# Poison dart frog tank smell



## cindygao0217 (Mar 1, 2015)

After setting up my 2 poison dart frog tank I smell something funny in the tank I can't anything outside but when I open the lid I smelled bad why does this happen


----------



## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Your tank is cycling just like a fish tank. Once all the microbe/bacteria battles are settled and the good bacteria wins the tank will just smell fresh.

As long as you have set up everything properly.


----------



## cindygao0217 (Mar 1, 2015)

cam1941 said:


> Your tank is cycling just like a fish tank. Once all the microbe/bacteria battles are settled and the good bacteria wins the tank will just smell fresh.
> 
> As long as you have set up everything properly.



I think I set up everything correctly


----------



## GandalfTheGrey (Nov 18, 2015)

Could you post pictures of the tank? Also a list of what was used in it? That could help to figure out if there is something wrong, but as cam1941 said, time is usually the best solution


----------



## cindygao0217 (Mar 1, 2015)

I can't seem to post the picture so I am going just discribe the tank the bottom have egg crate for drain the water and 1.5-2 in of abg mix then planted with some plant and then seed with orange isopod and spring tail then cover with moss and leave top of that


----------



## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

Covering the substrate with moss is somewhat of an outdated practice and counter productive as it sorta cancels out the free draining ABG-mix (I blame my poor phrasing on just waking up ).
Was it by any chance "Frog moss" you used? Because that stuff is well known as a bad product that starts to decompose and smell bad very quickly. I know from experience


----------



## cindygao0217 (Mar 1, 2015)

The moss is Sphaungnum moss I thought frog can't touch the abg mix


----------



## Sammie (Oct 12, 2009)

cindygao0217 said:


> The moss is Sphaungnum moss I thought frog can't touch the abg mix


That might be true, but you should have a thick layer of leaf litter on top of the substrate so either way it shouldn't be a problem.


----------



## cindygao0217 (Mar 1, 2015)

Sammie said:


> cindygao0217 said:
> 
> 
> > The moss is Sphaungnum moss I thought frog can't touch the abg mix
> ...


Okay I remove the moss when I come home from school tom so tired had a rough day today with my dog getting sick so I will leave the tank for another day


----------



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

A major cause of bad smells in the enclosures are too much water in the substrate which prevents oxygen from getting into the substrate so the organics are going through anaerobic decomposition. Additionally if there is too little air circulation, this can also make the enclosures smell worse. 

Some comments 

Ed


----------

