jesp Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 So my room is in the basement, and yes, foolishly I haven't a window (I am aware that it is illegal). I have a 67 gallon tank in there and I am getting sick of the smell it is creating. I have been keeping a fan on at my door 24/7 till it broke. I also have some kind of little odour eater product that you open and just put on a shelf. Febreeze has been my best friend, but I use it all up. Does anybody have any suggestions that work well and pretty cheap hopefully? Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 So my room is in the basement, and yes, foolishly I haven't a window (I am aware that it is illegal). I have a 67 gallon tank in there and I am getting sick of the smell it is creating.I have been keeping a fan on at my door 24/7 till it broke. I also have some kind of little odour eater product that you open and just put on a shelf. Febreeze has been my best friend, but I use it all up. Does anybody have any suggestions that work well and pretty cheap hopefully? Cheers. If it's coming from the tank itself than a bit of charcoal in the filter will fix that in a jiffy. If not then you have serious problems that need to be fixed asap. Step one is get a really good lid for the tank if you don't allready have one and cover any holes like the one for a Hang on back filter. I use saran wrap on my koi tank in the winter and keep it on tight by secureing it to the lid of the filter with tape. This will cut down the humidity if the take is not the source of the smell and that should help. The other culpret would be the bubblers in the tank. You don't need them if you have enough movement provided by filters. Good luck L P.S. I've heard of a few people looseing their entire tank because someone used Fabreeze nearby so i might be a bit more careful with that product and maybe try something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Frequent water changes, tight fitting lid and new carbon in the filters every two to three weeks. If you keep your room warm you may not need heaters in the tank and that may also lessen the level of humidity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 If the tank is smelling up your room then you might have problems in the tank. Do plenty of water changes, remove any dead plant matter and add some charcoal. My bedroom is in the basement and I have 4 tanks running in it(used to be 6). They range from a 90g to 20-10gs, the smaller tanks dont' even have tops and my room doesn't smell. I do have windows but they are never open. In the summer it gets kind of humid and I use a fan but even when its that hot and humid it still doesn't smell. Even when I lift the tank lids and sniff, I dont' really smell anything except a very faint "earthy" smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 My fishroom is 5x8 with no windows, has 7 tanks w. open tops. Also a few Live Food cultures (see my sig), and I don't have a smell in there... If there is a bad smell coming from your tank, there is something wrong with it. Dead, decaying fish or plants, maybe? If left 'til they start to rot, dead fish really stink! Give your tank a good cleaning, and keep up on thoses WCs, and that should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JORG Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 If your tank is clean it might be time to give the room a good scrubbing move everything and wash behind it, clean it top to bottom. With no fresh air coming in and the extra humidity from the tank you might be at risk of mold setting in ,and that could be the cause of the odour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesp Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going to do bigger water changes more often. Also, I turned off the bubbler that I just set up and I think that was a large factor. I would never leave a dead fish in there, and I haven't any plants with the peacocks, but it might be due to my plecos. I have a big royal and a large common pleco in there and I regularly toss in a big piece of cucumber for them to munch on; I often see that it gets a little shredded by all the fish, leaving little tiny pieces on the bottom for a little while. I really should try to suck those things up before they start to decompose. (Furthermore, I should take into account my leopard gecko who needs a change of sand.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscusKeeper403 Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 (edited) What you are smelling is probably just a build of up D.O.Cs (Dissolved Organic Compounds.) Could be caused by a number of reasons. Those extra water changes should definitley help. Edited October 13, 2009 by DiscusLova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleshgear Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 i have many tanks spread out in the bsmt of my house. some planted and some bare tanks and 1 cichlid tank. the cichlid tank some times start to smell towards the end of the week. time for a water change. i do not have any carbon in the filter. but i will be putting some in too see if that helps. i dont know why it is the only tank that smells. some of my tanks will go months without water changes, only top ups and they dont smell. the cichlid tank is by far the most crowded probably with the highest bio load. i dont know if any of this helps but that is my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 You don't happen to have cyanobacteria (blue-green "algae") in there, do you? That stuff stinks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatica Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 Hello If you are getting a swamp like smell it is classic blue green algae smell (cyno bacteria) Which means the aquarium is either laking adequate water changes that have produced higher than normal nitrate & phosphate levels and or yhat lower than required oxygen levels exist. It can be remedied by doing more water changes, adding excel, using a tetracycline product or even hydrogen peroxide in"small" doses have been shown to work Best of all increased water changes are your first defense & best solution. All other "remedies" should be researched before applying Rudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandi Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 Do you have snails in your tank? I heard that they can stink because they multiply so fast and you never know when one dies and just rots there. I have five big tanks, they all have lids but I don't put snails in for just that reason. But there are probably some snail people out there who might disagree with me on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinoy Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Have to agree with everyone who suggested frequent water changes and removal of all dead plants and animals. These will go a long way in keeping the smell away. What a site, so many helpful people with a lot of knowledge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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