough or he will be tempted to jump.


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## Snugpuppies (Jun 7, 2014)

I am no expert but I was told for a 10 inch aro - feed twice daily until about 14 inches. 1 prawn in am, 2 prawn at night. Then cut back...


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

My RTG Arrow eats almost a dozen prawn per feeding once a day! and he is 16" I use Hikari carnivore sinking pellets for rays and floating for arrow and I dont get a smell unless they get on lid edge and rot? Charcoal will work for smell if it is in your water?


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

My aro loves the sticks... eats them up like no tomorrow.. but they are awful! My apt isnt smelling right now because i havent fed the fish yet.. Im going to try the frozen krill again this morning that the guy from king ed told me to get.. see what happens. Will definitely be cutting back on the sticks.. maybe just a couple in the morning and prawn in the evening. Thanks for everyones help! Ill pick up some uncooked prawns today and see if i can get him to eat out of my hand a little.. not too sure though becuase he seems a little nervouse when you get close to the tank.. also.. a problem i noticed last night. My aro has drop eye in one eye  Its a silver aro.. i read that this is a common problem.. i put in some floating pieces into my tank to see if that'll eventually correct the problem. Tank isnt bare bottom. What do you guys think about putting pieces of mirror along the top of the lid? Maybe it will encourage more curiosity looking up at all the reflections?


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## sarahmay87 (Feb 18, 2012)

There are never any floating sticks left over when i feed the aro.. gobbles them all right up, ive checked. Also have checked the lid and inside of the tank.. i have a really large pleco thats good at his job, theres never any traces of leftorvers if some were left behind. Its spotless. The water smells like fish if i open the lid.. haha its just after i feed with the sticks if i dont air out my apt it will stink for a loonnnnggggg time. 
Im going to try cutting back on the quantity of sticks.. see if that helps.. more prawn. Then im going to switch the sticks for the floating carnivore pellets when ive used all the stinky sticks up.


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## C-kidder (Aug 2, 2014)

I found the sticks smell extremely bad but even more so when they were expired. I had somebody recently give me a bunch of those food sticks and they were expired it took me a while to figure it out but then I read the EXP date and it was like 2012. Probably not the same issue but I can see something similar happening if you don't keep the bag airtight at all times.


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