dpgriffin Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) Hi everyone, new fish keeper here. I bought a new 55g tank a couple weeks ago and am currently waiting for the tank to cycle. Shortly after adding water to the tank I noticed a strange smell. I couldn't even try to describe. I figured it would clear up after a few days which it did for the most part. Last night I did a partial water change since the nitrites seemed unusually high (2.0+ ppm) and now the tank is smelling again. Here are the contents of my tank. Any idea what it might be? Thanks in advance! No Fish Fluval C4 Filter API Quick Start added initially PetValu Essentials Water Conditioner Ecocomplete substrate - did not wash as packing said this was unnecessary 1 Dragon Rock - rinsed well before placing in the tank 1 Mopani Driftwood - boiled for 30 minutes Several Plants - Java fern, Hygro Willow, Java moss from LFS; Vallisneria and Crypt Lucens from existing tank Edited December 5, 2020 by dpgriffin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Smells like old socks, your first girl friend, your grand mother, a kitty litter box, or a Barnes and Noble? 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
test.tin Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, Daniel said: Smells like old socks, your first girl friend, your grand mother, a kitty litter box, or a Barnes and Noble? I love how oddly specific those smells are, gave me a good chuckle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
test.tin Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Could be your tap water that smells. Or residue that was left inside the tank. Try adding seachem purigen into your filter, purigen is like activated carbon but wont remove fertilizers. Nitrites being high is a normal part of tank cycling. Your ammonia and nitrites will be going up and down, once it stabilize at 0ppm, your tank is done cycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpgriffin Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Ok, thanks. I was worried if the nitrites were too high it would stall the cycle. I My girlfriend says it smells like a pond. 'll give the purigen a try if it doesn't clear up. The plants seem to be in good condition for my most part but I went through trimmed the leaves that looked questionable. Upon closer examination, it seems that I've got some baby snails in the tank. Must have came with the plants. I'm hoping they don't over run the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 18 hours ago, test.tin said: I love how oddly specific those smells are, gave me a good chuckle The honey tasting people are very serious. Here is a tasting/smell guide for different honeys I have been working on (based on the honey sensory workshop). I thinking of doing one of these for fish tank smells, sort of a fish tank sensory workshop. Any suggestions for different smells are welcomed. I'll take @dpgriffin's girlfriend's 'pond' as a bigger category that could have sub categories. And I just finished draining a 10 gallon aquarium and I would say there are notes of 'moldy chlorophyll' with a slight after taste of 'old leather' (I did end up ingesting some tank water during the siphoning process). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nataku Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 @Daniel I am greatly amused that 'locker room' is apparently an animal. In all seriousness, this is a fascinating chart. And perhaps something similar for tanks could be useful. In that regard, I'd like to suggest smells such as fresh rain, wet dirt/freshly turned earth, sulfur/rotten egg, turtle food, old rained on cut grass, rotten fish food, and burnt plastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 I have only rinsed pebble substrate in one tank and that by itself smells! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Just now, Daniel 46 minutes ago, test.tin said: I love how oddly specific those smells are, gave me a good chuckle The honey tasting people are very serious. Here is a tasting/smell guide for different honeys I have been working on (based on the honey sensory workshop). I thinking of doing one of these for fish tank smells, sort of a fish tank sensory workshop. Any suggestions for different smells are welcomed. I'll take @dpgriffin's girlfriend's 'pond' as a bigger category that could have sub categories. And I just finished draining a 10 gallon aquarium and I would say there are notes of 'moldy chlorophyll' with a slight after taste of 'old leather' (I did end of ingesting some tank water during the siphoning process). That chart is just lovely, @Daniel ... almost like an art color wheel. And it makes me think of my paints in my pallet box. If you need a gift for an arty friend, it would be beautiful in a frame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Where is Umami, and/or Savory? Is that Earthy? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 if find a healthy tank smells like a kind of a " mild earthy smell" but you should only smell this when you stick your face in it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 @Streetwise, in culinary arts, umami is described as "earthy". Mushrooms have that taste. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 20 hours ago, dpgriffin said: Ok, thanks. I was worried if the nitrites were too high it would stall the cycle. I My girlfriend says it smells like a pond. 'll give the purigen a try if it doesn't clear up. The plants seem to be in good condition for my most part but I went through trimmed the leaves that looked questionable. Upon closer examination, it seems that I've got some baby snails in the tank. Must have came with the plants. I'm hoping they don't over run the tank. A healthy planted tank will smell like a pond. I personally love the smell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpgriffin Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 The smells seems to have dissipated since yesterday. I wouldn't expect a tank to be completely odorless but you could smell it as soon you walked through the door. It's in our living room which is pretty open and spacious. I just never noticed a scent like this with the 10 gallon tank I've had setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now