# musty smell



## Guest (Feb 6, 2006)

I finished construction on my first viv a couple of weeks ago. It is developing a very musty smell. There is a false bottom, a waterfall-stream-pond feature, and the soil is 'reconstituted' cocoa bricks. There are no plants or frogs in place yet. I've left off the top and stopped running the waterfall. Still the smell is getting worse to the point where it can be smelled from a few feet away. What should I do to correct this?
Thanks for any suggestions.

--Wrenn


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## PickingRice484 (Sep 21, 2005)

how much is teh water moving on tghe bottom it coudla became stagnant....id drain it and try to refill it
that may help water changes always help


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

I second the suggestion to drain the false bottom and refill it with new water. Stopping your waterfall would make the problem worse if that were the problem, and by your description it has.



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## Guest (Feb 8, 2006)

I stopped the waterfall as there was some spillage onto the soil and I thought it might be making the substrate too wet. I'll try to correct (it's hard to control water flow over stacked rocks!), then do a 100% water change. Would it hurt to add a bit of bleach to the water? There are no plants or animals installed yet.

--Wrenn


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2006)

*Add activated charcoal granules.*

Pull up a small amount of your top substrate and pour in a layer of granules, replace the removed substrate and it should help.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2006)

The charcoal makes sense. Do I find it in aquarium stores?


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2006)

Wal mart or any pet store. I buy mine in the little tubs It is called Activated Carbon granules. I pour it straight out the tub onto the substrate. I guess you could mix it with the substrate but then it will be seen on top and possible eaten by something. so I put mine under the substrate.


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## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

I've had a similar problem with my Viv smelling musty recently. I set up an Exo Terra viv around Christmas time. It incorporates a layer of gravel substrate and a layer of coco bedding/jungle mix media. The viv also features a corner where I have standing water to aid in boosting humidity levels and for drinking/water absorption for the frogs. About 2 weeks after setting it up I noticed "white" mold growing on the driftwood, THEN the musty smell came. I have the top covered with glass and you could still smell it. I have allergies and asthma real bad and the mold and musty smell REALLY stirred up my asthma bad. Oh yeh, my viv is located on a table next to my bed. It seemed to have stayed musty for about one week, then i decided to take off one of the glass covers and just leave the screen open on half of the viv. Within one week most of the musty smell disipated, however, it still persists. I believe it is getting better as each week goes on, but I will try and change the water and see what happens.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Once your tank is planted with vines and ferns, etc., it will become more normal. Various fungi will come and go for awhile in any new tank, and some of them do smell a bit musty. I think the problem is, you don't have any plants in there yet. Don't use any sort of chlorine bleach! Do a few water changes after you plant the vivarium and let the water cycle for awhile. Once you have plants, mosses and circulating water, it will merely smell "earthy." I would worry more about a stagnant hydrogen sulfide smell, (more like a bean fart,) which means the water is not oxygenated enough and is supporting anaerobic bacteria. Charcoal helps a bit for awhile, but it becomes saturated rather quickly, and deactivates. It still provides a nice drainage media, but has no real place in the top soil.


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