Fish Tank Smells ????

Question

I have a freind who has a 50 gallon fish tank, with two filters,some gravel, and some buildings. it started to smell like a skunk. she also has a 20 gallon tank that smell like cat pee and , any ideas on what it could be? Both tanks have been cleaned.

50 gal tanks was set up within a day... its only been a day since the smell came

its a brand new tank.

Answer 1

Fish tanks build up beneficial bacteria then convert fish waste (ammonia) into nitrites. Other bacteria develop that convert the nitrites into less harmful nitrates. Your weekly 20% water changes keep the nitrates from reaching toxic levels. If you change too much water, of do too thorough a job, the bacteria go into shock or starve and die off, allowing a build up of ammonia while they regrow. Hence the smell of urine (ammonia). The best thing you can do for a new tank is to wait for the bacteria to establish itself.
If the tank has fish in it, the cause is usually overfeeding. The bacteria cannot deal with the excess food fast enough and the water starts to go foul. The water will need to be changed every three days for a few times (only 20%) to keep the amount of toxicities down and food should be restricted to every other day to make it easier on the bacteria. Polluted water will kill the fish a lot faster then missing a few meals. In future, the fish should be fed a lot less.
A

Answer 2

Waste and bacteria can build up in a biofilter system and in the tank. First, use a good siphon to suck out all the crud from the gravel. Insure you get around all plants, decorations, and be sure to move around every bit of gravel. There should be no more than 1/4 inch of gravel in the bottom of the tank. Second,try rinsing out the foam filter. Be sure to use a little container of water from the aquarium. Tap water will kill ALL of the bacteria in the foam. After about 4-5 days, replace the actual filter element, putting as much carbon as you can into the pocket, and still be able to put it back into the holder. 20% water change weekly. Use a test kit to check water quality and ammonia. The pee smell sounds like an ammonia overload. This would require an immediate 50% water change, then retest the water.

Answer 3

Your tank is going to smell. There is Ammonia that is being built up from the fish waste (it's called the Nitrogen Cycle), and it will probably always have a slight smell to it.

I would make sure her tank is cycled before putting fish in there. If you do not know how to do a Fishless Cycle - here's an article.

Fishless Cycling
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

If you don't - you will end up with a lot of dead fish, and if you think it smells now...

Answer 4

Have the filters been replaced lately? If not, change them - one of the primary uses of carbon in the filters is to remove odors.

In the event the tanks are fairly new, do not strip them down and start from scratch. The nitrifying bacteria that are currently developing in the tanks are probably the reason why they stink - give it a week or two, and I guarantee it will go away. The tanks need to finish cycling.

Also keep in mind that tanks need weekly water changes of 20-40%, depending on how well stocked they are. If you don't keep up on regular water changes, your tanks are likely to stink due to ammonia and nitrate buildup - both of which are toxic to fish.

Answer 5

It's not un-common for a tank to smell "off", after all it will contain millions of living organisims and really should not smell like tap water, or indeed nothing at all.

You can tell if a tank is healthy by using water test kits available from any good aquatic dealer - that's all that's important and will tell you exactly what to correct. Other than that, a standard vented lid will contain any normal smells.

Answer 6

Sounds like although the tanks look clean, something is wrong with their 'biological filtration' or their bacterial balance- all healthy tanks have the 'right' bacteria in them, to break down fish waste-

There are products at good aquarium stores to help create the correct balance in new or re-done tanks.

Also, check your filters to make sure that nothing has gotten in and died in them... you'd be surprised what can....

Answer 7

I would replace the water and filters after cleaning the tanks. If that doesn't help, Change the gravel and hoses. Sometimes the fish feces gets underneath the gravel, and gets recycled through the filters by the filtration system.

Answer 8

1

Answer 9

Clean them by hand scrub everything. get new every thing (except tanks And fish)

Answer 10

anerobic bacteria.

Could be blue-green algae which looks like a slime algae but makes the water go putrid, due to an imbalance of N:P:K

do some water changes and see how it goes.