hey i am in danger of loseing my tank if it doesent stop smelling, i have a 30g tanks thats been set up for about 6 months, with about 20 cichlids in it, i did an water changs last week, and i vacummed the gravel pretty good, and they tanks looked crystal clear, all the sudden i came home last night and phew. the whole house smells, and i am not exagerating, its horrible, the water looks clear still, and the filter was just changed, and theres no dead fish, what can i do, if it doesent stop smelling soon, my parents say it has to go, please help
HELP-very smelly tank
- Thread starter Zelda000
- Start date
what filters are you using, and what media? What has your water change interval been over the life of the tank?
Many times activated carbon can help remove odors, however, the appearance of such strong odors would indicate a problem to begin with.
Have you been doing weekly water changes, or have you been neglecting them? Weekly water changes usually keep any smells in check.
Many times activated carbon can help remove odors, however, the appearance of such strong odors would indicate a problem to begin with.
Have you been doing weekly water changes, or have you been neglecting them? Weekly water changes usually keep any smells in check.
Oh my, I see a few problems with your setup.
20 cichlids in a 30 gallon? No matter what kind of cichlids (minus the shell dwellers) that tank is grossly overstocked.
You just changed the filter? As in completely removed its media and put new stuff in? Measure your ammonia and nitrites, I bet they are probably very high.. if not off the scale.
IMHO, reduce your population... by like 80-90%. Do frequent water changes and gravel vacs. Keep a very close eye on ammonia and nitrites, do water changes as needed to keep them as low as possible. This may involve multiple water changes a day.
HTH
-Richer
20 cichlids in a 30 gallon? No matter what kind of cichlids (minus the shell dwellers) that tank is grossly overstocked.
You just changed the filter? As in completely removed its media and put new stuff in? Measure your ammonia and nitrites, I bet they are probably very high.. if not off the scale.
IMHO, reduce your population... by like 80-90%. Do frequent water changes and gravel vacs. Keep a very close eye on ammonia and nitrites, do water changes as needed to keep them as low as possible. This may involve multiple water changes a day.
HTH
-Richer
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I would immediately do a %30-40 water change.
Some pet stores do free water testing, find out if any near you do and bring in a water sample if you feel like it.
There are three common things that cause bad aquarium odors.
1. too much waste/ not enough filtration
2. overfeeding, fish not eating one of the food types you put in
3. dead fish
What kind of filtration do you have? I would consider getting some extra filtration. Its much easier to have not enough than it is to have too much.
Some pet stores do free water testing, find out if any near you do and bring in a water sample if you feel like it.
There are three common things that cause bad aquarium odors.
1. too much waste/ not enough filtration
2. overfeeding, fish not eating one of the food types you put in
3. dead fish
What kind of filtration do you have? I would consider getting some extra filtration. Its much easier to have not enough than it is to have too much.
The problem here is simply that this tank is massively, and I mean massively, overstocked. Get rid of at least half the fish and you might be in with a chance. Tanks should not smell.