How to avoid that "I have a fish tank" smell

dprUsh83

Well, what are your secrets? My tank is clean, water freshly changed...still the room smells. Anybody know a good secret?

girlofgod

generally if the tank smells "fishy" this is indicative of high ammonia levels...which could be directly related to your tank and it's cycling process. i would recommend having your ammonia tested and if it is high, doing small daily water changes to bring it down. high ammonia is toxic to your fish. if you havent purchased an ammonia test kit, your local fish store should test it for free.

bri

girlofgod

whoops...double posted

trreherd

do you have carbon in your fillter?

Tracy

Overfeeding and rotting food can stink, but generally an aquarium won't smell if you have a more-than-adequate sized filter with carbon, and keep your water clean.

dprUsh83

Been sailing smooth for a little while now, thank you though!

Nick

I see you hav 2 clown loaches in a 10 gallon tank!!!!!!!! I would remove them ASAP and put them in the 30 gallon. 30 gallons still isnt enough but its better than 10!

dprUsh83

Got your message in the other thread where you said the same thing, I appreciate the advice. :D

jsm11482

Our tank actually smells good, I think it is the substrate that makes it smell nice and fresh (vermiculite and sand).

Tracy

Nothing smelly about my aquariums (or I wouldn't want them in the house), and apparently the mature water which is high in nitrates makes great water for plants (so when you clean your aquarium, use it for your plants instead of throwing it out, because it has the 'fish fertilizer' in it.)