Smelly tank!

[Kurt]

Well, I change out smelly substrates as soon as I can. Does it smell like potting soil or is it a more foul smell? Maybe you should just remove the water and replace it, rather than water the plants with it. Also is there any kind of drainage for the plants or are their roots sitting in water, rotting? Are you over watering the plants?

[Kerry1968]

Thanks Kurt.

I have about 1 inch of gravel , increased to 2 inches on the drier side, this is topped by mesh, then the soil.

It smelt just really sort of boggy! Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it. I think I'll maybe let the wet side dry out a little more and like you say, use fresh water rather than the water from the dish. Perhaps as there is no fresh water going into the soil it's become kind of overloaded.

I'm going to keep an eye on it for a week or so, see if the smell dissipates as the substrate dries out.

I think I just panicked a little! I don't want to poison my little friend.

[Kurt]

If you gently press on the substrate, does water come out? If so the it is way too wet.

[adawinters]

From my experience, once soil gets really mucky like that, it'll be hard to get rid of the smell. It might die off if it dries 110%, but it'll retain the smell in the tank as long as it's wet. I'd remove it. I wouldn't give up on soil altogether, though. Try keeping it dryer. Aim for the moistness of a houseplaint. Maybe you could use moss for the really wet, end that's under the water line. That way, it would make for easy removal if it gets a little funky. Also, remember that those earthworms can drown if it's too wet. It's possible that some of the funk is coming from a drowned worm or two.

[Kerry1968]

Thanks Ada, It's going to be one big hassle cleaning out the wet end, so I'm avoiding that job til I have to! I'm just going to keep a close eye (and nose) on it for the next few days and make my decision then.