My S don't stink

[ohaverd]

So seriously...  I get this dark green sludge from my skimmer.  I clean it every saturday...  Why does it not smell?  I hear peeps complaining that it is gawd awful for them to clean their skimmer.  I want my poop to stink!  What gives?

 

Could it be livestock?  I don't have any large carnivors...  and only 10 small fish and 2 medium fish in about 300 gallons TSV. 

 

Or maybe my nostrils don't work?  and what is supposed to smell bad smells good?  That would explain my foot fetish I guess...

 

 

[steveoutlaw]

Tell you what.  You swing by whenever you want to smell stinky nog.  That ATB on my system pulls out stuff that will gag a maggot.

[treesprite]

Mine has always just had a strong earthy smell, like freshly watered houseplant getting knocked on the floor. But a few days ago when cleaning, a family member asked me what the nasty smell was. That was the first time I got that "nasty" odor. I'd like to know what is different with the tank that made the smell change.

[YHSublime]

Tell you what.  You swing by whenever you want to smell stinky nog.  That ATB on my system pulls out stuff that will gag a maggot.

 

+1 (sans ATB)

 

When I can smell if from the hallway, it's time to clean. The lady always exclaims, "that smells like ****" and I always tell her "That's because it is!" Then she obviously doesn't believe me, because I clean it in the sink. 

[zygote2k]

I find that running bio-pellets or heavy feeding tends to make the skimmer smell disgusting. On many of the skimmers, the skimmate has that nice rich earthy smell  like Forrest describes.

I love the feel of molding together a big pile of skimmate sludge from the neck collar and squeezing it through my fingers.

[Coral Hind]

If you run carbon on the tank that might reduce some of the smell. I'm sure it has to deal with bio-load, frequency of water changes, and types of food you feed.

[John Ford]

Reef snow makes my skimmer stink. At least that's what I blame it on.

I'm giggling as I convince my wife I can't change diapers when my baby comes cause I'll throw up. If she saw the nasty crap I clean off the neck of my skimmer I'm done for. My cover will be blown!

[monkiboy]

there are some hilarious replies here!

[AlanM]

I love the feel of molding together a big pile of skimmate sludge from the neck collar and squeezing it through my fingers.

I saw him do just that. He was trying to mold a little brown unicorn with it so it could dry on his window sill. This was just after he convinced me to try reef roids and cyclopeeze to see how they tasted. (The answer is: not terrible, not even very fishy)

 

For the OP, the neck of Rob's skimmer was almost entirely closed due to the sludge he is talking about, and it didn't stink either.

[Leishman]

I have made a 3" snow skimmate man before.  That was on my old 400g sysyem w/40 fish running a Deltec AP702.

 

To stop the stink, add a little kalk paste to the collection cup after each cleaning.  It wil neutralize the funk....

[Integral9]

I find that running bio-pellets or heavy feeding tends to make the skimmer smell disgusting. On many of the skimmers, the skimmate has that nice rich earthy smell  like Forrest describes.

I love the feel of molding together a big pile of skimmate sludge from the neck collar and squeezing it through my fingers.

 

 

[Origami]

I saw him do just that. He was trying to mold a little brown unicorn with it so it could dry on his window sill. This was just after he convinced me to try reef roids and cyclopeeze to see how they tasted. (The answer is: not terrible, not even very fishy)

 

I thought that you were kidding about the unicorn until I saw the part about the taste test. Been there, done that - with Rob, no less. So now I know you weren't kidding. Did you have an IPA with it? Goes down smooth with the Reef Roids which, to me, are a little bit fishy tasting.

[AlanM]

I thought that you were kidding about the unicorn until I saw the part about the taste test. Been there, done that - with Rob, no less. So now I know you weren't kidding. Did you have an IPA with it? Goes down smooth with the Reef Roids which, to me, are a little bit fishy tasting.

In fact, I did.  I think I had a Dogfish 60 minute.

[YHSublime]

In fact, I did.  I think I had a Dogfish 60 minute.

 

It's only 11am, but that sounds really good about now. I love the 90 minute draft from dogfish, it's like a whiskey beer.

 

I pull a fair amount of sludge out of my skimmer neck, but not a lot from the cup. Does that mean I need to up my water level in the skimmer? Or am I doing it right?

[AlanM]

It's only 11am, but that sounds really good about now. I love the 90 minute draft from dogfish, it's like a whiskey beer.

 

I pull a fair amount of sludge out of my skimmer neck, but not a lot from the cup. Does that mean I need to up my water level in the skimmer? Or am I doing it right?

 

Mine is doing the exact same thing.  On my CS1 the neck and lid gets really goopy, but I don't get a ton of liquid skimmate in the cup or in the locker.  I have the smallest size locker and in two weeks it's only about half full, but the top of the neck and the lid are covered.  Also doesn't smell really bad.

[AlanM]

I take it back.  I emptied that locker today since it was filling up after I started trying to skim a bit wetter and about barfed.  It's much worse than most diapers I've come across.  I dumped it down the utility sink in the basement and the funk seems to be sticking around.  Yikes.  Wonder if that means my biopellets are working.

[Integral9]

They are working.  And yes, I'd much rather empty the diaper pail than clean the skimmer.  Too bad I can't get my wife to do either. 

[lnevo]

I just emptied my skimmate locker and cleaned the sludge in my skimmer lid and cup. It really didn't stink at all. I hadn't cleaned my skimmer lid in maybe a month, month and a half..I do skim wet and run carbon..

[gmerek2]

Get your sniffer checked. Thats poop in there and it stinks!

[lnevo]

It was the poopiest poop I ever had in there since it was the longest i ever went since getting my swabbie...and my nose is pretty good...so nothing wrong there..my son's diaper pail and dirty diapers are way worse..