Aquarium Smell ?

[Back in the fold]

It has been stated by one of our esteemed colleagues that an aquarium can have a malodorous aroma (my words). While this may possibly be true, a stinky tank should warn the aquarist that it is time to investigate a problem and judging from the content of the Great TFF Forum everyone would rush to do so. However, I have always loved the smell of an established aquarium. If all is right the water smells alive to me. Like a creek or a pond. Several fish stores I've haunted over the years smelled so good I never wanted to leave and I remember the smell vividly. That warm moist air with the wonderful aroma of green plants and healthy fish is intoxicating. I love the smell of an aquarium. It is Great !

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Me to! I was just in that thread. I was thinking maybe she had a tank that was dirted, or something. @Colin_T, or @Byron, what is your opinion on this?

It could be because of failing water parameters, but what do I know!

 

[Byron]

I do not know which thread you are referring to so I cannot comment on possible problems at this time. But as for what an aquarium should smell like, I agree with Back in the fold. I have seen this smell described as woodsy, outdoors after a rain, fresh soil...whatever.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Well I assumed the smell was that of decaying plants but it does have a very "fishy" smell that is stronger in areas where dirt might accumulated - filters for example. I tend to not mess with my filters unless the filter flow is down or they look grimy from the outside. I was recently having so much problems with leaves getting caught in the filter tubes so one of my "esteemed colleagues" recommended I get some special sponge filters to cover the end of the tube. Do you know some of the friggen' leaves still managed to get caught in there? But most have not. It does, however, get covered by food at feeding time (I even turn the filter flow to low) and the fish use it as a feeding station but leave a lot of food behind. So then I thought it was the excess food smell so I started rinsing out the filters every day or two. Didn't really change the smell - and it is a kind of earthy moist smell - but much like dog poop that's clear on the other side of your yard - you just get the musty smell, not the rancid poop smell.

I just want to make sure none of my guests think I haven't cleaned the cat litterbox in a month or that I have had a dog in there sometime that pooped in a back room. I just smell it when I first enter the house or when I'm working closely with the aquariums. After that I don't notice it.

 

[Byron]

Well I assumed the smell was that of decaying plants but it does have a very "fishy" smell that is stronger in areas where dirt might accumulated - filters for example. I tend to not mess with my filters unless the filter flow is down or they look grimy from the outside. I was recently having so much problems with leaves getting caught in the filter tubes so one of my "esteemed colleagues" recommended I get some special sponge filters to cover the end of the tube. Do you know some of the friggen' leaves still managed to get caught in there? But most have not. It does, however, get covered by food at feeding time (I even turn the filter flow to low) and the fish use it as a feeding station but leave a lot of food behind. So then I thought it was the excess food smell so I started rinsing out the filters every day or two. Didn't really change the smell - and it is a kind of earthy moist smell - but much like dog poop that's clear on the other side of your yard - you just get the musty smell, not the rancid poop smell.

I just want to make sure none of my guests think I haven't cleaned the cat litterbox in a month or that I have had a dog in there sometime that pooped in a back room. I just smell it when I first enter the house or when I'm working closely with the aquariums. After that I don't notice it.

I would suggest you may be over-feeding your fish. If fish are feeding from the sponge but leaving food behind, they are being fed way too much. Flake and pellet food for upper and mid-level fish should bee cleaned up within seconds and I doubt any of mine ever reaches the substrate, not flake anyway. [Substrate fish are different, and need solid sinking foods to graze/pick at for some time, an hour or two or three depending.]

I would also consider rinsing your filter more often/regularly. Canister can go several weeks usually, depending upon fish load, but should be kept clean of the brown organic muck as this impedes flow and can suffocate the nitrifyiers. I have sponge filters in all my tanks but two now, and these are rinsed under the tap at every weekly water change. The two internal filters are rinsed every week as well.

 

[Back in the fold]

Perhaps it is that you have not yet learned to love it. That will come.
Byron made some very interesting observations about feeding and the filters. I agree with him most vociferously.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

https://www.fishforums.net/threads/...e-get-another-tank.453887/page-3#post-3833564 Post #31.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I like the smell of all of my tanks except my sand one. Remember? I did just do a pwc on it though and it stirred the sand around a little. Didn’t notice the smell over powering me this time. My Goldie tanks are big and sometimes I want to climb in with them and take a swim. (Not quite that big though.). Even my garden pond smells good but a different smell than the tanks. It always reminds me of the river and rapids.

