My Freshwater Fishtank makes my House smell! Help!
- Thread starter Rainstorm~
- Start date
Okay thats, I will start doing this right away... And I think I will get some live plants too.
if you get live plants youre going to need to leave your lights on for much longer than you already run them, what alot of people do is put them on timers. also you might need more light depending of what type of fixture you have.
Okay thats, I will start doing this right away... And I think I will get some live plants too.
You might be jumping into an aspect of this hobby which commonly exhausts the back-up funds of many aquarists. Plants are great for an aquarium but do require some basic procedures to prevent them from wasting(melting) away. With a large bio-load, you stand a greater chance of success because of the nutrients the load will supply the plants. But you should remember that plants require light for photosynthesis. Take this into consideration when purchasing plants... unless you have a renewable resource for them.
My guess is your tank has anaerobic bacteria in the gravel - are there bubbles coming out of the gravel? When you clean the gravel are bubbles coming out? If so - its anaerobic bacteria and they release some stinky gas! Step up your w/c's and especially the gravel cleaning and all should be fine. I have 27 aquariums that are maintained on a regular basis and you don't smell a thing.
HTH,
HTH,
Navyscuba
The Fish Envy
I have 15 tanks in my house from 3 gal all the way to 100 gal and 2 of them house turtles and my house never smells. Like said previously water changes 30% to 35% max weekly and partial gravel vacuums weekly.
The only time I have had my tanks smell really bad is when I had several Briggsi snails die and I had a hard time finding them. Wow what a stink! When I did my weekly water change my son came down and said "Mom whats that stench!"
Now that the dead snails have been found and disposed of all is back to normal and nobody really knows when I change the water. Thank Goodness!!
Now that the dead snails have been found and disposed of all is back to normal and nobody really knows when I change the water. Thank Goodness!!
In addition to the increased water changes and gravel vacs, the live plants will certainly help, but be sure to only get low tech, low light plants so that you don't have to jump into upgrading your light fixture or dosing fertilizer and such.
Good plant options would be
Guppy grass (aka najas grass, najas guadalupensis),
Java fern,
Java moss,
Anachris (egeria densa or elodea, sensitive to Flourish Excel and bleach dips; might need a little bit more light than most standard fixtures can provide),
Hornwort,
Most cryptocorynes (crypts),
Most anubias.
Anachris, najas grass, and hornwort are very good at sucking up excess nutrients because they grow so quickly. Anubias are very slow growers, so they might not be quite as good at this but are still beneficial. Anubias and Java ferns should not have their rhizomes buried (the thick almost woody portion where the roots meet the base of the plant) and are best tied to rocks or driftwood (driftwood is usually easier).
Good plant options would be
Guppy grass (aka najas grass, najas guadalupensis),
Java fern,
Java moss,
Anachris (egeria densa or elodea, sensitive to Flourish Excel and bleach dips; might need a little bit more light than most standard fixtures can provide),
Hornwort,
Most cryptocorynes (crypts),
Most anubias.
Anachris, najas grass, and hornwort are very good at sucking up excess nutrients because they grow so quickly. Anubias are very slow growers, so they might not be quite as good at this but are still beneficial. Anubias and Java ferns should not have their rhizomes buried (the thick almost woody portion where the roots meet the base of the plant) and are best tied to rocks or driftwood (driftwood is usually easier).
No one has mentioned overfeeding? A very common newbie mistake. How much, how often, and what are you feeding, rainstorm?
