# TANK SMELLS BAD



## mude (Sep 28, 2006)

I HAVE 120 SOUTH AMERICAN TANK, AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH I CLEAN IT THE WATER SMELLS BAD, I HAVE 3 POWER HEADS AND A OUTSIDE CHARCOLE FILTER, WHAT CAN I DO TO GET RID OF THE BAD SMELL? SHOULD I ADD ANOTHER FILTER WITH MORE CHARCOLE?


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

What sepcifically is this "outside power filter" you speak of? Sounds like you just don't have enough filtration.


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## mude (Sep 28, 2006)

ITS A CASCADE 300 IT SAYS FILLTERS UP TO 100 GAL, I THINK I NEED SOMTHING BIGGER


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## verbosity (Jan 22, 2008)

I think you are correct.


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## mude (Sep 28, 2006)

WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD FILTER SYSTEM TO BUY?


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## F8LBITEva (Nov 9, 2007)

Cascade 1500 is good for up to 150 gallons. Im running 2 canisters on my 75, SA cichlids are big fish and big fish = big poo. Personally I would run 2 Cascade 1500 on there.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I have a couple questions for you.

What does the water smell like? Dead fish? Chemicals? Moldy?

How many fish do you have in the tank?

How much water do you change every week?

What kind of food do you feed them?


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## mude (Sep 28, 2006)

ITS 120 GALLONS, I CHANGE HALF THE WATER EVERY 2 WEEKS, VACUME ONCE A MONTH, 1 BIG OSCAR, I PIKE, I GREEN TERROR, 1 JACK DEMPSY, SPINEY CAT FISH. IT SMELLS LIKE FISHY MOLD, I THOUGHT THE WOOD TOP WAS ABSORBING MOLD SO I REMOVED IT AND IT STILL SMELLS SOME DAYS ITS WORSE THAN OTHER DAYS


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

I DONT KNOW WHY BUT FOR SOME REASON WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Nighthawk (Mar 13, 2003)

What's with all the yelling? I can hear you guys all the way over at monsterfish! :lol:


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Check under the tank rim or on the lids for any decaying or old fish food. Try not to get any of it in the tank cause it will just contribute to cleaning & nitrate problems.

Is the smell the same odor as the fish food you feed? Or are you feeding live food?

What kind of decorations or substrate do you have in the tank? Are any of them new?

Has it always smelled this way or is it recent?


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## jayiw (Jan 16, 2008)

Do you have a dead feeder stuck between something or under something where your fish could not get to it? Check your ammonia level to see if that's high. Also Oscars are real messy and have a lot of poop and if you other ones are large as well they may have a lot of big poop. If your ammonia level is high it may mean a dead fish somewhere -or- you could have a spot with a lot of poop collected, maybe a spot you cannot really see or get to. They dig pits so there may be a pit somewhere with poop collected in it. This could cause an odor easily and can become fatal if the ammonia level gets too high. If either dead fish or poop you need to get it out of there asap because water changes will not even help because it'll foul back up in a couple of days again until the mess is removed. You may need to move rocks and other decos away to check.

Jay


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## mude (Sep 28, 2006)

I feed my fish medium size floating pellets once a day, feeders once a month. I have medium size sand (might be to large) flat slate rocks for caves and a large peice of malaysian root wood.


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