smelly tank

Question
I take extremely care of my tanks,I have had tanks since I was a kid,I love fish..lol. I have a 29 gal with tropical fish in it, it's not over crowded, and it was doing fine until I got two dragon fish. I am wondering if the dragon fish, or the shrimp pellets they love are making it smell?
I do total changes at times and other times I use a siphon hose and go under all the rocks, if the water gets low then I add and siphon again. Then I was wondering if you thought it's the pellets, then should I get real shrimp and try that? Thank you so much for you time, I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Annette Braswell

Answer
Annette,
I believe the shimp pellets are a factor in the odor.
Also changing the entire contents of the tank is not a good thing.
Too much change too fast, only time to do that is in a critical situation..
10-20 per cent is good...weekly or biweekly depending on the tank load.
Shrimp pellets disintergrate quickly and get under and into everything.
I would suggest something you can control better, real shrimp will work,if it is not
eaten its easy to get out of the tank.
try that , and cut back on the 100 percent water changes once the tank cycles thu
it wil stabilize and the odor should be gone...carbon will remove it temporarily...not a perm fix...partial water changes, stirr only the top inch or two of gravel and change cartriges in filter if you have a double one at a time rather than both together...
monitor the organic imput into the tank and things should come around for you.
enjoy your tank....