How to fix a smelly fish Tank?

Question

Hey,

I have a fish tank in my office, an Eclipse System 3, I set it up less than a week ago and the water is crystal clear... Perfect. I have a good ecosystem of life.... Male & Female Betta, 2 small bottom feeders, 2 amphebious frogs, 2 live plants and an undetermined number of snails that came in on the live plants.

The problem I have now is that the tank is starting to smell a little. I tried rinsing the filter out, but I am scared that the smell will not go away. I have had this tank less then a week and I am scare it will not go away and it will only get worse.

Anyone have any advice that I can try?

Answer 1

small amount of vinegar diluted with water

Answer 2

Reduce feeding and leave it alone. Every tank is a unique ecosystem containing bacteria the digests fish waste (ammonia) and turns it into nitrites. Other bacteria turns the nitrites into less harmful nitrates which you keep from reaching toxic levels by changing 20% f the water weekly. Your tank hasn't developed enough of the beneficial bacteria to deal with the ammonia hence the smell. Rinsing the filter makes it worse as many of the little organisms live there.
Unfortunately, the large amount of ammonia will cause the fish to get sick. Try not feeding the tank for two days to reduce the amount of waste being added to it and change very small amounts daily (10%) for a few days in hopes of saving your fish. Keep a open box of baking soda next to the tank to absorb the smell and the tank will correct itself within a week.
PS
Those snails will get out of hand soon so I would suggest buying a loach when your tank is finished cycling
A

Answer 3

All tanks have an earthy smell to them but you shouldn't be able to smell it unless your nose is right at the water. Since your tank is not even a week old you are still going through your cycle, the tank is also over stocked and that will only make matters worse. For around the next month you will have to keep an eye on the water params and make sure they don't get so bad as to kill your fish. Right now you probably have high ammonia and that could be making the water smell more then usual.

Answer 4

You might try feeding less. Your tank should never smell fishy, it should just smell like wet plants or just wet. When I had that fishy smell, it was from overfeeding. The snails are probably the main source of the smell. Your beta's are in with a lot of other creatures that they will more than likely kill off, it's their nature, even with each other. You are also in for a possible deludge of baby beta's, they cannot all remain in the same tank. The male beta will care for them until they are able to care for themselves, but in the mean time, you may find that you have too many species in your tank.
Good Luck!

Answer 5

I have a quarter that says the problem is with the frogs. Try having a community tank without frogs and the problem should solve itself.

Frogs, unlike fish, will spend some of their time out of the water. They will also belch, defacate and eat both in and out of water. It doesn't take long for there to be an odor. The same problem has been noticed with the addition of newts and/or turtles to the aquarium

Answer 6

Don't over disturb the tank. Do 10 to 50% water changes daily until the odor is controlled. Unless the bioload is to great for the filter or tank size, this will remedy your problem. (overfeeding is also a common cause of tank odor.)

Answer 7

you need some pecostas they are a fish that suck on the walls and plants and eveything they keep your tank clean, i had a 60 gallon tank that stunk and once i got the sucker fish the smell went away, now if you have a big tank you will need more than 1 i would say 3-4 and they're not expensive about 4.00 each, after i got the pecostas i only cleaned the tank about every 6 months

Answer 8

You never stated how big the tank is so perhaps it is to small for the amount of fish. I usually clean my tank weekly because it is so small. I suggest asking a pet store or looking on-line for smelly fish tank ideas.

Answer 9

You are going to have to clean the tank and use filtered water and put in a new filter.

Answer 10

I think that I would dump the water. Clean it with saltwater, and rise very throughly. Then I would invest in a filter, you could also try some organic soaps, at the local pet store.

Answer 11

take the fisk out and put them in a smaller bowl, dump out the water, clean WITHOUT soap or with some non-toxic natural made organic soap, fill it back up with clean water and there you go. Have fun, its not an easy task with bigger tanks.