Is the smell of your reef tank a health indicator or not?

[NabberNate]

Tells me my sump level is a bit low and algae is exposed.

 

[Auquanut]

When my skimmer cup starts to smell, I just blame it on the dog. But seriously folks, with my lousy sense of smell, I'm pretty sure I would notice a problem visually with my tank before I smelled it.

 

[Gup]

We live in Wildwood New Jersey. So we are minutes from the Back Bay. I always loved the smell of the ocean salt air. There's nothing else like it, imo.

There is no unpleasant odor that we can smell, when I open the lid of the tank. Yet when I begin a water change, from the drain line at the bottom of the tank, there's an initial burst of Back Bay odor. And just as quickly, it's gone.

Finally, after six months, my water parameters are as close to perfect as I'll probably ever get. So I am accepting that odor as a good thing

 

[Diesel 2021]

Ok so I get home and yes I took a smell and instantly was reminded of the smell I get when we go to the ocean surf fishing. One of my favorite things to do! So I guess I'm doing pretty good so far with it. Being a new reefer and all.. Lol.

 

[Taborct1]

Having a heavily stock 40g with only HOB filter smell is an issue. I know when I start to smell a pungent salt water smell my nitrates/phosphates are out of whack and i need to do some maintenance. If it has the smell of rot I know to look for something dead. I can even start to tell the difference between snail/crab and a coral. This though doesn't constitute the health of the tank in its entirety as there are many more aspects to having a healthy tank. So by technicality I say no.

 

[Foneman02]

If your tank smells like a pond or rotten eggs immediate water change as soon as possible. If it gives off a ocean smell all is good.

 

[chicago]

Still trying to figure out why tank smells bad some
Times.

 

[DonTavo27]

I lost my sense of smell after a car accident, so no lol

 

[ClownWrangler]

My chaeto always smells fishy, but the water only smells fishy if after I feed silversides to my starfish.

 

[DaddyFish]

My tanks all smell like money, burned money.

 

[Clo]

Mine just smells sweet. But I recently started dosing phyto for my copepods

 

[Lambs-_-13read]

I would like to add, if you use a veggie clip please make sure you remove the algae from the clip if there are remains from not being eaten. This will grow white mold yes white mold! I had wondered why I had a smell coming from the tank believe it or not. This isn’t always the case but most of the time the smell is from pollutants from the tank ie uneaten fish food, fish waste, dead or decaying algae. Most importantly could be from a dead snail or cuc member just have a wife from a dead snail . I run carbon and gfo to help remove pollutants but proper husbandry should eliminate these smells (cleaning skimmer, sifting sand, vacuuming dead spots). As always happy reefing.

 

[Durhamreefer]

I recently read a comment where one of our community members said they knew if their tank was healthy or not by the "smell of their aquarium." I started to think and wonder about that comment and how I may or may not have encountered weird smells from my tank that could have been a sign of distress and came to the clear as mud conclusion that I'm not sure! Let's talk about it.

1. Do you think you can judge the health of your tank by it's smell?

2. Would you consider your reef tank to be stinky?

1. NO - My eyes and testing equipment are my tank health indicators. Visual clues IME are far more revealing than smell.

2. Having grown up in a small fishing village I became accustomed to the natural smell of the Sea, which doesn't offend me.
Before Apex, the stench of skimmate permeating through the downstairs was always a good sign the skimmer was freaking out.

 

[ClownWrangler]

I love the smell of my tank, it's like a day at the beach. Is that weird? My husband thinks it's weird.

Is this the beach you are talking about?

 

[reefpizza]

It can sound strange but when the tank it's doing great i can smell a more "good" stuff, like the smell next to the sea rocks, if it's not running good it have no smell or a disgusting one.

 

[reefsaver]

I think people can judge the health of their aquariums from smell. But I certainly couldn't, not after 10 years of smoking lol.

 

[Paul B]

Tanks shouldn't have any bad smells but if you have a lot of anemones in there, they smell. I am not sure why but I can smell a tank full of anemones. I think it comes from their slime, but it could be from their "under tentacles"

 

[Nhjmc]

If I walk into my house and all I can smell is "fish tank" I assume something is not right. It's rare but has happened to me once or twice.

 

[Nano Chris]

I can kind of smell the difference between a new & established tank. I think you can also tell by the color of the water if it’s yellowish or cloudy.

 

[sghera64]

(Other). The smell of my tank, or the water running over the overflow reminds me of the smell of the ocean near the shore.. . . . Except and unless something really bad has gone wrong. My nose can't tell if something is off a little bit. But if something really bad is going on, I generally see it with my eyes and can verify with my nose (sometimes).