Should my Tank smell Bad?

[Goldfish4EVER]

Hi, I'm currently cycling a 10 gallon tank for 1 week now, but it smells kind of bad and weird when I lift the lid. Is this from the bacteria, or ammonia? I have no idea what to do. Should I change water weekly? Or daily? I'm really worried about the smell mostly though. What should I do?

 

[Fishfaced]

Is it a fish in cycle?
Dosing amonia?
Or food break down?

 

[Uberhoust]

When I work on my tanks they don't seem to really have any smell, but that could just be me. When I deal with the filters I get a somewhat soil like, earthy smell. If I have cyanobacteria in the tank it can produce a bit of a foul smell, but I only notice it when I expose the bacteria growths, ie when I manually remove it from whatever it is growing on.

If your tank has a strong smell I can think of two possibilities, either your tank has a buildup of nutrients or you have a fair amount cyanobacteria growing (otherwise known as Blue Green Algae). There are other possibilities but these are the ones I have encountered.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hi, I'm currently cycling a 10 gallon tank for 1 week now, but it smells kind of bad and weird when I lift the lid. Is this from the bacteria, or ammonia? I have no idea what to do. Should I change water weekly? Or daily? I'm really worried about the smell mostly though. What should I do?

Hello Goldfish...

First, a 10 gallon tank isn't going to work well for Goldfish. It's really too small. You could use it to keep fry, but not much else. To answer your question, a tank will generally have an earthy smell, similar to a house plant in potting soil. A fish tank cycling or established will need half the water removed and replaced weekly. My rule is: The smaller the tank, the more often the water should be changed.

10 Tanks

 

[Goldfish4EVER]

How often should I change my tank water while cycling?

 

[Boundava]

When you are doing a fishless cycle you don't do a water change...