So, for starters, my tank smells kinda skunky or swampy, ive heard that its from the ammonia that is in there, and yes my fish are in there already, its not right and im afraid i may lose them...but any way, is there anything i can do to fix this smell? or do i have to be patient with it like with the ammonia problem? and i also caught my red oscar attempting to jump out of the back of the lid, he is about 2 inches and the hole may be big enough....i could use some ideas on how to make a lid....ive heard that almost anything plastic and breathable will work, help please haha

Welcome to OFL.
Your water may smell of algae, mine does.
I never smelled a swamp, but i get the picture.
Do you have a test set for your water?
We are gonna need some results for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH.
Ammonia is bad and should not at all be measurable, if your filter is working correctly.
How long has your filter been running?

well, the tank has been running a total of....id say a week and a half, and ive tested the ammonia, its at somewhere between 0.25 mg/l and 1.5 mg/l, not good i know...but unfortunately ive already got my fish...i dont have a nitrite/ate test, but the ph is also high

It is not uncommon for a tank to absolutely stink. Normally this happens when you have water quality problems and you start getting bacteria blooms. Exactly what is your pH?

Well, unfortunately, idk, the tester doesn't go past 7.6......

Are you using aquarium pharmaceuticals pH test kit, the lower range?

I'm not entirely sure what brand, but yes its the low range

Do a water change!

Ya, I plan to tonight but I did one tuesday too, I just don't know if I should worry, or live with a little stink in my room

my 220 gal tank do stink also whenever my two giant pangasius releases their feces.
but after a while, the odor is gone.

two things is possible:
1) you do not have enough turn over on filtration; or
2) you do not have enough filtering media to cope up with the bio loads.

excessive feedings can contribute to bad smell too. and two weeks tank is no
difference of keeping spoiled milk in an open jar.

yeah...water change is a must.

There is quite a big difference between 0.25 and 1.5 ppm when you actually look at your test card. If your tank has only been running for one week than you are just at the very beginning of your cycle (I do hope you're not a woman )

as soon as your ammonia starts rising above 0.25 then it is time to start doing water changes, if it is no higher than this then you don't need to do a water change, you do need some ammonia present to enable the cycling process.

You will definitely need a nitrite test in the next week or two, the nitrate will probably start appearing at some stage, but not for a while.

i fully understand OFL's point and i agree with it. however, stinking odor is another
issue... as i have said, under circulation and too much spoiled food may be the culprit.
as i have said, its like a spoiled milk in an open jar, thus stinks.