Stinky Water!!

[sh14770]

Hi, my name is Sheila. im new to Monsterfish, and im hoping someone can help. i have a 55 gallon tank that really smells. i,ve done the water changes, put in the chemicals, but its not helping. my whole house smells.
any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[knifegill]

What chemicals?

Have you checked for ammonia? What kind of smell is it? A well-cycled tank usually has a slight 'dirt' odor, but never rotten.

 

[Chicklette]

Is there any dead fish in there or any that are missing? Take out any orniments you have in there and small them. Also check to see if your filters stink.

What are your water parameters? Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate?

How much food do you feed? It could be rotton food.

How do you clean your tank, do you clean the gravel with a python and hose? If not I recomend getting one, the gravel needs to be vacumed to get all the crap at the bottom.

 

[RANCE]

I have had this problem before, and it was due to not cleaning out the bottom of the tank good enough. The gravel siphon will end up being your best friend. Is your tank cloudy?

 

[Gobrian44]

Get a water test kit at petsmart or petco ASAP!

 

[Fat Homer]

I agree it could be the gravel/sand if you have any in the tank, which could be building up toxic gas pockets, which does indeed smells horrid... so best to get stirring that substrate and do a water change right after... also, make sure to have a test kit handy, coz once you start stirring the substrate up, it could also mess up your waters parameters...

 

[Foster]

Are there live plants that could be rotting or holding old food around? I just delt with my moms 30 gal tank that had a gigantic water lilly in it that was holding the food where the fish couldnt eat it. It had more of a slight soured smell that was sharp for a lack of a better word, maybe fermented (not a hops smell but i hope you get the idea). Was an easy fix of stealing her lilly for my 120 gal, telling her to feed the fish less, and syphoning out half the water cleaning the rocks really well.

 

[zennzzo]

got pix?

 

[zennzzo]

got pix?

of the tank filtration and what the water and substrate look like...
picture's worth a thousand words.

Are we talking an earthen smell,
or
are we talking a crapper door on a tuna boat?