fish smell will it be ok

Here's the story

2 seedlings were put into a tub-like plastic container DWC system
Air Pump: Dunno exactly the strength, but its for a 10 gal aquarium (my tub is pretty small only 2L of water in it)
Growing Media: colored aquarium rocks
The nutes: 1/2 strength of seedling stage recommendations FloraNova Grow 7-4-10
Water Source: Tap water (Ph about ~8.0 but ph downed to 6.0)
Res Temp: is about 18/21 celcius during the day/night

everything was fine, they both grew healthy for a week, one of them even got a 2 foot long root in reservoir 3 days . Even when I dumped reservoir there was no smell or anything in it other than dust.

Today (1 week later), I decided to change my reservoir and up the nutes a lil to about 3/4 strength of seedling stage. Like an idiot, I used tap water that was sitting around in a clear container for like 2 months. Didn't really think it would have problems, but yeah, after 2-3 hours of changing reservoir when i opened the tub to check roots this foul rotten fish smell was there. The ph had rised from ~6.0 to like ~7.5, so its clearly something growing in there and only thing i changed from the first week was that water i used. (usually my tap water smells like pool plastic/chlorine but im not using anything organic so that shouldnt matter) i had some left over of that water and did notice a little smell (but very little, i guess they ate the nutes and grew very fast in 2-3 hrs? dunno)

So, I took my seedling(they are in small plastic cups), rinsed the cup under the sink and placed them in clean water meanwhile (but they still smell like fish from close, dunno what I can do about this)

Then I took the tub, rinsed it, scrubbed it with rubbing alcohol, and noticed it still has a little bit of fish smell, so I decided to scrub it more and could not completely get rid of the smell.

I don't have anything for water treatment to sterilize, are my plants contaminated and doomed? or will they be okay now that i changed water. I just put them back hoping for the best... Hope that fish smell doesn't come back.

Damn it, I'm so damn pissed, now my airstone broke because i wanted to give it a good clean, dunno what I'm going to do until tomorow, and the reservoir has a feint fish smell to it already which will probably keep increasing.


EDIT:
Hmmm i just did a quick google search and found this:
http://www.420magazine.com/forums/frequently-asked-questions/165476-dwc-without-airstones.html
Air pump without plugging an air stone... what do you guys think? I'm gonna do that for now anyways until I get another air stone...

Shit I thought this was about your Vagina or somthing!

Howard Stern said:

Shit I thought this was about your Vagina or somthing!

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lol

so... does the bad smell necessarily mean there's something wrong? or is there any chance at all that my plant can live with it? They still look healthy, but then again, its only been like 6 hours since the smell

EDIT:
The smell is as bad as before... or getting close... I have found some 35% Hydrogen Peroxide, but dunno really how to use it. it says 1.5ml for 4L.

Should i just add it into the res? Or should I clean the res again tomorrow and use it with a new batch of nutrient solution? Will that be enough?

Bad smells are bad news. I would change out your water, clean your res, add fresh water and nutes and some H202. 1.5ml per 4L is a weak dose IMO. I would try 1ml/L at first. I normally dose my res at 2ml/L

redi jedi said:

Bad smells are bad news. I would change out your water, clean your res, add fresh water and nutes and some H202. 1.5ml per 4L is a weak dose IMO. I would try 1ml/L at first. I normally dose my res at 2ml/L

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Allright, I'm about to clean my res again, and then gonna add some 1.5 ml of h2o2 for 2L (I'm scared to hurt my plants, they are just 1 week old)

If i do this, will the smell be gone for good? or will I need to use it every week?

Just stick the air hose into the res and bubble with it until you get a new stone. This link may help also: https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-dwc-root-slime-cure-aka.html

Alexander Supertramp said:

Just stick the air hose into the res and bubble with it until you get a new stone. This link may help also: https://www.rollitup.org/dwc-bubbleponics/361430-dwc-root-slime-cure-aka.html

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Yeah, I've read that already, but i don't see any slime, only a smell. The plants look decent but it's only been like ~16 hours since smell. Also i use tap water i don't know how organic things will do in the chlorine, and I don't really want to wait 24 hrs every time i need water. I guess that can be my "last resort" if the h2o2 doesn't fix my problem. I don't plan to use h2o2 every week if possible. I just wanna sterlize my plants and tub and not make the same mistake of using non-fresh water.

