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my aquarium stinks what to do2007-11-24 23:38:05

i'm a total novice,, i bought a 50gal aquarium last week. there are 4 parrots and 4 smaller fish living in it since wednesday. i have loads of air pumped in and a filter on 24 hrs a day, but the tank is starting to stink already and the water is starting to cloud.. is this normal and just needs very regular cleaning, or might i be doing something wrong?

Also my fish seem to freak out when i turn their light on,, do parrots prefer the shade??

Answers:

The clouding and smell are a normal part of the nitrogen cycle. The clouding will clear on it's own but the smell will need some help. Do a 25% water change today and then another two days from now. That should cut down on the odor some. Do you have charcoal or carbon in your filter? Carbon will do a good job of reducing the odor.

Once the nitrogen cycle is complete in about 3 weeks, you should not have any more problems with odor as long as you do your regular (weekly) partial (25-30%) water changes. You should start doing them now and never stop as long as you have aquariums. I have 23 tanks up and running right now and I do my water changes every week or 10 days depending on how many fish are in each tank.

Water changes are the single most important part of tank maintenance. Next is gravel vacuuming and filter maintenance.

Never ever tear down the tank and clean it all out or you will have to go through the 3 week cycling in of the tank all over again and you risk losing fish to the ammonia spikes. For the first month of a new tank, you should test your water for ammonia every third day and do a partial water change if needed to bring the ammonia level down to a non-toxic reading. After it is cycled in, you can stop testing as long as you are doing your water changes religiously.