Smell In My Aquarium

[EvolutionOfDemise]

For a while now there's been a weird smell in both my 120 gallon and my 350 gallon. My boyfriend would describe it as 'fart', I'd say it smells a bit swampy. There is no ammonia or nitrite and very little nitrate, I also have carbon in the filters. Nothing rotting in there either. My fish are all healthy, eating, growing, ect. so it's obviously nothing harmful, but it does bug me.. I try to keep everything perfect in all my aquariums and it's very difficult when I have this smell. Both the tanks have tight lids, is it from no ventilation? In all my other tanks there is no smell, they're also mostly open top. Any thoughts?

 

[phoenixgsd]

are you using prime, thats got a sulpher smell

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Could it be your tank is not fully cycled? That can often create an unpleasant smell.

I would describe the smell of my tanks as being quite a pleasant "lake" sort of smell.

 

[MBOU]

Condensation and algae

Tight lid mans lots of condensation building up in the hood means algae grows there and in stinks

 

[EvolutionOfDemise]

- Yes I use Prime, but I don't think that would give the long-term smell.

- Both tanks have been running for 6 months or longer, plus a filter that's been running for a year or longer. So yes, I would say they're fully cycled.

- Makes sense, I guess airing it out would be a simple fix. However, a few of my fish tend to just out once in a while.
Thanks. It's been driving me crazy for some time now, as long as it's not harmful to the little ones I guess I'll just have to deal with it..

 

[Ludwig Venter]

- Yes I use Prime, but I don't think that would give the long-term smell.

- Both tanks have been running for 6 months or longer, plus a filter that's been running for a year or longer. So yes, I would say they're fully cycled.

- Makes sense, I guess airing it out would be a simple fix. However, a few of my fish tend to just out once in a while.
Thanks. It's been driving me crazy for some time now, as long as it's not harmful to the little ones I guess I'll just have to deal with it..

Are you feeding any Hakaribrand fish foods??...

 

[EvolutionOfDemise]

Yes. In my 350 I feed cichlid gold pellets and carnivore pellets, and both get algae wafers. But they're also fed in a few of my other tanks, which do not smell. The pellets are also eaten up pretty fast too, so they don't really have time to soak/rot.

 

[Staxx]

i hate the smell of prime, it smells disgusting.

 

[Grant1897]

What substrate are you using?

 

[Crossfire]

Stop feeding your fish so many beans Should clear up in a few days

 

[EvolutionOfDemise]

Actually I think MBOU already covered the problem.

But in my 120 I'm using plant sand, can't remember the brand name. It might be Flourite or something along those lines.. And I just switched the gravel out for sand in my 350 yesterday.