Musty Funk Smell

Hey Guys,

My tanks been up and running now for 2 months now, and I'm beginning to notice a consistent moldy funky smell in my apartment. I originally cured the live rock in the DT and while everything was dying off there was a definite strong odor. After my cycle finished, we aired out the apartment for awhile and put in a bit of livestock. Everything has been fine in the tank for the past 3-4 weeks but every time we walk through the door, we immediately notice a mustly smell.

What could this be? Is this just another step in the new tank process? Has anyone else had this problem, please help.

 

putting aside the inappropiate jokes i just thought of.
during the process of curing the live rock it will smell bad(which is usually why they say don't do in your house). if your tank is coming along properly you shouldn't be able to detect the odor anymore, are you sure it is still coming from the tank and not just residual smell left over?

how much of the water have you changed? i know during they cycle you not supposed to do them or use a skimmer but if its bad smell i think it warrants it

 

what livestock is in the tank (and all other tank info)? anything look dead?

 

If I take my carbon bag out it takes about a week for the tank to start stinking.

 

I've got 2 percs and a recently added coral beauty in the 55 gallon tank w/ CUC. 10 gal sump underneath with Remora skimmer. 8 gal fuge w/ chaeto. There's a bit of a smell in that area, but doesn't seem like it could funk up the whole place... As far as anything dying, I noticed a mini scarlet hermit dead the other day, but the rest of the crew got to him before I could.

Numbers as of 3 days ago:

PH 8.14
Mag 915
Alk: 8.3
Cal: 310
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10

I've since started working on bringing up my mag/alk/cal starting with Mag which is now sitting at 1170 as of this morning. I'm dosing around 1 cup of epsom salt over the course of a day, targeting 1500. Since my dosing a couple days ago, I notice the smell more.. (Or maybe im just getting more aggravated)... Could it be related?

I'm also beginning to think maybe since the humidity is rising in the place, that could be bringing out the moldy smells in the carpet perhaps. I have no idea of the history of my rental carpet.. :-/

 

I've had a carbon bag in the sump now for 8 or 9 days with no real effect on the nostrils.. Though the tank looks nicer to the eyeballs

 

I've been topping off around 3/4 - 1 gal of RO/DI per day during winter, and I'm assuming I'll have to top off even more during summer. My place isn't very big downstairs, but it doesn't feel overly humid in here either I don't think. I'm not noticing condensation on windows or glass of any sort. Would I need to fire up a dehumidifier in here? I haven't read to many posts on people with smaller tanks setups like mine needing one. What do you guys think?

 

I have a skimmer that puts out thick smelly skimmate. It was an awful smell. I placed a bag of carbon on top of the skimmer where the 2 holes are on the top of the lid and that cut back somewhat. I also place stick-ups around my tanks

 

That my friend is the sweet smell of the ocean
I agree, carbon will do the trick