aabaltz

ok so I built my own wet dry trickle filter with a 10 gallon sump for under my 20 gallon tall aquarium. I got it all set up on a stand that i build, got some sand for substrate, rinsed it and put it in, added some rocks for decor on top of that, then added the water. Inside the sump I have running a small filter rated for a 10 gallon tank that was just taken out of a cycled 10 gallon that i took down. I let everything run for ten days, and made the assumption that it would be ok for fish because the little filter came from a cycled tank. So I went out and bought two jewel cichlids and put them in there. That was three days ago, now my wife says there is a "fishy" smell coming from the sump area, and that this smell has to go. Anybody have any ideas on what i might try? Things like candles aren't really an option for obvious reasons.

aabaltz

well, bigger problems have arisen. One of the fish did not make it, got sucked into the intake of the filter system I made, clogging the whole thing up, thankfully the tank did not overflow, but it was very close. seeing as how there is no way for me to get the fish out of the PVC overflow, for now im going to have to scrap the whole system and get by on a different filter.

aquarist48

Oh no! Hate to hear you're having difficulties and your fish loss
As far as the fishy smell in the sump or tide pool, if the smell is that bad then I suggest adding carbon into the sump as well. Too, you can always add an air stone so it doesn't develop a film on top of the water in the sump.
Best of luck and hope you can get it the problem solved.

aabaltz

Think i might ditch the sump idea for now though because I have no way of getting the dead fish out of the pvc overflow without wrecking it.

Leni

It sounds like you don't have a guard on your overflow. That would keep the fish from getting into it. Try cutting slots in the PVC to let the water rush through, or put some sort of netting/mesh around the top to keep them out.

Tony G.

im so sorry you lost your fish