Smell.....

[Eli916]

I do changes each week regularly....about 20 percent. I am getting a new fish tank this weekend but i have noticed that there is a smell coming from my tank(10g) and i have one Oscar. Now less i am just getting a new tank and it has to cycle for a while I want to see if i can do anything about the smell and i want to know what might be causing it? Any ideas?

Eli

 

[SoulFish]

is the oscar going in the new tank? how big is the oscar? oscar in the 10? how big is the new tank? oscars get big and fast needs much more then a 10

 

[SomethingFishy]

Do you test your water? High amonia levels can cause some smell in the tank.

I am told that a properly maintained tank should have no smell whatsoever. I would assume that the ammonia would cause a foul odor as well as a build-up of fish waste. Since the Oscar does produce a fair amount of waste for a fist its size that could be your problem.

What kind of filtration do you have? Check your water too.

Good luck*celebrate

 

[Saint]

It is amonia more than likely. The oscar is too big for that tank. The amount of waste it produces alone will generate enough amonia to make the tank smell.

 

[Eli916]

i actually just got a 75 today...and i'm setting it up and starting to filter tomorrow( two filters-300 aqua clear and whisper 3). Can you help me out w/ the whole cycling deal? What types of fish and how many would i put in this size tank?

 

[miky443]

use Danios if you are cycling with fish. I would start with 10-15 small ones. How long has your other tank been up? has it fulluy cycled? if so you may want to put some of the gravel in your new tank to speed up the process. If you are fishless cycling see article in beginers message board. Good Luck...

 

[qaffle]

i'm not disagreeing with anyone, but if he's got a 75gallon tank for one oscar, is there really much concern about cycling? I'd think in tanks that size, as long as you aren't putting extremely expensive/delicate fish that you wouldn't need to be concerned under small loads.

 

[colesea]

I would try to use as much from the old tank as possible, smelly water and all, to help jump-start the cycle in the new tank, but I wouldn't put the oscar in there until the cycle is done (as miky443 says, read the article in the beginner's board on fishless cycling). The ammount of ammonia in the smelly water will probably be more than enough to get the large tank started. Oscars can suffer from ammonia/nitrite toxicity as much as any other fish, and if this oscar is a pretty big one, it could create enough waste in a 75 gallon tank to cause a spike and kill itself. Look already what it is doing to 10 gallons. When you change the water on the ten gallon (And I would probably be doing 50% on this tank twice a week if the smell is that bad), add it to the 75 gallon tank. Monitor the chemistry on the 75 gallon tank for the appopriate spikes.

Are you feeding your oscar live feeder fish? That could be where a majority of your waste is comming from. High protien diets like that mean more fish poop, on top of whatever left-overs the oscar didn't eat rotting in the tank. Switch your oscar over to a cichlid pellet diet (Hikari makes a pellet for oscars) as a staple and only give feeder fish as a treat once a month or so. It is only a myth that oscars "grow bigger and faster" if fed a diet exclusively of feeder fish. Such a diet is truely unhealthy for an oscar, it risks introducing them to disease as well as obeasity, which shortens their lives. With pellets it is easier to control how much the oscar eats, therefore you can better manage how much it craps.

With an oscar, that one fish will probably be the only thing to live in 75 gallons. They grow to be a good 18" and will eat anything smaller than they are. Danios are Oscar lunch. I would also suggest looking into better filtration, such as a nice Fluval or Ehime canister in addition to the two HOBs you mentioned. Just because you have more water doesn't mean it can't get just as dirty, and you will still probably have to water change it frequently to keep your oscar healthy and happy.

~~Colesea

 

[Eli916]

Okay thanks for the help...how long do i keep the water cyclying for before i can put in my Oscar? Wait so Colesea...you dont think i have enough filtration?!...i'm not made of money...hahaha And with the fish how many should i put into this tank?...3? considering they are supposed to grow very big. Also i was looking into getting snails for the bottom of the tank...good idea or no. I did put some of the old waters tank as you said to, to start the bacteria growth.
~Eli
PS Qaffle...i'm not a guy...Elizabeth (Eli) get it?..its all good though

 

[niki090909]

i do not know if you have enough filteration or not, but if you do not have enough it will end up costing you more money in the long run.

 

[colesea]

I second Niki, unless of course, you really enjoy doing large volume water changes very frequently. I would invest in a python siphon hose with sink adapter if that is the case.

How many fish you want depens upon how much work you want to do, especially with oscars. They are a large, slightly aggressive, territorial, and somewhat destructive, fish that are what those in the hobby call "dirty" fish because they eat soo much and poop so much. Three of them might be a bit cramped in 75 gallons, and they will eat everything else. One pair of oscars are all you will probably have in your tank. Personally, I would not do anymore. While your oscars may look small now, remember, they grow and in the future you will regret that you crammed so many into one tank. The more fish you have, the more they eat, the more the poop, the more filtration you will need on that tank, and the more water changes you will be doing...

Oscars don't like tankmates much anyway, they are extreamly territorial and chase and harass whatever they can't eat. They do enjoy digging up plants, even plastic ones, and redecorating. Anything you have in your tank should be siliconed down snuggly if you want it to stay where you place it.

As far as knowing when the cycle is done, that requires both ammonia and nitrIte test kits. You should see your ammonia levels rise (preferably off the scale) then drop back down to zero. Then the nitrIte level should rise (preferably off the scale) and also drop down to zero. This should occure without you removing water from the tank. It may require that you test your tank water every day if not every other day. I like to chart my values on Excel.

Good luck
~~Colesea