Does your skimmate stink?

[treesprite]

I'm asking because so many people talk about it smelling, but mine just smells like something similar to potting soil (in spite of the fact that the thick nearly black mush riser buildup looks like.... ).

[Tracy G]

Mine smells like rotten egg, dog

[LCDRDATA]

Mine varies, with a "marine" component and varying degree of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg).

[treesprite]

So why does mine not smell rotten?

 

Edited September 17, 2012 by treesprite

[Marc Weaver]

My liquid is nasty-smelling, but the solid stuff like you have that I scrape from the neck does not smell too bad.

Edited September 17, 2012 by Marc Weaver

[TonyInVa]

I just switched skimmers. My old skimmers skimmate does not smell and did not pull out nearly as much as my new skimmer. My new skimmers skimmate smells like rotten eggs.

[smallreef]

There are many factors, lol

mostly the thick gunk does not smell as bad as the liquid.. even at that it depends on how much you overfeed and such, like what you feed...

My old tank the skimmate didnt really smell... this tank... its rancid

[steveoutlaw]

It's fish $H#@.....of course it stinks.

[ToddR]

It's fish $H#@.....of course it stinks.

+1

[treesprite]

I go really dry most of the time (because I've had too many crazy skimmer episodes that flooded all that scummy water back into the sump), so I don't generally have a lot of liquid, but it's usually dark and really does not smell horrible.

[mogurnda]

Mine varies. Currently the skimmate in both tanks is earthy and not particularly bad, but sometimes half the house will smell nasty when I clean the cup. My theory is that there is occasional cryptic die-off, like a snail stuck somewhere, that adds to the stink.

 

I do remember that when I changed from a not-very-efficient HOT to a nice in-sump model, the skimmate was stinky for quite some time.

 

Adding a little kalk to the collection cup reduces the stink, by the way. No idea why, but Leishman suggested it years ago and it worked.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Thats a personal question, me and my fish are quite offended...

[rioreef]

You should smell it after a large clam spawns. Skimmate was whitish color and likes to create foam easily

[Origami]

Let's just say that my wife and daughter know when I'm emptying the skimmer cup....

[Integral9]

I almost blew chunks the first time I emptied my SWC skimmer. I'd classify it somewhere between dog poo and rotting clams.

[ridetheducati]

I cannot smell mine at all, because I add kalk to the skimmer cup.

[Origami]

I cannot smell mine at all, because I add kalk to the skimmer cup.

I'm going to have to try that. Do you just add a little powder? If so, how much do you add?

[Steve175]

Self cleaning head beats the kalk. However, when I clean the scum off of it every 2-3 months, I would agree with the feces/rotten egg/vomit minus the roses descriptor.

[mogurnda]

Started using biopellets this weekend. Got a good bloom of microbes and a lot of sticky skimmate. Based on spousal comments, this was the stinkiest in years.

[treesprite]

Let's have a skimmate contest at the next meeting.

[Origami]

Let's have a skimmate contest at the next meeting.

That idea stinks.