Why Does my Fish Tank Smells, Treat: Cleaning and Maintaining Your Aquarium

Why does my fish tank smell? We all know the answer. The odor is a mixture of ammonia and various other gases that are given off by bacteria, uneaten food, and decaying plants in the water. If you don’t address this problem quickly, it can lead to more problems such as algae growth, cloudy water, dead or sick fish, and even complete failure of your aquarium ecosystem.  It’s important to take care of this issue right away so that you avoid these consequences. This blog post will help identify what causes an unpleasant fish tank odor so that you can conquer the problem before it gets out of control!

Why should my Fish Tank Smells, Treat?

1. Dead fish:

If your tank smells like a dead fish, this is the main culprit for causing the foul smell in your aquarium. A dead fish will cause ammonia to spike up and cause an odor that is commonly associated with a rotting left-over piece of meat that has been sitting out for days on end in the sun [not fresh].

There are two reasons why your dead fish can stink up your whole house with continuous ammonia fumes and other nasty odors. First reason being, because you haven’t gotten around to cleaning out the decomposing corpse (dead body) of your pet goldfish or tropical pond dweller yet. Second reason… You have too many animals living inside it at one time [overstocked] which is causing ammonia to spike up and rot their flesh faster than usual.

(Also, if you have a smaller tank or bowl that you are using as an unheated winter home for your tropicals)… Your goldfish/tropicals may be getting too cold and dying off one by one due to The Great Cold Awakening which happens every year in early fall where temperatures drop below the 50-55 degree mark on average (I am talking about only 2-3 degrees of temperature change here).

2. Excess food

Ammonia can also spike from being over fed or left over rotting fish food that has been floating around at the bottom of your aquarium for days/weeks on end. This causes it to rot and decompose into ammonia full of other nasty smells that will make your house smell like a dead fish.

Your best bet is to change the water in your tank every 2-3 days and feed them once per day with easy to digest food. Also, vacuum up any excess food or left over pieces before they have a chance to rot and smell up your aquarium.

3. Decomposing plants:

Another reason why you might get an ammonia spike would be from dead/decaying plant material that has been sitting at the bottom of your tank for more than 3-4 weeks without being cleaned out [or even removed]. The plant material can break down into little particles that eventually become so small that it becomes harder for filters (like power filters) to suck up.

Plants are natural filters so having too many plants or live aquarium plants in your tank may also cause ammonia to spike (bugs eat the plant material and poop ammonia). So be aware of how much plant material you have floating around at the bottom of your fish tank if you plan on keeping it for a long time. This is one reason why I prefer using rocks instead of live plants inside my tanks, they don’t die off as easily and don’t contribute to spikes in ammonia or nitrates.

4. Wastes from an overstocked tank:

Another major factor why ammonia levels may spike up in your fish tank is due to an overstocked tank [to add more animals to a small tank than it can support] which will cause ammonia levels to increase because of their constant wastes and food being broken down into ammonia. But even if you have enough room inside your aquarium for all the fish/animals that live there, having too many at one time (overstocked) will always lead to dying off most of them before you know it. This causes nasty scum and decaying plant material on the bottom of the tank from animal’s decomposing bodies.

5. Dead plants:

Dead or dying aquatic plants also contribute to spikes in ammonia levels since they are yet another natural filter that breaks down into ammonia. So if you have too many live plants in your tank or plan on having lot’s of them… You may want to consider a couple extra filters for higher water flow and constant water circulation in order to keep the dead material from decomposing into nasty smells and ammonia (this is yet another reason why I prefer using fake/aquarium rocks instead).

6. Dead snails:

Decomposing snails also contribute to spikes in ammonia because they are living creatures that break down over time and make food for other living creatures inside the tank that eat them [like shrimp]. If you have a snail problem, get rid of them sooner than later since they will eventually die off and decompose which will lead to more ammonia in your fish tank.

7. Dead shrimp:

The same reasons why decaying snails contribute to high levels of ammonia, so do dead or dying shrimp, they quickly decompose into lovely little gifts for other tank mates [like snails] and create beautiful conditions for lots of bugs to grow and multiply within a short period of time. So needless to say… If you have a snail/shrimp problem in your aquarium by either having many live ones or too many that die off early on… You will eventually suffer from nasty smells coming from the rotting remains which I would not wish upon my worst enemy (except if it’s Mariah Carey).

How to remove bad smells?

The best way to get rid of any bad smells found within your fish tank is by doing water changes. The only problem I have when it comes to water changes is that some people don’t have the time or patience to do them. So in order to quickly remove as much residue that causes the bad smell, you may want to add a carbon filter which will help suck up all the impurities from any decaying matter and keep your fish tank smelling fresh for awhile longer until you can do another water change [which always helps].

Step 1: Maintenance:

The first step in keeping your fish tank smelling good is through maintenance. When ever I clean my aquariums… I usually dump out about 10%-15% of the water contents into a bucket and replace it with tap [treated] water or a custom water mixture of bottled distilled water. This helps keep ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates down by removing lots of unwanted wastes from your fish tank because regular water changes do exactly that… Change/Remove 25% to 50% of the water contents in your fish tank at least once per week (although once per month is best).

Step 2: Daily Water Changes:

It is also recommended to change out about 10%-15% of the water everyday. So if you have a 20 gallon fish tank, just dump out 2 gallons for now and replace it back with either treated tap [for freshwater tanks] or seawater [for saltwater tanks]. If you ever notice bad smells coming from your fish tank… It’s probably because you don’t do enough water changes.

Non-replaceable Odor Neutralizer:

If you want to add a non-replaceable odor neutralizer which will eliminate any bad odors in your fish tank, then go with Seachem’s “Airmax” Air Purifier for Aquariums . [This is the best one I have found so far]. This air purifier for aquariums sits on the back of your aquarium and sucks up all impurities as well as remove nasty smells through activated carbon filters. Now if there was only an air purifier for my room…. Then I’d be set…

Step 3: Add a Carbon Filter (optional):

If you choose to not do daily water changes and remove impurities that cause bad smells from your fish tank, then you can always add a carbon filter. It will help suck up all the impurities [including bad odors] which will keep your fish tank smelling fresh until you perform a new water change.

Preventative Steps:

Here are some preventative steps to follow if you want to have an odorless fish tank:

1. Feed your fish sparingly or for the most part…

Don’t feed them at all! If you don’t give them too much food, they simply won’t produce as much waste and therefore less waste = less ammonia/nitrates/nitrites = less bad smells2. Schedule regular [not too often] water changes and tank cleanings:

If you do at least 1-2 water changes per month on a regular basis… It’s pretty much impossible for the fish tank to develop any bad odors.3. Use a filter:

If you don’t do daily [or even weekly] water changes which is a common mistake, then another way to keep your fish tank from having smelly impurities build up within your aquarium would be by using an Aquaclear Power Filter

2. Schedule regular water changes and tank cleanings

If you want to have an odorless fish tank… then you should at least do one water change per month. But just changing out 10%-15% of your aquariums water contents once a month isn’t enough…

What I do is: instead of having my fish tank slowly build up residues within the aquarium, I choose to eliminate as much impurities as possible by doing a full 50% water change every two months. This way, I spend less time cleaning the tank and more time enjoying it without worrying about any odors from decaying organic matter in the aquarium. Also, if you ever notice bad smells coming from your fish tank… It’s probably because either you don’t clean it often or you feed too much food

3. Use filter:

If you don’t do daily [or even weekly] water changes which is a common mistake, then another way to keep your fish tank from having smelly impurities build up within your aquarium would be by using an Aquaclear Power Filter .

source https://memfish.net/why-does-my-fish-tank-smells/