Aquarium Smells! How to get rid of smell?

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  • #51
Would bacteria already establish itself in new sand ? My filter was thoroughly cleaned and I have the real tall bamboo. Lol idk anything about bamboo. I got a UV sterilizer today and plan on running it a few hrs and days a week. Wishful thinking that would counter the smell. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
 

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I notice you have..................... Snails!

Check everywhere, dead snails produce the most foul smell I've ever experienced. And it lingers for ages....
 

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I been on top of pwc like flies on you know what . And yet and still it smells even after maintenence. Makes me want to give up.
 
I been on top of pwc like flies on you know what . And yet and still it smells even after maintenence. Makes me want to give up.
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Don't give up.
 

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  • #57
Nevaaaa! The smell is under control...for a few days and then I'm forced to do a pwc. I think that's why my buffering capacity and ph fluctuate.
 
Hey guys-

So I have read multiple threads that discussed fish tank "smell" but it has always been a side topic of the thread, not the title and main focus of it. I'm wondering what fishtanks SHOULD smell like and what is good? What is considered a bad smell?

My tank smells kind of musty(best I can explain it). Is this bad? good?

I think the smell of a fish tank is an easy indicator of how the tank is moving along... that is if you know what smell to look for.
So what is the ideal aquarium smell?
 
Idk what a tank should smell like. But my tank water doesn't smell like anything and I don't use chemical filtration. The only things that smell(like wet dirt)are my filter media. And I just found out the smell from the media is a good thing .
 
generally you can smell if your tank has higher nitrates in it. if it smells "dirty", then it probably is dirty lol. my tanks usually have an earthy smell since they are dirted, but it's hard to notice.
 

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The humidity from the water may give it a musty smell, but it shouldn't smell "bad". That term is up to interpretation, but definitely should not smell like dead fish or decaying material. Mine also has an earthy smell from all the plants.
 
I think a slight earthy smell is normal, very slight. Even in a cycled tank, there's a ton of biological processes going on that's bound to create an odor. High nitrates will create this smell as well.

What you don't want is a strong sort of rotting/ammonia smell. I had this in my tank during the ammonia spike when it started. After that it went away then, right before I decided to add TSS, my nitrites started spiking crazy high and fast and my ammonia came back a tiny bit. The day that happened, I knew before I tested because I could smell it and even then the ammonia was only .25ppm but it was such that you could catch a whiff of it just being in the same room. The earthy smell I detect in my tank now is only noticed if you get really close to the water and inhale, hard. It's very faint. I have acute olfactory perception so most other people can't even smell it if they try.

Your tank is cycling, this may be why you've noticed this smell. It will fade and you'll notice, if anything, a faint dewy earthy scent. More so if your nitrates are high.
 
Yea your tank should never smell fishy, even tho there are fish in there lol. Mine smells a little earthy but that's it

 
Mine has the musty/earthy smell, but I can only smell it if I open the hood and lean down close to the water.
 
The smell is a good indicator of a healthy tank. If something went wrong in mine, and I wasn't testing daily (which I still kind of am haha, at least ammonia and nitrite, pH and nitrate I test a few times a week, I just can't shake the behavior even though the tank is cycled), that smell would be the first indicator to me.

The other day, I kept catching a whiff of that bad smell and, with V's tank in the middle of a TSS cycle, I was a little worried. I went and sniffed both tanks, couldn't detect it, then tested the levels anyway. All fine (by the way, V's tank just completed it's nitrite "spike" via the TSS cycle, it was less than .25ppm and lasted all of 12 hours, I LOVE TSS...probably the tank size and tropical temp helps though). Anyway, I didn't know what to do. The tanks were all great. Finally, I found the source.

Dog breath. Nugget got a hefty tooth brushing that night.
 
Mine has the musty/earthy smell, but I can only smell it if I open the hood and lean down close to the water.
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Yea I can only smell mine when I open the hood and bend over it.

 
Wow, I've been having lots of questions these days. So I have 5 tanks in my bedroom, 3 ten gallons and two 5.5 gallons. Yesterday I did water changes on 4 tanks, and I do the last one today. Last night I began to notice a really disgusting smell, kind of like sour milk. This morning it was worse, my parents and siblings could smell it too. I've used air freshener and opened up my windows the whole day, but it's still prominent. I think it has something to do with the water changes because the smell came after them, but I'm still not completely sure? I didn't get that much tank water on the carpet, and even then the smell doesn't last that long. Any idea on what it can be?
I do water changes every other week with the substrate siphon.
 
I know that high ammonia can smell but I can't see that being it if you are doing your water changes. Is your tank cycled? I know carbon will help remove smell but it's best to figure out what it could be if it's not ammonia.
 

