Question: Castle Decor Smells Toxic?

[AlissaMae]

Hi!
So, I was doing a monthly water change when I noticed there was A LOT of black sand around the tank.
This is normally poop that has eroded some, but that's usually in small amounts.


So, the fact that there was a lot, freaked me out. I took out the castle and noticed that it smelled toxic. Like bad. It also looked like the bottom was eroding and I have no idea why. Needless to say, I took it out and cleaned the cage as best as I could, but my question is:

Is it safe to put it back in?

Should I switch to some other type of decor to allow my axie to hide?


Thanks for the help!

 

[kiathepooch]

I'd leave it out your tank and switch it for something else,especially if it looks like it's eroding.


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[SludgeMunkey]

Trust your senses.

When in doubt, leave it out.

 

[ZombieAxolotl]

I've noticed some ornaments don't last. Some you can re-seal with an aquarium safe paint.

Otherwise i'd toss it.

Any easy way to see if it's effecting your tank chemistry is putting it in a bucket of de-chlorinated water.. and then after a couple days checking the chemisty.

That unfortunately won't tell you if it's releasing actual toxins.

 

[AlissaMae]

Yeah, I'm definitely going to leave it out..

Any suggestions on what I could put in it?

 

[Blaze]

I would say you got some anerobic gases happening underneath it. If you can put it in and then push the sand around it, so that theres no sand trapped underneath it it should be fine. Thats all I had to do with mine and the smell and discoloured sand vanished.