# Why wont my tank stop smelling!!!!



## zephspacer (Jul 29, 2011)

Ok i need to find a solution to my tank smell or my parents are gonna get rid of my tank. It smells ungodfully bad!!! I have 2 eheim canister filters running and the smell wont go away! I have 2 oscars, 2 convicts, 1 gt and 3 firemouths. Nothing is dead and i do weekly water changes! I got the canister filters used and everything came with them. But i did notice thats theres no activated carbon in them. I dont know if theres supposed to be any or not but one is eheim classic 2213 and i think not positive eheim pro 2226. I dont understand why it smells so ungodfully bad i didnt have this problem when i had my hob filter and had a ridiculous amount(30) of african cichlids. Please i need help and fast!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Big waste producers. Just add carbon. Should get better. You can just throw bags of it in the tank - rinse them of course.


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## zephspacer (Jul 29, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Big waste producers. Just add carbon. Should get better. You can just throw bags of it in the tank - rinse them of course.


So i just throw bags right into the tank or in the filters? or both? But thanks will do. oh also how long would it take for the smell to go away?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The eheim filters have carbon replacement filters or you can get bags and fit them into the trays. I have never tried throwing in the tank, but have heard of it being done.


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## zephspacer (Jul 29, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> The eheim filters have carbon replacement filters or you can get bags and fit them into the trays. I have never tried throwing in the tank, but have heard of it being done.


ok will do!


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## SevenNoOni (Oct 11, 2011)

I had a cichlid tank did the same [email protected] thing.. what i did was a small back of carbon in the tank.. smell was much better in about 2 hours but gone in 3 days. However it returned later on. i just increased the water change amount to about 40% till it went away. it was hard to even be in the room with that tank the smell was that bad.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

You do know you're supposed to change out the filter media in the canister filters every two weeks or so, right? That includes filter floss (sponge material) AND carbon.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Gizmo said:


> You do know you're supposed to change out the filter media in the canister filters every two weeks or so, right? That includes filter floss (sponge material) AND carbon.


I'm not a believer in changing out filter media, I just rinse it. The exception being carbon which needs to be replaced. 

Carbon is great to remove smells. Incidentally women's nylon tights are perfect to make up your own bags of carbon so if your mum wears them ask for them after they have been ruined.

Your tank does seem to be overstocked which can't help. Do you have any problem with algae or slime in your tank? I once had an outbreak of cyanobacteria in a tank which really stank.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Gizmo said:


> You do know you're supposed to change out the filter media in the canister filters every two weeks or so, right? That includes filter floss (sponge material) AND carbon.


What happens when you do that is you loose all of your beneficial bacteria so you don't want to do that. Just clean the media in tank water or a bucket of tap water that has been dechlorinated. And I only do that when the filter starts losing flow. I don't even open mine except maybe every 6 months.

Carbon looses its benefits in just a couple of weeks, so I would change that, but I never use it.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Gizmo said:


> You do know you're supposed to change out the filter media in the canister filters every two weeks or so, right? That includes filter floss (sponge material) AND carbon.


Do you own an Eheim that you do this with? In my smallest filter (Eheim 2217) it would cost nearly $50 to do what you're saying here. In my largest, about $150. The ONLY thing that gets regular replacement in an Eheim filter is the filter pads. Even then, I think it is only monthly. The instructions say to replace a portion of the media, 1/3 I think, every 6 months. However, I have heard people talk about how they have had the same media for over 10yrs.

Your schedule I wouldn't even do on a Aquaclear filter. I have an AC50 that has been running over a year and haven't replaced anything in it. Most people that have been keeping tanks a while don't use carbon. It may need to be replaced every 2wks to be effective.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I use carbon in all my filters - I just realized today that I haven't changed my carbon in like 3 months, lol.... THAT could be why my water is no longer crystal clear! XD


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## TypeYourTextHere (Apr 20, 2011)

Gizmo said:


> You do know you're supposed to change out the filter media in the canister filters every two weeks or so, right? That includes filter floss (sponge material) AND carbon.


Why on earth would you throw out perfectly good media like that unless you want your tank to continuously cycle? Please tell me you at least keep the same biomax (or equivalent) in the filter. I have had the same sponge, which i rinse in a bucket of tank water, in my AC 110 since I bought it. The only thing that has been replaced is the carbon.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Carbon needs to be replaced at least every 2 weeks in my opinion, but I agree with everyone - I usually rinse my floss and replace only once a month or more. Plus, since I have so many plants, I have done away with carbon altogether and use the media chamber in my Magnum 350 for bio media, which I change very infrequently but occasionally rinse.

One thing I think might need to be considered when overhauling filters is that flow needs to be relatively unimpeded or you not only get very little water circulation, but you run the risk of wearing out or even burning up your impeller motor.

Ben - I use a Tetra Whisper 10 on my 10 gallon and a Marineland Magnum 350 canister filter (thanks Bev!) on my 29 gallon. The cost to swap out floss and bio media on my canister is only about $5.00, but it also is on the smaller end of canister filters, correct?

Susan - I agree you lose large amounts of bacteria when you swap out filter media, but my objective has not been to replace everything in one clean sweep, but to replace say the floss once a month and every three to six swap out the bio media (if it even needs it). However, I am a firm believer that if you use carbon it's completely useless after 2-3 weeks tops. Plus, used carbon makes good compost fodder 

Just my thoughts...


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