Water Smell

[DeadlyAlliance]

Hey guys i just finish chaging the water in my tank. I chaged about 5 gallons of my 46 gallon tank. I have about 19 black mollies in it. I never smell the water but today i did. It smell and i dont know if it was because of the new water or a smell coming up from the bottom. I dont know how to describe the smell but it smells. I usually chage the water every week. I always buy destill water from the store and use the declorinator and let it sit for awhile. This water i had bought the week ago and i didnt use it all so i just let the water sit there and use it this time. Could there be something wrong with this water or its a regular smell. I check the water yesterday and everything was ok and there didnt seem to be a smell that i notice. Someone please help. Let me know if im going to chage the water again? Im on my way out but will check as soon as i come back. Thax so much for any advice.

 

[sylvia]

You should change the water at least once a week with de-chlorinated tap water. Distilled water doesn't contain a lot of necessary minerals that are in tap water. You are probably talking about RO water yes? You need to put the minerals back in it before use. A healthy aquarium has a kind of soily smell to it but it isn't strong and it isn't unpleasant. Do you vacuum your gravel? Is the tank cycled and how much/often do you feed your fish?

 

[BobK]

I really doubt the smell came from distilled water. Do you normally vacuum the gravel? Did you vacuum the gravel this time. Was it really dirty? That's usually when it starts to smell, when the gravel is dirty. Could the fish have been overfed because it could be the rotting food. Do you use carbon? If you normally do then maybe it's time to change it. Carbon is good for removing odors but it clogs up after 3-4 weeks.

I'm not the smartest when it comes to water chemistry so maybe someone could help me out, but I think you might run into problems using distilled water. I think distilled water has no minerals in it and if so, you don't have much, if any buffering capacity agains ph swings unless you add some stuff.

Hope this helps. When you said you've never smelled the water before did you mean the water never smelled before or you never actually tried to smell the water?

 

[gadazobe]

Did it smell like bad eggs?

 

[yvez9]

If you vaccumed the gravel it's normal if it was dirty

i never vacuum the whole gravel but when i get to a part that hasn't been cleaned for a while, the water turns green in my bucket. Stinks a lot.

other than that, my auqarium smells like a greenhouse when i open the lid because of all the plants

smells so good

 

[DeadlyAlliance]

Hey thanx guys for all your replies. Yes i do vacumm my gravel every week and chage the water every week. I usually only feed the fish 2 times a day. The tank is cycle its been running for 2 months. Well my ph is always the same 7.6. When i say the water never smell before is because i have never smelled it. Thax again.