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Have you taken an inventory of your fish? Maybe one of your larger ones jumped out and died somewhere. It's happened to me...
 
Have you taken an inventory of your fish? Maybe one of your larger ones jumped out and died somewhere. It's happened to me...
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At the moment I only have bettas and shrimp. None of the bettas are missing, and I don't think a shrimp could make the whole room smell.
Do you use Seachem Prime?? It has a sulfur smell, did it get spilled somewhere?
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I use API Water conditioner.
I know that high ammonia can smell but I can't see that being it if you are doing your water changes. Is your tank cycled? I know carbon will help remove smell but it's best to figure out what it could be if it's not ammonia.
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Yes, all the tanks are cycled :/
 
Added any driftwood lately? Curing driftwood can give off some pretty wild odors. I've smelled driftwood that resembled burnt plastic and some that smelled like straight-up raw sewage during its curing phase.
 
Strange.
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Yeah, it's pretty frustrating because I don't know what to do to make it better. If it helps, here's what the setup looks like. IMG_3557.JPG
Added any driftwood lately? Curing driftwood can give off some pretty wild odors. I've smelled driftwood that resembled burnt plastic and some that smelled like straight-up raw sewage during its curing phase.
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The only thing I've added lately are alder cones. One of the shrimp tanks has lots of decaying cholla that leaves the water I siphon out very brown and smelly, but that water has already been down the drain, so I don't know if that could affect it.
 
The only thing I can think of is carbon to absorb the smell but that doesn't help finding out the problem.
 
I have a similar sort of problem. I just smell it sometimes though, so can't really tell where it comes from and defo not as bad as in your case. Take a sniff at your filters, food, any chemicals you've put in the water recently, and anything around the tanks such as old water etc lately.
What I would do to pinpoint the source would be to take any culprits out the room so your nose isn't too overwhelmed to notice different smells, then sniff each one. Check the buckets, take some water in a cup out your tanks and smell that, even take filter cartridges out if you need to. That way you can narrow it down, if it's stinking up the whole room, it will probably make you gag when you get up close the culprit.
 
Many of my tanks are in the basement and at one point there was a very pungent, rotten smell.

Turns out that water was condensing on the cement walls/floor from the humidity (yes we have a dehumidifier) and the wood on the walls and the outer carpet along one wall was getting moldy. It was nasty and took about a week to clear it all up by moving a couple tanks away from the wall and keeping the dehumidifier on 24/7.
 
The only thing I can think of is carbon to absorb the smell but that doesn't help finding out the problem.
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I bought a big carbon bag once by accident but I think it's meant for canister filters. I'll go see if I can find it. The only problem is that I have one HOB filter and 4 sponge filters.
I have a similar sort of problem. I just smell it sometimes though, so can't really tell where it comes from and defo not as bad as in your case. Take a sniff at your filters, food, any chemicals you've put in the water recently, and anything around the tanks such as old water etc lately.
What I would do to pinpoint the source would be to take any culprits out the room so your nose isn't too overwhelmed to notice different smells, then sniff each one. Check the buckets, take some water in a cup out your tanks and smell that, even take filter cartridges out if you need to. That way you can narrow it down, if it's stinking up the whole room, it will probably make you gag when you get up close the culprit.
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Thanks! I'm going to go do that now and I'll update later.
Many of my tanks are in the basement and at one point there was a very pungent, rotten smell.

Turns out that water was condensing on the cement walls/floor from the humidity (yes we have a dehumidifier) and the wood on the walls and the outer carpet along one wall was getting moldy. It was nasty and took about a week to clear it all up by moving a couple tanks away from the wall and keeping the dehumidifier on 24/7.
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So if I get a dehumidifier do you think it would help? I'll check to see if the carpets smell bad.
 
Many of my tanks are in the basement and at one point there was a very pungent, rotten smell.

Turns out that water was condensing on the cement walls/floor from the humidity (yes we have a dehumidifier) and the wood on the walls and the outer carpet along one wall was getting moldy. It was nasty and took about a week to clear it all up by moving a couple tanks away from the wall and keeping the dehumidifier on 24/7.
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Oh jeez I didn't think about mold.
Not too long ago I spilled about 15-20 gallons on my carpet in my room. Still smells awful.

These carpets are clearly not wet in the front so unless it's along the walls in the back I don't think that's it.
I know fish in general smell, but the smell shouldn't be smelled through multiple rooms.
I usually just use candles and ignore it my basement has too many smells to try to worry about my fish tanks being the worst of it.
Hopefully though, none of my carpets are moldy... With my luck they both are.
 

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If it's your water you can get mesh bags or nylon to put the carbon in and put it in your HOB filters. The sponge filters I am not sure about. I would think you can put it in the tank itself in a bag but maybe someone else will elaborate on this.
 