Allright, I really want this smell to go away, so like you said, I used 2 ml of 35% h2o2 for 2L of water, and flushed my plants with it, and i'm letting them soak in the rest of the solution and gonna go buy airstone now.

EDIT:
Success!!! yay thanks all

The smell is gone, reservoir went back to smelling like my pool, the plastic cups the plants are in don't smell like anything either now. I just hope it doesn't come back once the h2o2 wears off. I'll let you guys know next week. Ph is ~5.2 atm, but I'll let it sit for a couple hours before raising it for nothing.

Well, it's really weird.

the seedling that had a 2 foot long root got stunted a bit, the roots used to be all pointy and white and now its all like, droopy, and is looking slightly yellow, but new roots are coming out of the cup.

The other seedling got super vigorous and pointy white roots though, way better than before, and is growing fast. They are both in the same tub T_T. I don't get it.


EDIT: I'm thinking of cutting the root completely because it doesn't seem to grow and the plant leafs feel dry(as if its not drinking) so it prob is a dead root. Should I do this?

lol, cut a root?? is causing any harm?? what is the logic behind this??i would say no. I have been fighting root rot for a few weeks now,which i am almost sure is what you are beggining to experience. Dont cut, just keep clean and be sure to keep those water temps down. I changed my water once and by the next morning my roots were rotten, which is what that fish smell is. I invested in a coil chiller and it works great. only $40

Damn, i just noticed some little bubble-like mold growing on the aquarium rocks that is within the tub but not submerged in water.... (only for the weak seedling)

I just checked my res temp and it is ~72-73

I will try adding 2ml of h2o2 it has been about 3 days since last treatment.

I guess i'll add a frozen water bottle, but there is onyl 2L of water in the tub I hope it doesn't get too cold! I'll try it now.

i had mold on my hydroton pellents. i bought some of those foam covers for the net pots. They go around your stalk and stop any light from getting in that way. Took care of the problem right away. Mold likes light

also, h2o2 is not only a treatment. The guys at the hydro store told me once you use h2o2 once your plants become dependant on it

dopeyG said:

also, h2o2 is not only a treatment. The guys at the hydro store told me once you use h2o2 once your plants become dependant on it

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is 1 ml per L of 35% h2o2 a good amount every 3 days? how much would you suggest to use?

Nothing wrong with trimming dead roots, better than leaving them to rot in the res. The mold on your aquarium rocks could be a problem. Try to remove as much rock as you can and soak it in bleach. Then mix 2ml/L of H202 with water and pour it over the remaining rocks in your net pot.

Plants become dependent on H202?....lol...its not crack, you should use it regularly because it doesnt have a residual effect like bleach but its not because your plants are hooked on the stuff.

How much h2o2 should i put in the res after flushing? still 2ml/L ? And how often would you suggest to keep roots from rotting?

Airstones suck, powerheads rock. Hooking your air pump to the powerhead rocks even harder.

If you take a little bite of the root you will be able to tell if it is dead or not. Living roots taste good, dead roots taste slimey. You will be able to tell the difference without any difficulty.

stonedream said:

How much h2o2 should i put in the res after flushing? still 2ml/L ? And how often would you suggest to keep roots from rotting?

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yes, 2ml/L once a week. H202 really doesn't prevent rot. It kills bacteria that cause slime. Keeping the water oxygenated keeps roots from rotting. Adding h202 will add oxygen to the water but it doesn't last, thats why you need an air pump and stones. You should really get a much bigger res also. 2 liters is next to nothing. A mature plant will drink that in a day.

redi jedi said:

yes, 2ml/L once a week. H202 really doesn't prevent rot. It kills bacteria that cause slime. Keeping the water oxygenated keeps roots from rotting. Adding h202 will add oxygen to the water but it doesn't last, thats why you need an air pump and stones. You should really get a much bigger res also. 2 liters is next to nothing. A mature plant will drink that in a day.

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Allright, thanks a bunch for the replies.

It's my first serious attempt, i've never got this far. I will make a bigger res soon, but probably will need a second air pump if I do so, I feel like my current one sucks even though it says its for a 10gal aquarium.