Fishy smell

[Neo Jeo]

Morning,

So, I have my 120g up and running. My tank kinda has a "fishy smell" No way I said.. How can that be?

My partner doesn't care for the fishy smell lol.. What can I do? Is carbon a good option? Does all tanks smell kinda fishy?

 

[mta_morrow]

From my personal experience, and my wife saying she loves the tank, hates the smell, I run carbon “as needed “.

It clears and cleans the water and by doing that, eliminates odors.

Some people run it all the time, some never use it, and some use it on an as needed or wanted basis.

Rule of thumb is 1/2 cup carbon for every 50 gallons of system water volume.

I usually run mine 3-4 days then remove until needed again.

 

[Neo Jeo]

From my personal experience, and my wife saying she loves the tank, hates the smell, I run carbon “as needed “.

It clears and cleans the water and by doing that, eliminates odors.

Some people run it all the time, some never use it, and some use it on an as needed or wanted basis.

Rule of thumb is 1/2 cup carbon for every 50 gallons of system water volume.

I usually run mine 3-4 days then remove until needed again.

Cool, I can give it a try. I also use a air purifier so that helps.

 

[kswan]

I run carbon 24/7 and do not have any noticeable smell.

 

[Livinlocal]

I also run carbon 24/7 and don't have any smell unless I shut all the pumps off for a extended period of time

 

[shaggydoo]

I run carbon 24/7 and feed very heavily. I occasionally overdo it and notice a slight smell to my tank, that is when I know to slow down or do some extra maintenance. Smell is an important tool in keeping a healthy tank, there should not be any noticeable odor (at least one we consider stinky) in a healthy tank.

 

[Neo Jeo]

I run carbon 24/7 and feed very heavily. I occasionally overdo it and notice a slight smell to my tank, that is when I know to slow down or do some extra maintenance. Smell is an important tool in keeping a healthy tank, there should not be any noticeable odor (at least one we consider stinky) in a healthy tank.

Do you all use refractors? I have one from BRS that’s a Dule one. I don’t need to run phos bane yet but I’m assuming I can just run carbon. Is it ok to run on a new tank or best to wait for maturity?

 

[Crimson]

I dump my GAC in the filter (mesh) sock and change every two days. Probably a waste, but I only use a tablespoon for my 30.

Since it's only a 30 I didn't bother with a reactor.

 

[shaggydoo]

I've never worried about phosphates, nitrates or the like.

 

[Crimson]

I've never worried about phosphates, nitrates or the like.

I think the OP is more concerned of smell. Usually smell means something is up with the tank. I would check your live rock, maybe detritus is collecting somewhere in your tank and the smell is from it decomposing.

 

[Neo Jeo]

I dump my GAC in the filter (mesh) sock and change every two days. Probably a waste, but I only use a tablespoon for my 30.

Since it's only a 30 I didn't bother with a reactor.

I don’t want to do it every 2 days

 

[shaggydoo]

I should use a reactor, but use just baggies of carbon. You should be fine putting it in any time. I have three 1 lb bags in my refugium at all times and rotate them out every week or two. Probably would be more efficient if I had a reactor.

 

[Crimson]

I don’t want to do it every 2 days

You should rotate the filter socks every two days, though that depends on mesh size. BRS did a study on filter socks you can find it here:

 

[Neo Jeo]

You should rotate the filter socks every two days, though that depends on mesh size. BRS did a study on filter socks you can find it here:

Really helpful. Thank you looks like I need to change them 2 times a week. IS that what you do?

-How do you clean them? I know there is a 100 different ways lol

 

[Crimson]

I do about twice a week. I take the filter sock, trash the GAC, rinse out the sock place it in a bucket with vinegar and water, let it soak while the other is in use then rotate all over again. I do rinse the vinegar off the "clean" sock before placing it the tank only because I run bio pellets. If you don't you can skip this step as the vinegar acts as food for the bacteria (like vodka dosing).

Now, once a month I will bleach both socks at once while I have a third one in use. The day before I rotate socks I take the clean bleached socks and soak them for 24 hours in water with Seachem Prime. <---very important if you bleach something.

If all else fails, growing up in an Italian family I can give you a recipe for clams and spaghetti which your significant other will love the smell.

 

[kswan]

Now, once a month I will bleach both socks at once while I have a third one in use. The day before I rotate socks I take the clean bleached socks and soak them for 24 hours in water with Seachem Prime. <---very important if you bleach something

This is interesting. I used bleach to clean my filter socks when I was using them and simply rinsed and dried completely before using. I was under the impression that once dry it was harmless...

 

[jgvergo]

+1 on running carbon. I recently got a BRS reactor just to control the smell.

Keep your skimmer reasonably clean.

Also, in my experience, you will experience a "low tide" smell when water levels drop in your tank, sump, skimmer, etc. when pumps are turned off for feeding and maintenance. It really helps to keep the surfaces that get exposed in those situations as clean as possible.

Finally, (and I can't provide a scientific explanation for this) as you tank matures the smell should subside a little. The current smell might be attributable to algae which is common the first few weeks or months that a tank is coming of age.

 

[Crimson]

This is interesting. I used bleach to clean my filter socks when I was using them and simply rinsed and dried completely before using. I was under the impression that once dry it was harmless...

I am sure Randy could give you and me a lesson on bleach, but from my understanding your right if you let it dry out. Bleach is sodium hypochlorite once dried is just salt. However, I just like to take the extra step to make sure. Maybe this is just a habit from my purigen days. Though, unlike filter socks with purigen you cannot let it dry after bleaching.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Morning,

So, I have my 120g up and running. My tank kinda has a "fishy smell" No way I said.. How can that be?

My partner doesn't care for the fishy smell lol.. What can I do? Is carbon a good option? Does all tanks smell kinda fishy?

I run a mix of Chemipure Blue and Purigen on my 40g and I have little to no foul odor from my tank. There is a mild ocean smell that you can occasionally detect as one would expect from a reef tank). The only time I get any foul odor is when I clean the sand bed during a water change.

I run these because not only do they last significantly longer than carbon, neither of these when exhausted leech back into the water. Another perk to specifically Purigen is when it is exhausted it can be regenerated in a bleach water solution an indefinite number of times.

 

[ReefSapper]

My tank has always had a little bit of a smell to it, it's not terrible but if you are standing right next to it looking in from the top you get a smell that could be called 'fishy'. I think it just smells more like the ocean. I run carbon in a sock placed in one of the baffles of my sump and i don't change it nearly enough. When i do change it i certainly notice a difference.