Tank Smells Swampy After Cleaning

10 Gallon Tank. 1 Betta, 3 shrimp and a snail. 6 aponogeton spp, 3 amazon sword, 1 temple compacta, and some Christmas moss. Today I took everything out today, drained the tank completely, vacuumed the gravel several times and did many changes of water until it was clear. I rinsed the filter media in the original tank water, rinsed the filter housing out (lots of brown sludge), and kept the media moist with a spray bottle. I discarded the wood I had added to the tank... I don't think it was properly prepared and was smelling rotten and swampy. The substrate smelled like sulfur as well; several vacuumings with the gravel siphon and tilling the substrate helped.

So, the plants are replanted, the tank water is crystal clear and conditioned, the vast majority of organic matter has been siphoned out and discarded, the glass has been wiped clean with paper towels (no chemicals), the filter housing has been scrubbed clean of gunk, I've reactivated my purigen, and I've added an airstone to keep the water from being stagnant. Why does my aquarium still smell like swamp water?

 

Bumping this up for you

 

Wait and see. You have done what you can. I am not a planted tank guy but I know activated carbon can clear the smell. It may affect your plants using carbon.

 

The smell disappeared after about 24 hours. Turns out it was my Purigen and rotting wood. Even after bleaching for 12 hours, my Purigen smelled of what I can only describe as rotting shrimp. I don't understand why, maybe another 8-12 hours and a long soak in scalding hot water.

 

Glad you found the source of the problem. Happy fish keeping.