Weird smells coming from my tank

??? wow...I don't know how to describe this, but I'll do my best :
yesterday I walked into my room and there was a "coffee/mold" smell coming from my tank

has this ever happened to anyone? or is this just a bacteria bloom that i've heard nothing about...

any help will be greatly appreciated ;D

Kevin

 

??? wow...I don't know how to describe this, but I'll do my best :
yesterday I walked into my room and there was a "coffee/mold" smell coming from my tank

has this ever happened to anyone? or is this just a bacteria bloom that i've heard nothing about...

any help will be greatly appreciated ;D

Kevin

Is your tank leakin?? If it is alittle bit, you could be getting mold somewhere

 

no it is coming from the tank itself...I smelled the water in the tank and the smell got a lot stronger >

Kevin

 

no it is coming from the tank itself...I smelled the water in the tank and the smell got a lot stronger >

Kevin

When was the last time you did a water change or cleaned your filter?

 

I just set up my tank like a week and a half ago...and was told that I shouldnt do any water changes when the water gets cloudy, b/c that was just a bacteria bloom...did ur tank ever smell weird when you first set it up?

 

I just set up my tank like a week and a half ago...and was told that I shouldnt do any water changes when the water gets cloudy, b/c that was just a bacteria bloom...did ur tank ever smell weird when you first set it up?

Nope, never got cloudy either.

 

Is this your first experience with a tank? or do you have/have had other tanks?

I only ask because I do find that a tank has a specific smell to it no matter what... Just seeing if you're not used to it.

 

I had a 10gal. when I was younger...but it smelled like a normal aquarium...this smells like rotting coffee beans or something similar...its so hard to describe smells >

 

I had a 10gal. when I was younger...but it smelled like a normal aquarium...this smells like rotting coffee beans or something similar...its so hard to describe smells >

That's funny,

 

lol.... if only fishforum had a smell-o-tank button!

 

where is that moderator when you need it...

 

You know! I thought being on the internet, being all annonymous, no one would realize I was blond!! But I get picked on either way!!

 

hahahaha okay, not the BEST idea I've ever had!

You mean, you've had other ideas before?

 

lol aww gee thanks.

 

yeah..............


it's pretty funny to watch 2 people go back and forth on a MB
we should take over this MB some day... 8) :

so anybody figure out how to make a SMELL-O-TANK button?? ;D (imagine that smilie face with blonde hair!)

 

I had a 10gal. when I was younger...but it smelled like a normal aquarium...this smells like rotting coffee beans or something similar...its so hard to describe smells >

Okay. I wanted to re-quote Kevin's problem so when people see this post, maybe they'll remember it's actually ABOUT something! Sorry, Kevin!

 

[/quote]Yea, and because of today, I got well over 200 posts!!

 

well...
u got me there...

??? wow...I don't know how to describe this, but I'll do my best :
yesterday I walked into my room and there was a "coffee/mold" smell coming from my tank

has this ever happened to anyone? or is this just a bacteria bloom that i've heard nothing about...

any help will be greatly appreciated ;D

Kevin

 

Hero, here we come!

 

Anyways, it was nice chatting with ya'll, but I'm off work, so hopefully see ya'll tomorrow!!!

 

Hmmm... Odd problem. I'd do a 70% waterchange (make sure there aren't many fish in there).

Check your water if there are any dead or dying organisms in it.

 

what are the tanks ammonia/nitrite and nitrate levels? That smell is either high ammonia or high nitrites. what do you treat the tap water with?

 

I think FLBettaCouple has it.

Let's summarize:

1) The tank has been running for a week and a half
2) According to the slideshow posted, you have at least three fish in there
3) Your LFS or someone told you not to do water changes because it was just a bacterial bloom, and you probably listened to them

Your tank likely has high levels of ammonia, which is causing the weird smell. You need to get a master test kit so you can check your ammonia levels, nitrite levels, and nitrate levels as you cycle. You should also read the nitrogen cycle page, if you haven't yet.

You're cycling with fish, so you don't have the luxury of not doing water changes and waiting it out -- you need to be looking after those fish and protecting them from high ammonia. Water changes, water changes, water changes. Or something like BioSpira to get you going a bit faster. Hope this helps.

 

well... I know there aren't any dead things in my tank, I have been using PRIME every day (it removes ammonia and detoxifies nitrites and nitrates), I live outside the city, so I have a well with an electric pump...could it be the natural minerals mixing w/ bacteria?, I didnt feel like paying a lot for a master test kit...so will have my LFS test my water tommorrow, I did listen to the guy at the LPS b/c he has three 55gal. tanks and has been keeping fish for 30+ yrs...so you would recommend a water change?, lastly I found a LFS that sells BioSpira...so I might get that tommorrow also
Thanks for the help! ;D
Kevin

 

If you are using Prime to detoxify the ammonia, there may be another possible answer. Prime has a distinctive sulfur smell ... you might try opening the Prime bottle and taking a small whiff (not too much!) to see if this is the smell you are detecting.

