My Freshwater Fishtank makes my House smell! Help!

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Rainstorm~

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Apr 25, 2010
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It makes my house smell and I have no clue how to stop it... or make the smell minor. If you have any tips post please!
 

fish-n-chips

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How big is your tank and what size filter? How long do you keep your light on? What do you have in your tank for fish,inverts and plants and how many? How often do you do a water change and gravel clean? What are the water parameters in your tank and out of your tap? If you have plants, what do you use for ferts and how often? Your tank should not have an odor to it so there has to be a reason for the odor. As much info as you can give would be helpful in us at AC to help you with this issue.
 

Sploke

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Oct 20, 2005
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A fishtank should not smell really at all, never mind smelling up a whole house. What is your water change/cleaning regimen? I would start by doing some water changes, if the water is dirty enough to smell bad, the fish cannot be very comfortable in it.
 

BioHazard

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Mar 15, 2009
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A fishtank should not smell really at all, never mind smelling up a whole house. What is your water change/cleaning regimen? I would start by doing some water changes, if the water is dirty enough to smell bad, the fish cannot be very comfortable in it.
Agreed. A fishtank should have almost no odor. If I put my nose right over the water, I smell a slightly earthy smell, but that's it.
 

Rainstorm~

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Apr 25, 2010
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How big is your tank and what size filter? My fishtank is a 16 gallon, and the filter size is.. I believe medium.
How long do you keep your light on? I only have the light on about ten minutes in the mourning, and about 3 hours at night.
What do you have in your tank for fish,inverts and plants and how many? I have plastice plant, a octocinclis & bristlenose pleeco, and 1 sailfin mollie, 1 perl gourami, blood gourami, female paradice gourami and thats it..
How often do you do a water change and gravel clean? I clean the water 1 time every two months as well as a gravel clean.
What are the water parameters in your tank and out of your tap? I really don't know the answer to this....

And I will try another water cleaning & gravel cleaning today... Because I even have a tiny 2 gallon tank in one room and the whole room smells of fish.
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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It is highly recommended by most folks here to do a 30-50% water change weekly. Vac'ing the substrate as necessary.

Also, if you have a lid and/or hood on the tank, take it off and clean it at least once a month.
 

Sploke

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I clean the water 1 time every two months as well as a gravel clean.
This is probably your problem. As Rb said, I would try for once a week cleanings, especially with the stock you have in that tank.
 

BioHazard

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Mar 15, 2009
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Yeah, you definitely need to do more water changes, and make sure you vac the gravel as well. Also, your tank has quite a heavy load of fish. With as many fish as you have, you should probably be doing 2 WCs a week. I would also suggest getting live plants, to help with water quality.
 

fish-n-chips

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I agree on that totally. You have a large bioload in your tank(especially with a pleco in there). Doing larger water changes more often will eliminate any odor and will make your fishies much happier, plus make your nose happier as well.
 

Rainstorm~

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Apr 25, 2010
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Okay thats, I will start doing this right away... And I think I will get some live plants too. :)
 
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