:sad My tank smells wierd. I just did a massive water change because i was a little behind and thought that might be the problem (although i have never smelled this smell before). All the fish seem fine. It doesn't really smell fishy in any way. Its more of a cross between old french fries and coffe. The water change helped a little, but it still smell and i have no idea what it could be.
Help wierd smell
- Thread starter Dawn Dansk
- Start date
Is it a new tank? If so, it could be amonia. If that is what it is, it will stop in a week or two. Some more information about the setup might help.
well I took some old french fries and dipped them in coffee and I tell ya what, I've never smelled anything like that before either....
Try running a little fresh carbon in your filter.
Try running a little fresh carbon in your filter.
You know Chico, It concerns me somwhat that you were able to get old french fries and coffee together that quickly :laugh:
We do need a lot more information before we could really hazard a guess as to what the issue is. I would be really concerned if you could actually smell ammonia. with levels at 5ppm during a fishless cycle, I don't remember ever being able to smelll ammonia and my tank has a pretty good surface area in an unventilated room. Please let us know age of tank, test numbers, what decor, stocking levels and whether or not you vacum heavily when you do water changes. Those things will help us help you. And Chico is correct that carbon probably will remove the smell pretty quickly.
dave
We do need a lot more information before we could really hazard a guess as to what the issue is. I would be really concerned if you could actually smell ammonia. with levels at 5ppm during a fishless cycle, I don't remember ever being able to smelll ammonia and my tank has a pretty good surface area in an unventilated room. Please let us know age of tank, test numbers, what decor, stocking levels and whether or not you vacum heavily when you do water changes. Those things will help us help you. And Chico is correct that carbon probably will remove the smell pretty quickly.
dave
Changing the carbon in the filter is something i should try. I dont know how often you are supposed to change them and this one has been in awhile (too long it seems). It is a fairly well established tank it has had fish in it for almost a year. It has plastic plants and a big rock for aquariums. I will let you know if the filter change helps. Thanks for your time. 
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actually as a strange coincidence, "Help weird smell" is exactly what my mom yells every time she walks in my room 
ChicoRaton said:actually as a strange coincidence, "Help weird smell" is exactly what my mom yells every time she walks in my room
I fully understand, I have a 20 year old son living in our house until he's through college, when he is told to clean his room, we always ask him to do it the day before the garbage is picked up so it won't make the neighborhood smell bad :laugh: :laugh:
As far as the AC in the filter, the stuff is usually only good for a few days to two weeks. it is largely unnecessary to use it so not changing it isn't a big issue, but I would still try to track down the smell. I'd be very cautous of anserobic pockets on a tank that has run for a year and suddenly smells bad.
Dave