Oh jeez I didn't think about mold.
Not too long ago I spilled about 15-20 gallons on my carpet in my room. Still smells awful.

These carpets are clearly not wet in the front so unless it's along the walls in the back I don't think that's it.
I know fish in general smell, but the smell shouldn't be smelled through multiple rooms.
I usually just use candles and ignore it my basement has too many smells to try to worry about my fish tanks being the worst of it.
Hopefully though, none of my carpets are moldy... With my luck they both are.
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I don't see any mold. I checked both the carpet in front and behind, but it wasn't that smelly.

Update: I just found this bad of gravel that I had taken out of my tank probably 2 months ago or so. The gravel was still moist in the bag, and when I picked it up, there was water dripping from a hole in the bottom of the bag. I threw the bag outside and eventually I'll throw it away. It definitely had that earthy fish smell to it, but it doesn't have as much of a "sour" smell as I thought it would. My parents are optimistic though. Could that possibly be it?
I checked the water in each tank and smelled it, there was nothing that smelled bad. The carpets look fine and didn't smell really bad (only like the air freshener that I sprayed around). The fish food smells normal. I'm still going through the big box of fish stuff I have.
 
I don't see any mold. I checked both the carpet in front and behind, but it wasn't that smelly.

Update: I just found this bad of gravel that I had taken out of my tank probably 2 months ago or so. The gravel was still moist in the bag, and when I picked it up, there was water dripping from a hole in the bottom of the bag. I threw the bag outside and eventually I'll throw it away. It definitely had that earthy fish smell to it, but it doesn't have as much of a "sour" smell as I thought it would. My parents are optimistic though. Could that possibly be it?
I checked the water in each tank and smelled it, there was nothing that smelled bad. The carpets look fine and didn't smell really bad (only like the air freshener that I sprayed around). The fish food smells normal. I'm still going through the big box of fish stuff I have.
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Great! It could be, keep looking around. If you can't smell anything else, turn a fan on in the direction of your fish stuff and spray some air freshener around, with the doors open so the air flows out. If you come back later and it stinks again, something's still up.
 
A bag of used gravel very well may be it. I had a bucket of old flourite hanging around and apparent a bunch of dead snails as well. Very smelly and got a bit moldy on top too.
 
Great! It could be, keep looking around. If you can't smell anything else, turn a fan on in the direction of your fish stuff and spray some air freshener around, with the doors open so the air flows out. If you come back later and it stinks again, something's still up.
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I kind of have a cold so it's difficult to tell if something still smells. I've also been in my room a lot today so I can't tell if I'm just getting used to the smell. I'm going to put everything back, leave the window open, and move a fan towards the tanks and come back in ten minutes.
A bag of used gravel very well may be it. I had a bucket of old flourite hanging around and apparent a bunch of dead snails as well. Very smelly and got a bit moldy on top too.
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I really hope that was it! I'll update soon and see if it works!
 
I kind of have a cold so it's difficult to tell if something still smells. I've also been in my room a lot today so I can't tell if I'm just getting used to the smell. I'm going to put everything back, leave the window open, and move a fan towards the tanks and come back in ten minutes.

I really hope that was it! I'll update soon and see if it works!
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Ouch, being sick sucks.
Yea I can relate. I've had a couple times where my snake didn't eat a thawed mouse I left in her tank for a few days, and I would know if she didn't because it's so horribly rancid and musty smelling you could get a whiff from just walking in the hall by my room. It was bad enough that even being in my room for a while I could still smell it. But once I got sick and I couldn't tell where the stench was coming from at first, especially because of how huge the "range" of the smell is.
 
I don't see any mold. I checked both the carpet in front and behind, but it wasn't that smelly.

Update: I just found this bad of gravel that I had taken out of my tank probably 2 months ago or so. The gravel was still moist in the bag, and when I picked it up, there was water dripping from a hole in the bottom of the bag. I threw the bag outside and eventually I'll throw it away. It definitely had that earthy fish smell to it, but it doesn't have as much of a "sour" smell as I thought it would. My parents are optimistic though. Could that possibly be it?
I checked the water in each tank and smelled it, there was nothing that smelled bad. The carpets look fine and didn't smell really bad (only like the air freshener that I sprayed around). The fish food smells normal. I'm still going through the big box of fish stuff I have.
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Just a suggestion but I wouldn't keep spraying air freshener in your room because it can harm your fish. The fan will also push it around the room and even if you spray it at the floor it could go up in your tanks.
 
I kind of have a cold so it's difficult to tell if something still smells. I've also been in my room a lot today so I can't tell if I'm just getting used to the smell. I'm going to put everything back, leave the window open, and move a fan towards the tanks and come back in ten minutes.