As to a water change, it's hard to tell whether your fish tank needs a water change or not if you can't test your water parameters, but I would say that it would be a good idea if you've had your fish tank up for a week and a half and haven't done one yet. Water changes have rarely if ever made a bad situation worse, for one thing.

Don't feel bad about listening to the guy at the LFS ... he clearly has a way of doing things, and was giving you advice to the best of his ability. I just feel strongly that if you have to cycle with fish, it's very important to make sure those fish stay healthy during the cycle. Ammonia is very toxic to fishes, unfortunately, and if you let your tank cycle without water changes with fish in it, odds are you will have drastically fewer (if any) fish at the end of the cycling process than you started with.

 

well...I bought 2 paradise fish b/c I heard they were really hardy and not very likely to die

I just took a whiff of the prime...the smells are similar, but not the same

I will try a water change tommorrow after I get the water tested

if I end up buy BioSpira, should I change the water and then add it, or just add it and wait it out??

 

We do weekly water changes and definitely would recommend one. the prime only locks the chemicals up for so long and i'd do water changes every other day until the tank is cycled. The BioSpira would be super and I would do a 50% water change, then add it and follow the package instructions.

The apI master fw kit is 19.99 at the DFS website and I think petsmart's website (the stores honor the web price). you get 100s and 100s of tests in each kit.

 

ok...how much is BioSpira?
i'm going to the LFS in an hour or 2, so I will let you know how everything goes
thanks!

 

ok...how much is BioSpira?
i'm going to the LFS in an hour or 2, so I will let you know how everything goes
thanks!

I don't know what the store there will charge for the BioSpira.. we don't have any stores here that carry it and haven't gotten to use it with the overnight shipping charges making it cost a fortune.

 

sry I havn't been on the past couple of days...
I had my water tested here are the results
-ammonia is going up
-nitrite/nitrate are at 0
-Ph is at 7.6+ (I am currently treating this w/ acid buffer)
the fish are still doing great, I haven't noticed any behavior, appettite or color changes
I didnt get biospira b/c my cycle is already started and I didnt want to buy it when the cycle is going fine

Kevin
...I love these new smilies!!!

 

are you using a liquid test for your water chemistry? your tank is at the beginning of a cycle and with fish in it, you'll want to keep a close eye on the water parameters and do water changes as needed to keep the levels within what the fish can tolerate. the pH getting to 7 actually isn't as important - the best thing with pH is for it to be stable. our fish are happy at 7.6-7.8

 

It's been a while since ive touched this app. Almost a year. Fish tank is running smoothly I've got 20 gallons, 7 tiger barbs, one dwarf gourami, and a mystery snail. Recently my dad has been claiming the fish tank has been smelling and causing my room to smell. He claims it's really bad but I must be nose blind because I can't smell a thing out of the ordinary. What can be causing the sudden change in smell. There are no dead fish.

 

What does it smell like?

 

Tough to smell something if your used to it. Ask your pop to see if he can pinpoint the smell and ask him if it's actually the tank that smells or the pile of clothes that piled up at the corner of the room waiting to be washed.

If it is the tank perhaps try using carbon to see if it can remove the smell, or Frabreeze the room.

 

Was it sudden or has he only just started complaining?

Anyway some smell is normal, a lot of smell is usually because your tank is dirty and gross and you need to clean it more. And do more water changes.

 

if you are like me....just clean the room

 

Do you use Prime because that does have an odor

 

It's been a while since ive touched this app. Almost a year. Fish tank is running smoothly I've got 20 gallons, 7 tiger barbs, one dwarf gourami, and a mystery snail. Recently my dad has been claiming the fish tank has been smelling and causing my room to smell. He claims it's really bad but I must be nose blind because I can't smell a thing out of the ordinary. What can be causing the sudden change in smell. There are no dead fish.

It could be the food. A time my flakes got wet and spoiled and smelled like a crack egg in a bottle with vineger

 

Any blue algae? Or rotting driftwood ?

 

Okay time to answer some questions. He said it was definitely the tank not any laundry . When he claimed it smelled, I did a large waterchange, cleaned the lid, squeezed the filter media. I tried a ton of stuff. Yes I use prime but I used just the small necessary amount for a 20 gallon tank. No blue algae only greens and brown, and I have no driftwood