 

[Fishmanic]

“I love the smell of aquariums in the morning. “
“smells like victory”

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

You guys are too funny. I do tend to feed my fish too much especially when I'm in a hurry, but the flakes, little pellets and bloodworms is what is being sucked into the filter and stuck there with nobody ever getting a chance to eat it unless they eat it off of the filter. You are correct - the filter that's on the intake tube smell nasty but the filter itself is always clean (except that time two of my long hairs got wrapped around the propeller thingy - it still worked - you should see the vacuum cleaner! ) so other than the intake tubes I don't find a lot to clean - just switch out fiters.

Pre intake-filter days I would sometimes have to do a second feeding because the small food would have disappeared within a minute and I had several still-hungry fish (especially the small ones). I feed bigger sinking pellets and pleco pellets to my big fish. Two of the gourami's can swallow several pellets each (whole) but the cory's and catfish and smaller gourami's have to work on the pellets for an hour or so. When they are done there isn't any pellet debris left. Part of the problem is that the flakes and other light weight food either drop to the floor or get sucked into the filter without being eaten because the big gourami's eat all of it that stays on top which keeps the little fish away from the food. Once the lightweight food falls to the bottom of the tank the only fish that will eat it are the Cory's and all my algae fish. That leaves mid-size/small gourami's, pleco's, tetra's and barbs to eat it off the intake filter (or not getting fed at all). The big fish and Catfish are at the bottom eating what they prefer first (the pellets) and the left-over light food that the little fish won't touch because either they are scared of the big fish or they won't eat off the floor.

I also have a tank full of nothing but tiny fish and I'm very careful not to overfeed because NONE of them will eat off the floor of the tank. I put in a tiny bit at a time and stop when they stop eating to avoid overfeeding. My third tank has the same kind of mix between small and large fish and it's a challenge to ensure the little ones get food to eat. Again, none of the small fish will eat off the bottom.

I really wish I had purchased a larger tank for my small fish but originally it was going to be quarantine/hospital tank - which it still can be because it has just a few fish in it. But now I think I would put ALL the small fish in a tank separate from the big fish - many would have to move out later because they may be 1/2" now but they''ll grow to 7" at maturity. I've probably have about 8 fish that will grow to 3-7" but the rest (about 15 will always be less than an inch) excluding the algae eaters which I need to eat algae in the big tanks some of those will be big, some small.

So any advice on feeding. I also don't have to ask my mom if I can get a new tank because I am mom and I live alone. My problem is I'm lacking space to put another tank and I just barely can keep up with what I've got now. It's turned into a full time job. One more tank will kill me

 

[Colin_T]

(except that time two of my long hairs got wrapped around the propeller thingy -

The propeller thingy is an impellor.

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so other than the intake tubes I don't find a lot to clean - just switch out fiters.

Are you changing filter pads/ cartridges?
If yes, you shouldn't because you get rid of the beneficial filter bacteria that keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0.

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So any advice on feeding.

Use frozen food instead of dry food. It's easier to control how much you put in the tank and is less likely to be sucked into the filter.

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My problem is I'm lacking space to put another tank and I just barely can keep up with what I've got now. It's turned into a full time job.

Multi-tiered stands is the only way to go. I had a fish room with 40 tanks in and I could water change and gravel clean them all in half a day. I used to do 100 tanks a day at the pet shop and that included serving customers. If you set it up right, it is very easy to do and requires no heavy lifting.

Get 2 or 3 tier stands and fill the top tank with tap water and dechlorinator. Add minerals or ammonia remover or whatever you have to in order to get that water clean.

Run a length of hose out the door onto the lawn or garden and gravel clean the tanks. The dirty water and gunk goes on the lawn and the plants love it.

Use a hose with a tap to drain water from the top tank into the ones below it.

Refill the top tank and let it run until the next time you do water changes.

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In one shop we had some 3 inch pvc pipe that ran along the floor in the corner. It had pipes about 12 inches long sticking up in each row of tanks. The 3 inch pipe went out the back door.

We used shorter hoses and put them in the pipe that was sticking up and gravel cleaned the tanks into that. The dirty water then flowed along the 3 inch pipe and went outside onto the garden.

A length of pvc pipe is much lighter than a hose and you could stick the hose on or in it and run the pvc pipe out the door.

The following picture is one of my stands. It was a 4 tier stand but only had tanks on 3 shelves. the top shelf was used for storage.

 

[seangee]

@Jan Cavalieri, I agree with @Byron, the micro pellets I feed for my top feeders are typically gone in 30 seconds. No need to worry about the laggards, they will soon learn to get to the front of the queue at feeding time.

Having a sponge pre-filter is a great idea. For my tank with a canister filter I turn my filter off and rinse the pre-filter sponges with every water change. That way I only clean the canister after several months. The other tanks have a HOB and a sponge respectively. These get rinsed weekly because it is so easy and quick to do as part of the water change.

 

[Back in the fold]

“I love the smell of aquariums in the morning. “
“smells like victory”

That was totally Awesome !