Oooh the smell
 

:eek: I got a problem with this tank. I just got my MH's up and running, and thus, took the glass covers off of the top of my tank. Since doing so, I can not explain the stench in my basement. (kinda like stinky basement guy) It there that much evap that would cause rot in the house? I've lost about 2-4Gallons over the period of 2 days. Does anyone else run into this problem? I'm at the end of my rope here, and I dont want to get rid of my tank, but this has to stop. Please help.

G

Hey.....

After a few days the house wouldent be rotting....I would hope not.....

Do you have fans blowing on tank?
Is your basement finished?
Size of tank?
size of MH 250? one or two ?

My first guess is that the smell is comming from your tank.....

Running carbon should help that
MH should be hung about 8-10in from water serface

Just taking shots in the dark here

Good luck

The amount of water evaporation sounds about normal I lose about 5 gal every 3 days on a 46Gal do you have a skimmer running maybe smell of the waste from the skimmer.....MH might be to close to the surface of the water!


How old is the tank??? Is it still cycling cause I had some funny smells when my tank was still cycling!!

I know my skimmer can really stink up the basement. I put a box of baking soda, on the top of the skimmer, and it takes the smell away.

reply
 

I vouche for the skimmer odor things as well. I've thought of modifying mine so that an air output tube takes the air out of the sealed collection chamber through a hose and into a carbon canister. The cannister is filled with water in the sump.

Yes 2 80mm on the MH's 2x250w ~ 6-8" above surface

Sure is

70G connected w/ 20G show tank and 33G sump

I'll give that a shot. I have smelt the water to check for oder, and there is nothing coming off of it. and the skimmer, well thats a whole other oder :D

It has cycled long ago. Mature tank.

I'm at a loss and I know if I dont fix it like now, my wife is going to have me out on my ass! :redface:

Whatever you do, don't use aerosol air freshener (Scavenger can attest to this). I have used Frebreeze around my tanks (but not too close) without any problems, then I leave all the doors & windows open to air out the place. Is the basement carpeted? Those can hold some funky smells in a fish room.

Anthony

I tested for phosphate again on a hunch, sure enough its up in the 0.5ppm range. Cyano is on the loose. Would this be the cause of the smell. What do people use for phosphate remover?

What ever you do, DON"T spray air freshener. My wife did that and the death toll was high. I almost broke into tears when I came home once early this spring.

Edit for: Read Seahorse Fanatic's post!!! Sorry missed it as I got misty eyed.

Maybe you spilled water on the carpet?
If you did you may have a mold/mildew stink.

I have a glade plug-in going, no casualties

Are you sure it's the tank that's causing the smell? I mean I could see how you would assume this.. but maybe it's something totally different from your tank.. just a thought so your not searching for a smell only from your tank.

No its definatly a "fishy" smell, as my wife puts it. There is nothing else that would cause it.

Have you searched around your entire tank for more "stinkier" spots? Just sniff around .. you might be able to pin point where or at least close to where it could be coming from??

If you can isolate the smell to your tank, from what I've read here and there, your tank has far too many nutrients and filtration should be beefed up. That's just the jist of what I remember reading, I suggest research before doing anything drastic.

Dude, Its the tank.

Run some carbon in your tank. That will help with the smell. As will Ozone.