Is this just normal for fish tanks.. It is not incredibally bad but you can def smell it when you open the lid... I do normal water changes... what causes it to smell so bad??
Why does my water stink??
- Thread starter Jeffd1979
- Start date
What does it smell like? Can you describe the smell? A healthy aquarium definitely has an odour, but I wouldn't say it's a bad one at all. I would describe a healthy aquarium as having an earthy sort of organic smell. If you smell something sulphurous, there is a definite problem.
All aquariums smell...some find it unpleasant some dont. Its not a dirty smell, just a humid, murky, slight hint of fish "organic" kinda smell. Every tank ive ever had has had this smell but i dont notice it unless i drain ALOT of water out of it or stick my head like right next to the water. Now if its just a really nasty smell, check your water parameters...maybe somethings off.
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If it really gets to you, you could try using some carbon in your filter for a few weeks, making sure you take it out so it doesnt leach back into your tank. Here is a recent article I wrote on activated carbon:
Carbon: All You Ever Wondered
Carbon: All You Ever Wondered
AFG - I disagree very strongly with your article. Activated carbon is for removing dissolved materials , not suspended particles. Diatom filtration will remove finer suspended particles than conventional mechanical filtration media, but not dyes, other colorants, odors, some protein, etc. Carbon removes those as dissolved materials by bonding them by adsortion on its myriad surfaces, not by filter media-type mechanical capture. Materials adsorbed onto carbon cannot be released under conditions present in an aquarium. Titration with certain strong alkalis (bases) will release certain material, but the conditions would have destroyed everything alive in the tank before the carbon released anything. Ditto for high temperatures under controlled low oxygen conditons (reducing ovens), but no tank much less its inhabitants could survive that.
You might want to do a bit of research and consider revision.
You might want to do a bit of research and consider revision.
Well, without getting into a discussion on how carbon works, it will reduce the smell. Carbon has to be replaced often to be effective. I'd say no more than every month but thats just a guess. I really dont use it myself.
RTR, while I have read your article and am impressed with your works (as are other people), I can't help but see lots of opposing opinions. You say stuff thats new, different, opposite, and even shocking to what everyone has been taught, and to what is generally accepted by well respected hobbyists.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but I certainly wouldn't claim I'm wrong either. We have our own opinions, and sometimes those are backed by facts, and sometimes they aren't. That being said, I have done my research and I think you will find many more articles out there today which back up what I say compared to what you say.
Like I have said, this is not me telling you "you are wrong!" Its only suggesting that if it has worked for me, and millions of others than more than likely, its not entirely "wrong". JMO.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but I certainly wouldn't claim I'm wrong either. We have our own opinions, and sometimes those are backed by facts, and sometimes they aren't. That being said, I have done my research and I think you will find many more articles out there today which back up what I say compared to what you say.
Like I have said, this is not me telling you "you are wrong!" Its only suggesting that if it has worked for me, and millions of others than more than likely, its not entirely "wrong". JMO.