I really hope that was it! I'll update soon and see if it works!
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Sounds like you found the culprit. I have had tanks for a while now and have never had one smell bad.
 
That could be possible the gravel, I had that same problem once so I had to remove my fish and everything and plants, I put the gravel in a bucket and pour boiled water on it, also a fake plant I never used that I bought from the store, and put boil water over it also, and removed this cabbage Lilly I think it was a bad batch I bought, and rinsed all my plants, and got another bucket and put boil water in it and used Beretta water to cool it down and condition it with general care, and some conditioner that removes ammonia and let it set, putting everything together seemed to fixed the problem. So it was either the gravel, fake plant or the cabbage Lilly. The strong ammonia went away and the water was also clear it's been 3 weeks and still looks good I just been doing 25% water change, beside removing the waste that my snails or catfish don't eat. I hope I didn't go off the topic.
 

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Ouch, being sick sucks.
Yea I can relate. I've had a couple times where my snake didn't eat a thawed mouse I left in her tank for a few days, and I would know if she didn't because it's so horribly rancid and musty smelling you could get a whiff from just walking in the hall by my room. It was bad enough that even being in my room for a while I could still smell it. But once I got sick and I couldn't tell where the stench was coming from at first, especially because of how huge the "range" of the smell is.
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Yep, well I walked back into my room and it still smells kind of musty. Definitely smells like the air freshener I used (maybe I used too much lol). It does smell a little better IMO. It doesn't smell worse either. I had to close the window but I'll leave the fan on. It's kind of annoying because I have to do homework in this room, but I'll get used to it haha.

That could be possible the gravel, I had that same problem once so I had to remove my fish and everything and plants, I put the gravel in a bucket and pour boiled water on it, also a fake plant I never used that I bought from the store, and put boil water over it also, and removed this cabbage Lilly I think it was a bad batch I bought, and rinsed all my plants, and got another bucket and put boil water in it and used Beretta water to cool it down and condition it with general care, and some conditioner that removes ammonia and let it set, putting everything together seemed to fixed the problem. So it was either the gravel, fake plant or the cabbage Lilly. The strong ammonia went away and the water was also clear it's been 3 weeks and still looks good I just been doing 25% water change, beside removing the waste that my snails or catfish don't eat. I hope I didn't go off the topic.
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It's ok! That makes sense! I was hoping my tanks didn't have ammonia but I smelled the water and everything seems good in the tanks.
 
That's awesome.
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I hope so lol. Hopefully I don't wake up tomorrow and it's worse haha

Just a suggestion but I wouldn't keep spraying air freshener in your room because it can harm your fish. The fan will also push it around the room and even if you spray it at the floor it could go up in your tanks.
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Yeah, I've been trying to be careful with it. I won't use it anymore because I think the worst is over
 
Here’s what I think, which nobody mentioned; since the smell came right after the water changes and smells like rotten eggs, you probably hit a pocket of hydrogen sulfide in your substrate. This smells HORRIBLE. It can also linger.
 
Here’s what I think, which nobody mentioned; since the smell came right after the water changes and smells like rotten eggs, you probably hit a pocket of hydrogen sulfide in your substrate. This smells HORRIBLE. It can also linger.
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That would make sense? Is it more common in sand? Come to think of it I haven't used a siphon one of my betta tanks for a long time because of a cyanobacteria issue I had.
 
That would make sense? Is it more common in sand? Come to think of it I haven't used a siphon one of my betta tanks for a long time because of a cyanobacteria issue I had.
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Very very common in sand as they’re found in low oxygen areas.
 
Very very common in sand as they’re found in low oxygen areas.
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Well, the smell hasn't completely gone away, so I'm not sure if I got rid of what makes the smell. My parents think maybe we should get the carpet cleaned just to be safe.

UPDATE: I left the fan on overnight to see if it would help. The room still smells bad and we're fairly convinced it's the carpet now, even though it's dry and looks normal. I think we're going to get it cleaned sometime this week. I hope it happens quickly.
 
Is it a musty mold smell?

If you have more than 1 tank or don't use lids, it may be the humidity from the evaporation causing the smell.
 
UPDATE: I left the fan on overnight to see if it would help. The room still smells bad and we're fairly convinced it's the carpet now, even though it's dry and looks normal. I think we're going to get it cleaned sometime this week. I hope it happens quickly.
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You said you smelled the carpet?
Got a sister?
Make her get down there and smell that badboy! Lol
Sibling experiments are the best experiments.
Carpet cleaning is expensive here.. I wouldn't want to waste a bucket of cash on carpet cleaning if the carpet and walls actually do smell fine.
 

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