Fish are a common household pet.
Many people keep fish because they are easy to take care of, and they bring joy to those who experience the beauty of these animals.
However, sometimes there may be a fishy smell in aquariums.
In this article, you’ll learn how to get rid of this smell.
Three ways to get rid of the fishy smell in an aquarium?
There are many different ways to eliminate the fishy odour in your aquarium.
The first thing you can do is make sure that you change out about 10% of the water once a week.
This will help remove any dead algae or other materials decomposing in the water, causing the odour.
The second thing to do is make sure that you add a filter.
The filter will help keep the water clean, and it can also take out some of the odours from the water.
The last thing you should consider is making sure that your tank has plenty of aeration or circulation in the water.
This will allow any chemicals or gases to dissipate instead of staying in the water.
Unfortunately, there is no single solution to how to get rid of the fishy smell in aquariums.
However, these tips are a great place to start when correcting this problem with your tank.
How to get rid of dead algae and other decomposing materials from water
1. Let the pond or reservoir become nearly dry.
2. Remove all plants, fish, and other organic materials that provide algae or bacteria food.
3. Add a few drops of chlorine bleach with four gallons of water and stir thoroughly before adding this mixture to the pond.
4. Allow the pond to dry out for another week, then pour down a gallon of household ammonia and stir thoroughly before adding this to the pond or reservoir.
Campden tablets (potassium metabisulphite) dissolved in water may be substituted for common household ammonia if desired.
5. Continue pouring down this mixture until there are no more algae and the water is clean.
How to keep the tank clean by changing out 10% of the water weekly
There are many ways to do this, but I will use a few that I have found most effective.
One of the easiest things to maintain good water quality in their tank is changing out 10% of the water every week.
This may be difficult at first, but it is well worth it because you will not have to do an entire water change from time to time.
It will also help keep your water balanced and clear, which could lead to your fish thriving more.
Another way you can maintain a clean tank is by wiping down all surfaces with a sponge or cloth.
Doing this will help prevent algae from growing on the decorations you have in your tank.
I recommend going with sand or gravel for the substrate as they are easy to clean and maintain.
However, if you want something like live plants (which is a must for any planted tank regardless of species), it would be smart to use mosses or another plant that does not require constant attention, like the Java Moss.
For fish that suggest planting their environment for them (such as Cherry Barbs, Angelfish, Discus etc.), then using a sandy substrate would be fine, along with decorative rocks and driftwood pieces scattered throughout the bottom of the interior your tank.
Or simply have one rock column placed towards the centre of most activity during feeding time(s).
Fish will also produce their own waste (unlike hermit crabs and other non-aquatic animals that would be housed for a semi-aquatic tank).
If you are looking to keep your water quality even cleaner, you could use a substrate vacuum cleaner.
This will save you from frequent water changes and the extra work of siphoning out old food and faecal matter.
Not only that, but it has almost completely replaced the use of gravel vacuums, in my opinion, because of how efficient they have become over time as new technology is being developed for these products.
The only disadvantage to using them are possible fish injury/death if they are left unsupervised during cleaning.
Water quality can decrease quickly due to the fish in your tank.
Because of this, it is essential to be diligent about maintaining your water changes every week or more if needed (depending on what sized tank you have).
Doing this will help maintain clean water quality and keep the nitrates and ammonia levels stable for longer periods of time.
There are many ways to do weekly maintenance on your tanks water quality, but I am going to share with you the method that has worked exceptionally well for me:
1) On a Sunday evening, after feeding time(s), use a turkey baster and siphon out 10% from your main aquarium body and put it into another container/bucket.
This makes it easier to deal with when doing water changes.
2) After siphoning out the 10%, I recommend replacing the water in your tank with treated tap water.
This will help balance your ph and stabilise any changes you may have encountered while doing your weekly maintenance on Sunday evening.
Any type of water conditioner will work, so simply use whatever is convenient for you.
However, if you are constantly having trouble keeping a stable ph level from time to time, invest in some driftwood or something that would be beneficial to achieving this goal.
3) Once done, pour the bucket back into your main aquarium body and add fresh activated carbon to filter(s).
You could also add more biological media like ceramic bio rings (highly recommended!)
if you plan on going away for a weekend.
4) It is essential to watch your fish as you do this.
If they start acting lethargic or have their gills touching the sides of their body (or even worse, laying on its side at the bottom of the interior of your tank), then I would suggest doing a water change sooner than later.
This could be due to many factors that we cannot pinpoint at first, but it will help me determine if it was due to something else being wrong with my water quality or simply because I overfed them.
5) Once done, make sure that everything in your tank has been put back into its original place and take a look around for anything out of place/missing before covering it back up again until feeding time(s).
Conclusion
If you want to keep your aquarium fishy-smelling free, these three steps can help.
The water needs to be changed out weekly and the algae removed from the tank as it breaks down.
Regularly changing 10% of the total amount of water in the tank should also help prevent a buildup of decomposing materials that lead to an unpleasant odour with time.
So if you’ve been wondering, how do I get rid of dead algae or other decaying material?
How often do I change my aquarium’s water?
We hope we have helped answer those questions for you!
