tank smell
- Thread starter Chuck_T
- Start date
Is the smell very overpowering or only when you put your nose right near the water? I think that a little smell, like just barely discernable as not plain water, is normal.
you may be overfeeding. Where in the corners is the residue you see? might be old food bits... try using an algae scraper of some kind to get that off.
you may be overfeeding. Where in the corners is the residue you see? might be old food bits... try using an algae scraper of some kind to get that off.
Usually, that smell can be attributed to overfeeding. Try not feeding your fish for a day or two and see if the smell subsides. Also, you mentioned changing the water, did you also clean out the filtration media? By cleaning, I mean have you rinsed out the sponges (if you have sponges) in the filter with the same water from the tank?
I had an ammonia spike caused by overfeeding, and the bacterial bloom that resulted gave the water a foul smell that stank up my whole living room. A noxious odor that made me gag whenever I went in for a whiff. I'll bet that's what it is. Is your water a little on the cloudy side?
A normal healthy tank will smell like dirt if you put your nose right at the surface, but if you can smell it from a few feet away you may have a bigger problem as suggested by some of the other posters.
If you're really anal and don't even want to smell it at the surface, change the activated carbon out every 3 or 4 weeks and it will remove the odor.
If you're really anal and don't even want to smell it at the surface, change the activated carbon out every 3 or 4 weeks and it will remove the odor.
Some algea (Blue green comes to mind) give off a "swamp" odor. When the algea get really out of hand, you can stink up a whole room. Does that help any?
i checked my levels they're good ph is a little low but the smell is mostly when i poen the lid and feed them i did put a new filter carbon a week ago or so in and i rinse the sponges and stuff before but yea the smells just like dirt the sandy stuff white away easily i try not feeding them for a day
I agree with webcricket. A mature tank will have an "earthy" smell. Probably normal. Carbon will remove the smell but I doubt it will last more than a week before you have to replace it.
Mark
Mark