General Care Discussion :: Stinky smell please help!

[squirtmommy1]

Just recently adopted a new baby RES from someone who didn't realize how much they need. Anyways he's teeny tiny maybe an inch in size. Our yellow belly Squirt has always been alone so we decided not to put them together and went out and bought a large tote for the little guy. He loves his new home and is eating and basking and swimming but for some reason we have a horrible odor now. I have done 50% water changes and have a filter but nothing helps. It's like a mossy smell but there is nothing in the tank it's all new stuff. Squirts tank has never smelled before. I took Crush out and smelled him to make sure he doesn't have an odor but he doesn't smell at all. What could this be? How can I make it go away? Please any advice would be wonderful bc we can't handle the smell much longer!

[rsour24]

u probably need to upgrade filtration

[marisa]

How big is the tote? How much water do you have in the container?

Is there any kind of substrate covering the bottom?

What kind of filter do you have for the tote? Is there any carbon in it? (Carbon can be effective in controlling odors in smaller tanks.)

[squirtmommy1]

The tote is 20 gallon and it's almost full. We will upgrade him as he grows of course. We have a Fluval 305 for our 37 gallon tank but we do not have a canister filter for the small one. Crush got left to us with no notice and we are trying to make due with what we have for a very short amount of time but will upgrade everything soon. We have two hanging filters on the tote on each side. One is Top Fin 40 and the other is Top Fin 30. Do you think the filters are why it stinks! We only had one but added the other tonight about 20 minutes ago so maybe that will help. We've had Crush to the vet and everything is fine with his health we just want to keep it that way. He's lucky since he was living in a goldfish bowl with no light or heat. I about had a stoke the poor guy! Thanks for help in advance.

[squirtmommy1]

Oh and the bottom doesn't have anything. We left it bare!

[marisa]

Do the filters allow for carbon being inserted in them?