My Aquarium Smells, HELLPPP

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SquiddyBoi

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 17, 2017
Messages
18
My aquarium has a smell, and i have no idea why. Its a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium that's slightly overstocked, but it is significantly over filtered, and has live plants. Im not over feeding, at least i don't think so. There is never left over food. Any supplements or something that may help the smell?
 
I suspect you have substrate that is not vacuumed and perhaps some trapped gasses are escaping? Rotten egg smell.
 
I cant smell it but everyone else can and they say it smells like

"old muck water, its just really bad!"

"Oh my god, it smells like a fish market!"
 
Take a paper towel around the edges of the aqaurium where the glass lid sits on it and wipe. Also under the rim. Often fish food gets stuck. You will see it on the paper towel and know pretty quickly if it is a factor.

Is it a cycled tank? 6-9 weeks building a good colony of BB?

What is your tank parameter readings before your pwc?

Temp?
 
Oh yea this tank has been up for like a year so it's definitely cycled. the temp is about 72-75, depending.
The ph is like 7.2-7.6, its always within that range though.
I haven't tested ammonia, nitrates,or nitrites but i do have an ammonia reducer in the 2nd filter, while the first has an activated carbon insert.
 
You might like to run some fresh carbon for a few days to help with the smell if cleaning and pwc's do not solve the problem.

How often are you rinsing the canister filter?
 
I have 2hob's and they never smell.
I would suggest swapping the carbon for Purigen, Purigen won't take nutrients out of the water column but I've read articles that say carbon will.
 
When I was 17 my mum was always telling me to clean my fish tank because it smelled like fish and she could smell it at the bottom of the stairs. I kept telling her it wasn't my tank because they don't smell like fish.

A few weeks later the Emerson heater switch stopped working. When the electrician took the switch off the wall he noticed that there was a bad connection and some of the plastic on the switch had melted.

He asked my mum 'did you get a fishy smell?' And we both burst out laughing. She never bothered with my fish tank after that.

Are you sure it's the tank? The normally smell earthy or like rotten eggs if in need of attention.
 
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is this a enclosed top ? I had a issue like that few years back just swapped over to a top that breaths , that musky smell went away fast
 
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