Screen Savers Depot - How can I reduce the odor of my fish aquarium?

How can I reduce the odor of my fish aquarium?

I have a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. The odor seems stronger then normal. I have had fish tanks in the past and they have not smelled as bad. Sometimes I can smell the odor of the tank when I walk into the door. You can also sometimes smell it as you walk past. The tank is cleaned every 2 weeks with a filter change. There is no algae. No missing fish. Can anyone give me advice on how to reduce or eliminate the foul odor? Thanks in advance. I WILL CHOOSE BEST ANSWER VERY SOON! Change the filter only twice a year? I don't think so. That is why you have bio-wheel. Also 25% water change and filter change weekly...too excessive and possibly dangerous to the health of the fish. Every other week I change the carbon filter, change 25% water, add aquarium salt and of course stress coat. I also clean the gravel. Does anyone actually know anything about FISH in here? You do not change an established aquarium water EVERY WEEK!!! This is not who told me this this is the reality. I have stuided the BEST guides and learned from various people with degrees in icktheology. I have only 4 small fish. I have a biowheel 20-40 filter. Bio-wheel is the best filters on the market by the way. So much for getting sound advice. The best advice I have gotten so far is go to wal-mart and get the odor remover.

Public Comments

they have a bottle of stuff at walmart in the fish section , you put drops in ever so often, it takes away the odor
You must remove all dead fish by the end of the month or you have a dead mouse behind the tank.
change the water often, maybe you need a new filter, or maybe water is leaking around your tank check to see if there is mold nearby
Performing Your Weekly 10-15% Water Change http://www.firsttankguide.net/waterchange.php
put potpourri in with the fishes. This will make fish happy and neutralize the odor. I love the fishes because their so delicious!
Filter, filter, filter. I would normally change the filter at least once a week and change 25% of the water (with sufficient conditioner). That way you can clean the tank once in three weeks or a month. Ensure that you don't drop too much of food in it. I feed them in small quantities and ensure that the food doesn't get precipitated to the bottom of the tank.
In your fish filter, do you have carbon? Carbon eliminates most odors in the filter, and lastly, you don't have to clean the filter that often.
If your water smells bad, it is not properly conditioned and cycled. You shouldn't change your filters. The filter, along with the gravel, is where all the good beneficial bacteria live. Cleaning either of these things too well will never allow your water to get in its proper parameters. You should only do about a 25% water change every week. Siphon out any detritus from the gravel, but don't clean it well or disturb it anymore than necessary. Don't clean the filter well or put in a new one every time. All you need to do is rinse the existing filter in the old water that you remove. Filters should only be replaced maybe twice a year. Rotting plants can also affect the water quality. Even if they aren't rotting, if you don't have a good mix of plants, it can throw off your oxygen production levels, creating too much CO2, which also creates a toxic water environment. Remove all uneaten food left after five minutes. This can foul the water very easily and make it smell bad and get toxic. Get a master test kit that checks for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. You can also get test kits for other types of water problems. Your water shouldn't stink if these are in their correct parameters. You will also be giving the beneficial bacteria a better chance of growing if these things are kept at the proper levels.
relying just on the filter to clean the tank is ridiculous! you HAVE to change out the water, clean or replace the gravel etc. fish poop falls to the bottom of the tank and just settles there, it's not sucked into the filter. time to get your hands dirty!
Wow, some of the silly notions people have. Odor in the tank is from chemicals in the water, pure and simple. You can remove them one of two ways, water changes and carbon. Increase your water changes to 25% every week and change the filter carbon every week. Carbon absorbs chemicals from the water and gets "used up" rather quickly. It should be changed often. I note people telling you filters should not be changed, that is simply wrong. The fact is filters MUST be changed to do their job correctly. The majority of the beneficial bacteria your tank needs is not in the filter. That bacteria lives on every wet surface in the tank. Removing the filter media and replacing it will not harm your nitrogen cycle in the least. All of the junk the filter collects adds to the bio load of the tank as it breaks down. The tank is much better off with it out of the system. Try this for 2-3 weeks, you won't be disappointed.
Ok so iv asked alot of questions on here about aquariums....iv learned that u need to have a gravel vacuum and use it at least once a week....also do a partial water change about every 2 weeks.......RINCE ur filter out when u do ur water change.....u should only replace like evey two months or so.....make sure u use the drops when u do ur water change....maybe look into buying a water test kit...clearly u r doing somthing wrong with ur water.....and make sure u r not over feeding ur fish..... Hope I help!!
carbon and frequent water changes
A healthy fish tank should at most have a pleasant earthy ordor. Any other odor is likely to much ammonia, or nitrites/nitrates. You should test your tank's water for ammonia, and nitrates. The only way to reduce the smell is to do weekly water changes, and not to over feed/stock.
it could mean 2-3 things ur filter needs to be cleaned out to much fish food u r feeding them .clean the media or buy new media how big is ur tank and size of filter. the filter might no be strong enough to clean it
get a nitrazorb pouch, and test for nitrates (too much pooh in the water) and the pouch will remove it, just put it in the filter with the rest of the stuff
Whoever told you a 25% water change weekly was excessive and bad for the fish gave you a bum steer. Consider: in nature, fish live in an environment where they get 100% water change often, daily even, from the natural flow of water. If you only change 25% every two weeks, your fish are only getting a full tank of clean water once every two months! There are things in clean water that they need, oxygen not the least! 25% weekly changes out the water 100% per month, WITHOUT stressing the fish. And that's still not even close to as good they'd get in the wild. The odour is probably caused by ammonia, which means your bioload is too big for your bacteria to handle. You may not have cycled properly or you may simply have too many fish creating too much waste for the bacteria to handle. Either way, the solution is to increase your water changes. Wash out the filter cartridge in the bucket of old water each week, and replace the cartridge once a month. (If you're using a bio-wheel filter, you need to change it every two weeks as you have been doing, those filters are so NOT my favourite for that, and other, reasons) Good luck!