Tank Smell

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Connor

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Okay I have posted on here before and followed the advice but I have got no further forward with the problem.

So put simply my tank smells very very bad. To the point I am considering giving my axl away. It only takes hours after a water change for the tank to smell so bad.

I have been cycling the tank thinking this could be the problem but it is not getting any better. As far as i can see there is no algae in the tank. The food is never left in the tank and any waste is removed as soon as I see it (normally the same day).

Here is a list of what I have tried:
Removed sand
Removed plants
Used Ammonia Remover
Carbon Filter
Used Accu-Clear
Used a bigger filter

I took the a sample to my local pet shop to get it tested in case i was something but everything seemed to be fine.

Someone suggested shrimp?

Despite all this my axolotl seems to be in much better health than when I first got him and I really do not want to give him up. :(
 
What size is the tank? What all is in the tank?
I have a 50 gallon with 2 5" axolotls in it and it never stinks. Has sand, plants, filters etc.
How often are you changing the water?
Have you cleaned out your filters very well? I shake out the mechanical filtration once or twice a month.
Did your dog poop under your fish tank stand? That might be something to consider.
 
Jonjey said:
What size is the tank? What all is in the tank?
I have a 50 gallon with 2 5" axolotls in it and it never stinks. Has sand, plants, filters etc.
How often are you changing the water?
Have you cleaned out your filters very well? I shake out the mechanical filtration once or twice a month.
Did your dog poop under your fish tank stand? That might be something to consider.
Click to expand...

It is only a 40 litre tank (Could this be to small?) I adopted him from a family member and I kept him in the same tank.

EDIT: Strangely when I reduce the volume of water in the tank it does not smell as bad

I had to change the water everyday because the smell was so bad but I reduced this down till it was once a week and it made no difference.

I have gave the filter a good clean numerous occasions, would a second filter be beneficial ?
I wish it was something outside of the tank it would be easier to solve!!
 
Is your axolotl an adult? An adult axolotl in a 40 liter tank is pretty small. If he's not an adult then it's fine. I would suggest a bigger tank would solve your issues here, the more volume the less concentration of bacteria and gnarly stuff.
 
Could it simply be a smell of your water? I know some areas around where I live can smell. My tap water has a strong chlorine smell, another place I lived has a horrible rotten egg smell, needless to say I didn't stay there long and never drank or cooked with that water. Some times the water was ok smelling, some times it made the house almost unbearable to be in. Have you tried spring drinking water that you can buy at a store and cycle it threw a tank and had any better results?
 
I dont think its the water source, Think it could be the size of tank will need to source out a new one and find a place to put it.

Thank You
 
If your filter has a good biological component, you do partial water changes, and feed lightly your tank should not smell.

What kind of filter do you have? What do you mean when you say you give the filter a good cleaning? If you rinse the filter components with chlorinated water it will kill the beneficial bacteria. It sounds like for one reason or another your tank is not balanced.
 
Is it cycled? While my firebelly newt tank was cycling it had an awful burned plastic smell but now it has no odor at all.
 
I have a similar problem, most noticeable when my hands have been in the tank, like fishy smell, even when I have water changed, removed debris etc, even my minow tank smells funny,
I keep cleaning the inside off the tank, and the sand in the Axie tank, the gravel int he minor tank, nothing seems to help.

If you smell your aquariums, does it just semi like water, or something else?
 
I am having this problem as well.....seems like it's all of a sudden. My water quality is great (I have 35 years of aquarium experience....very educated in water quality) But the smell is horrible!! I have three juveniles in a 40 gallon tank. I do water changes a MINIMUM of once a week, usually more like every 4-5 days. I use a turkey baster to get out waste on a daily basis. I have enough filtration for a tank three times the size. The tank has sand, driftwood and live plants. It makes no difference how much water I change or how often....it still stinks!! I have been tempted to take stuff out and clean it thoroughly, but I know what that will do to my cycle. (although I DO have plenty of filter media and such in other tanks to restart it fairly quickly.)

Anyone had this problem and figured out a solution????
 
I don't have 35 years of aquarium experience, but this sounds like anaerobic bacteria in the substrate; do you use something like a gravel cleaner to clean up the sand?
 
Absolutely!! I clean the sand with every water change......always make sure that I hit on every area of the tank as not to leave any one spot dormant for any length of time. I have sand in most of my tanks, so it's second nature to me by now.

My husband is getting a little irritated that I can't figure out how to get rid of the smell because the tank is in our living room!! LOL The strength of the smell ebbs and flows..... some days it's not so bad, but some days it will knock your head off, especially when we first come back into the house after being gone. I shudder to think what a guest would think when they came in the door!!

I'm just lost with this one!!
 
pictures would help, post some pics of your tank and your filter as well as the top area, as many angle as possible
maybe we can spot what is creating the foul odor...
 
can you describe me the smell and the types of decorations and hidy spots you have? A tank i used to keep my axie in with another axie used to smell like rotten eggs and puke X200! i mean even a slight scent of it made me gag and almost throw up. Thts how bad it was. The source of the smell seemed to be a hidy place tht had holes in it to get filled with water so it could sink. Tha material of the hidy place was weird but mostly i think because the water thts inside the decor doesnt come out when you change the water tht made the smell even worse. It was horrfying. I literally cringe when i think about the smell
 
What may help is trying to oxygenate the water more so the anaerobic bacteria that might be releasing the sulfur smell will die off. Another option is adding plants preferably floating and a good light and let them absorb the nutrients. Both these things would take a week or more to remedy it
 
OK.....tried to upload pics but my card slot on my BRAND NEW laptop isn't working!!

I don't have any fake decorations of any kind......I have two pieces of driftwood (two halves of a hollow stump) that have been used in tanks for a couple of years......I have eight live plants.......I have two sponge filters (one in each back corner) and an airpump sufficient for a 75 gallon tank (this one is only 40 gal)......I also have two HOB filters, one rated for a 60 gallon and the other rated for a 40 gallon. (the smaller one was added to try and help with the smell)

The driftwood pieces are their hiding places. They are like tunnels.

When I do water changes, I take the driftwood out. Every other water change, I rinse ONE piece in tap water, rotating which piece gets rinsed, so as not to kill off too much bacteria at once and throw off my balance. (None of my other stuff gets rinsed in tap water ever!) I vacuum the sand with every water change to keep any gas pockets from forming.

For biological surfaces, I have the two sponge filters, the surface of the sand, a sponge inside the larger HOB filter, a sponge in the basket I use to disperse the flow from that filter, and ceramic biological media in the smaller HOB filter (probably 1 1/2 cups).

IMO, I have more than enough filtration and biological surfaces. I never leave any food in the tank. My Axies look and act great!! I'M STUMPED!!! LOL


Axys:....It smells like a sewer!! Even though I use a baster to suction out poop most days! My daughter had a tank that smelled really bad once and it was an ornament that she had in it!! It wasn't the water in it, it was the material itself!! Once we took it out, the smell went away immediately!!

I really appreciate you guys helping me brainstorm!! I feel like I have thought of just about everything!!! I even did a 50% plus water change and it only helped for a couple of hours!!

Hopefully I can figure out why my card slot isn't working and get some pics up for you guys to scan over for me!!
 
if all else fails bring it down to just the filters, the tank, and the axies. move everything else away and see if the smells goes away. if it does add pieces slowly until you find the one that smells :p good luck!
 
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