# NEW FISH TANK SMELLS LIKE NOTHING I HAVE EVER SMELT BEFORE



## Sounduser (Jul 18, 2008)

Hiya all. I have a question about my sisters fish tank. Im usually pretty good with fish, I have a marine tank and quite a large pond and have never had any major trouble.

Ok out of the blue my sister brought a 35 litre fish tank and set it up. She put some filter start stuff in and left it a week. She started with one fish like I told her too, as I was planning to test the water in a week to see how it was going.

Before I could do that she put three more fish in there. A day or two after this the water went very cloudy and a day after that one of the fish died. At this point the water is starting to get smelly.

Where I am now is that there are two fish left. I’m changing water everyday as the smell is back the next day. I realise the fish died because she wasn’t patient like she should have been.

Anyone now what the smell could be? It smells like vinegar and nothing like fish poo or dead fish. 

I’m not sure what the fish are but basically there glorified gold fish.

In my opinion the tank is useless and only fit for the bin.. The little filter is peck!!


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

:? the only thing I can think of really, is that two goldfish in a 7.7 gallon tank would be more then enough to make it smelly. But not smelly like vinegar? What exactly is this 'filter stuff' Like whats it called, whats the brand name? Is this a previously owned tank or brand new? Did she clean it out nicely before putting water in it? And what are you using for substrate?


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## JouteiMike (Oct 7, 2006)

Sounds like the tank is going through the cycling process. Test the water to keep an eye on the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The cloudiness is due to a bacteria-bloom, which is normal for a newly set up tank. It just needs time to cycle.

Continue doing water changes, that should help, along with using activated carbon for the smell. For the activated carbon, I'd recommend to try and use 2-3 table spoons inside the filter, and remove promptly after a few days then replace with new carbon. If left in their too long, the carbon could do more harm than good. After the smell is gone, and the tank stabalizes, I recommend to discontinue using carbon until you either have to remove medications, or the smell comes back.

For the fish, I would remove the goldfish and give them back to the fish store, or to one of your tanks/ponds, or to a friend. The tank is far too small to be housing goldfish. A few smaller fish would be more suitable for a tank that size.


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