disgustipated Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 hi friends. i have just put a 650 litre aquarium in my bedroom. it doesn't have a tight fitting lid like my old 220l tank, and now when i get home i'm noticing that my room is starting to smell like fish tank water. i do 30% water changes weekly so it's not an issue with bad water, the smell is 'standard' fish tank water smell, and there are no leaks or spills, the smell is coming off the surface of the water. there are open windows on either side of the tank so air flow is there, but it still smells :-? so im wondering if anyone out there has advise on how to lessen the odour coming from my fish tank... unfortunately i don't have the money to buy a proper lid for it. thanks for reading, any suggestions welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Would a towel over the top work? or just over the gaps? When mine smells I do a water change and put the dehumidifier on while im at work and smell is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 yeah i bought an old dehumidifier from trade me for $20, and then went to mitre ten and bought a carbon filter (usually for range hoods), and cellotaped it to the air intake on the dehumidifier. im hoping this will help a bit.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I feel your pain. My room constantly smells like tank water and I have a constant waterfall effect in the background haha.. I've found that ventilating the room during the day helps a lot. The smell is usually worse in the morning because the window and door have been closed. You kinda get used to it after a week or so, and you can immediately tell if there is an ammonia spike because the whole room will stink. I keep telling myself to get those room fragrance stick diffusers but I keep forgetting, I reckon a couple of those would help. Just keep on top of your water changes and the smell can be controlled. Oh, and remember to clean out your filter media more often as well. I'm running a sump tank so the filter wool is more exposed to air and tends to smell more. I just cleaned mine out this morning and the room smells sooo much better lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I used to have a 5x2x2' in my bedroom years ago when I lived at home, heavily stocked (black aro, big eel, uarus, loaches etc), filtered with a sump (open topped) and I never noticed any odour. Perhaps I've got a weak sense of smell? I'd suggest doing larger water changes if you're tank is smelling that bad, and leave the windows slightly ajar 24/7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've got a tank setup in my room and it has the corners cut off the lids but I still can't smell a "fishy" smell, even when i stick my nose above the tank. I think if you have plants, well oxygenated water and good biological filtration the tank shouldn't have much of an odour. My windows are always slightly open to provide fresh air to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdspider Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've got a tank setup in my room and it has the corners cut off the lids but I still can't smell a "fishy" smell, even when i stick my nose above the tank. I think if you have plants, well oxygenated water and good biological filtration the tank shouldn't have much of an odour. Agreed. My tank very rarely smells bad. Maybe only if I stick my face right over the top after I've been stirring things up, rearranging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I too have had tanks in the lounge with partial lids and never been able to smell them. I wonder if it makes a difference if you live in a damp house to start with, or high humidity areas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I think it's mostly a case of the initial period when the tank is first set up, our noses are more sensitive to the smell of the room because it doesn't smell "neutral". But after a few days we get used to it and we don't notice it, but an outsider coming in will immediately be able to tell that the room smells weird. I still reckon ventilation is the key, if you leave a window slightly open to allow some breeze in, it helps a lot. But with winter coming around I find that if it's too cold I'll have to close the window earlier or risk the tank temperature dropping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I think it's mostly a case of the initial period when the tank is first set up, our noses are more sensitive to the smell of the room because it doesn't smell "neutral". But after a few days we get used to it and we don't notice it, but an outsider coming in will immediately be able to tell that the room smells weird. I still reckon ventilation is the key, if you leave a window slightly open to allow some breeze in, it helps a lot. But with winter coming around I find that if it's too cold I'll have to close the window earlier or risk the tank temperature dropping. That does happen, but things that actually produce a smell are not easily ignored. If i stir up my thick sand bed, leave, then come back into the room i can just smell a fishy aroma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxim_nz Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I usually do a big sniff test to test the health of the tank.. a good mature / planted & healthy tank should smell like fresh dirt. It should be a pleasant smell. If it smells fishy, that is bad :facepalm: and time to go looking for the floating carcass / missing loach jammed in the filter... or change the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted May 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 :facepalm: ok so i feel obliged to confess something. after much further investigating into the smell i found a kinda big wet patch on the carpet under my bed.. soaked through to the old underlay and that's what was causing the smell. i must have spilled water while setting the tank up and moving the fish in and not noticed it, then put my bed back over it. dried it out and now my room is back to smelling like it usually does - which isn't really that nice, but it's better. sorry about that! :facepalm: :sml1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 :facepalm: ok so i feel obliged to confess something. after much further investigating into the smell i found a kinda big wet patch on the carpet under my bed.. soaked through to the old underlay and that's what was causing the smell. i must have spilled water while setting the tank up and moving the fish in and not noticed it, then put my bed back over it. dried it out and now my room is back to smelling like it usually does - which isn't really that nice, but it's better. sorry about that! :facepalm: :sml1: Did you wet the bed? :digH: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 :facepalm: ok so i feel obliged to confess something. after much further investigating into the smell i found a kinda big wet patch on the carpet under my bed.. soaked through to the old underlay and that's what was causing the smell. i must have spilled water while setting the tank up and moving the fish in and not noticed it, then put my bed back over it. dried it out and now my room is back to smelling like it usually does - which isn't really that nice, but it's better. sorry about that! :facepalm: :sml1: Maybe you need to watch this once a night... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LGUN2w29eo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 Maybe you need to watch this once a night... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LGUN2w29eo Thanks alot, now i have that song stuck in my head :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Thanks alot, now i have that song stuck in my head :nilly: Well at least you wont pee pee your bed tonight :rotf: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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