Bad Smell and Not Sure Where It's Coming From

[Tasha716]

So here's the problem: My tanks are in my bedroom where my baby sleeps too. Typically, my toddler ends up in bed with me as well. There is a BAD smell all through my room. I can't take it anymore. Now the baby did dump a gallon of Saltwater on the carpet yesterday that I cleaned up. I know some had to seep into the carpet but I know that can't be what is making this smell.

I have 3 tanks with 12 crabs total and ALL of the crabs are under. That scares me to begin with that every single crab is under the sub right now but, everyone keeps telling me they are alright. But I am 1000% sure that they are not coming out at night. The sand is carefully smoothed so I can see tracks and the food is NOT being touched. I am sure about this. So, I think one, two, maybe all of my crabs are dead somehow. *I am an animal lover = I will have a heart attack if they are all deceased. How do I know what to do? If you could smell this, you would agree that there is a dead animal yet, I can not pinpoint where the smell is coming from. Should I start in the tank with the least amount of crabs? and somehow iso each one separately if they are still alive? I don't want to dig up live crabs but I have to find out what is really going on.

What do I do?

[aussieJJDude]

If you smell in the individual tanks, is there one with a certain smell?
What does it smell like?

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[elly_bananas]

How long have they been under?

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[CamiTheCrab]

Well if there is a strong fish smell one has probably died. I have noticed with my crabs, sometimes I will have 2 or 3 who always molt at the same time. Strange I know. However when a crab has just molten their new exoskeleton is very soft. Pretty much a mummy treat for the other crabs. If you have some molters with non molters then maybe one of them was eaton and the remains of the body are what is smelling. I wouldn't suggest digging threw the tank to find the dead one just yet because if there are other molting crabs it would disrupt them and possibly even kill them. You could move the tank into a separate room for a month or two and wait for the other crabs to come out. It is very unlikely that they would all die at the same time. If you see any crab come out, you should remove them and place them in a serarate tank.

[CamiTheCrab]

Another thing I forgot to mention in my pervious post, it is probably only one crab that is dead. When a crab dies the smell is VERY strong. I'm not sure if that helps but at least you don't have to worry about them all being dead.

[DaJimmer]

Find the smelly tank and add more substrate to bury the smell????

[Hermie225]

If it is a rotten egg type smell you may have a bacterial bloom within the substrate.
Dead crabs smell something HORRID.

[DaJimmer]

Would a bacterial bloom in all the tanks at the same time be possible would it drive the crabs into hiding?

[wodesorel]

You should be able to open the tanks, sniff them, and figure out which has the bad smell. It will be stronger at the source. If you can't, then it is likely something in the room instead. Chasing down bad smells is the worst, sometimes it can be from dead critters in the wall or floor, too.

Saltwater will not smell bad. You might end up with salt crystals once it dries though!

[Just Jay]

DO NOT add sub to cover the smell. you need to be able to smell the tank to know everything is running smoothly. i would do like everyone has recommended and just take it tank by tank. look for any causes of the smell. food that might have gotten hidden or under sub. any possible spots of mold. where water might be over flowing and causing an issue. also if you have as many crabs under they could be releasing hormones and the molting chemical to aid in their shedding. try not to panic. sorry this is happening.

[DaJimmer]

Its in a baby room? Is it an exploded sippy?