Earthy Smell

[beginner to fish]

my tank has been set up for about 3 months now it is a 10gal tank and there seems to be an earthy smell coming from the water the fish are all great and happy i just wondered what the smell was
any replies would be appreciated
thanks

 

[ShoC]

if you have a smelly tank, simply change the water.
it's usually caused by dirty water

 

[beginner to fish]

if you have a smelly tank, simply change the water.
it's usually caused by dirty water

i perform water changes once every week i take about 25% of the water out but nothing seems to make a difference.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

isn't an earthy smell supposed to be a sign of a good healthy tank? sure i've read that somewhere!

 

[pastabake]

Yes, I've read that too. Earthy smell = good

 

[kewskills]

I agree most tanks will have a small earthy type smell.

 

[beginner to fish]

isn't an earthy smell supposed to be a sign of a good healthy tank? sure i've read that somewhere!

well that would make sense because my tank is perfect completly clear and the fish are all very vibrant in colour

 

[OldMan47]

An light earthy smell is a good thing compared to other odors. If it is smelling like freshly turned garden soil, everything is fine.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree too. Earthy smell = good. I've always thought it is because good garden soil and a healthy tank share the condition of having very similar processes going on involving bacterial populations.

[Just like wastes break down in soil, heterotrophic bacteria break down fish, plant and excess fish food waste into ammonia, then the ammonia is changed to nitrite and nitrate by autotrophic bacteria. The overall odor is similar, the familiar earthy soil smell.]

~~waterdrop~~