tank smells bad

92smokeaccord

ok my 55gal tank with 3 mollys,3 neaon tertas,4 baby guppys and my 5 inch oreo/tiger butterkoffie cichlid.the problem is it smells bad like bad pond water. parameters are near perfect.ph 7.4,nitrate,nitrite are zero and i have about 20 ppm of ammonia.i have 2 types of plants in with it but dont remember what they are.there is sand for gravel and a few fake decor.the tank is crystal clear water wize and dont see anything on the glass llike alge.water changes are 20 percent every 3 days.any ideas as to why this tank stinks..

fishysrfun

I dont know why it smells bad but im sure someone will be able to help you
consider adding more neons they do best in groups of 5 or more

KPainter

Are any of your plants dying? Check the sand for black areas. If the plants are dying the roots will decay and cause some nasty smelling mess down in the sand.

92smokeaccord

sorry they are floating ones.

AbbeysDad

Perhaps some more aggressive tank/filter maintenance is in order. Gravel siphon?
Cut back on feeding?
You can use activated carbon to adsorb impurities that cause odors.

Tazman

I hope you mean 20ppm Nitrate....

Decaying plant matter could easily be the cause, even if it is a small piece it can smell bad quickly. Check in the filter to make sure nothing has been sucked into that and is decaying in there, also check to see if there are no dead fish hidden somewhere (may sound stupid but has been known to happen).

92smokeaccord

actually yes i get them mixed up. but i do have a small trace of amonia as of this morning.and its 25 about nitrate.hummm theres no brown or black anything on the plants.maybe another filter is in need.