# HELP!! Stinky turtle tank



## mamahen

It's been unseasonably warm here. I came home from work yesterday & thought that something had died in the house :help: 

Followed my nose to the turtle tank. YUCK! 

Set up: 30 gallon tank, filled 1/4, floating dock, heat/UV lamp, heavy duty filter, 2 red eared sliders (3 years old).

So I empty out tank, refill it with water, now it's 1/3 filled. Changed filter. Still stinks!! :help: :help: 

The tank is in the bathroom, at the back of the house (room is 10x12 with a window). You can smell it as soon as you walk in the front door. 

*So how in the heck can I get rid of that horrible smell!??!* This hasn't ever happened before!


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## longshadowfarms

RES are HUGE turtles for such a small tank and only about 10 gal of water. We have a 130 gal tank for 3 Painted turtles and there are times when it still isn't big enough (during the hot season when the males get aggressive). You'll probably have to scrub everything down with bleach water to get rid of the smell. They can produce quite an awful stink!


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## fishhead

It should help to aerate the water with a small aquarium aerator and stone. Anoxic (no oxygen) water will smell far worse than aerated water.


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## Sumer

I also have a red eared slider also in a 30 gallon tank. I know exactly what that smells like too. Ya that smell does linger after you go and change the water. With me its usually on my clothes from slopping water on myself. 
One think I do is in the spring.. (should do this today actually) is to dump the whole tank, take it outside and give it a good scrubbing (no soap) and steralize it in the sun. That really helps with the smell.
I have her outside in a kiddie pool for the summer so that is where she is right now to be able to do it. Mine is so big that I have given up keeping her in the bathtub for things like this because she makes so much noise. I have also just put her dry in an enclosed area for as long as a day and she was fine. 
Oh here is something cool I discovered.. Turtle water makes your plants grow better.

~~~
Sumer


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## deetu

Unfortunately, I remember my turtle had a lifespan of only a few months when I was a kid. (didn't know better back then)

They make a sulfur block for turtles called Dr Turtle that seems to help. I'm sure it's the same products that is available for ponds. Probably a combination of small tank and heat is causing a slime that smells. (run your finger along the glass...yuck) What everyone is saying about the good cleaning will help.


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## GoatLove

We also have a Red Eared in a 30 gallon. Every two weeks, we empty the ENTIRE tank, scrub it, change the filter and its parts and refill with water about 4 inches from the top. He has a floating dock also. I have noticed algae is a big issue with ours and part of the stink, so I bought algae rid tablets and they seem to be working. I notice at about a week, the smell starts, but besides emptying the entire tank, I don't think there is much else you can do :shrug:


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## TedH71

Bleaching the tank will make it impossible for fish to live in it. They die rather easily from that. That's if you plan to convert the tank to a fish tank


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## majic99

I use a commerical waste digester once a week, clean the turtle filters every few days, and i don't feed her in her tank. I honestly haven't cleaned her tank in months, just add new water as it evaporates. It seems to have reached a balance. It has a little bit of a greenish color to it, but no smell.


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## bumpus

.
Every time they poop and pee the water get worse until it's nothing more than a septic tank.

You have to clean it all including the turtles that smell like crap from a sewer also.

If people were swimming in there own human waste like the turtles they would smell just like a sewer too.

bumpus
.


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## JasoninMN

Wal Mart sells a siphon that you hook to the sink to drain the water from your tank and vaccum the gravel. Its 20-30 dollars and well worth the investment. You can then reverse the flow of the water and can fill your tank back up. It takes no time at all and the water changes will keep your tank alot cleaner. Its called a Python. 

http://www.pythonproducts.com/aqprod.html


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## GoatLove

Oh, also, I had pebbles at the bottom of the tank and decided to take them out and that seems to keep the tank cleaner with nothing on the bottom.


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## longshadowfarms

GoatLove said:


> Oh, also, I had pebbles at the bottom of the tank and decided to take them out and that seems to keep the tank cleaner with nothing on the bottom.


Agreed. It is a challenge to keep the tank interesting yet easy to clean. We use large pieces of driftwood and large pieces of slate so that they can be moved easily to clean.


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## WanderingOak

Have you thought about getting a few small 'bottom-feeder' type fish to help keep the tank clean? Admitedly, I know nothing about turtles, so for all I know, they could view fish in their tank as 'fast food'.


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## wildhorse

What about scrubbing the tank with vinagar and rinsing well.


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## mamahen

I usually take it outside June, July & August to empty it & scrub with salt.

I change the water every 2-3-4 weeks (depends on how it looks), and change the filter every water change. And the turtles get a shower, too.

No gravel, they try to eat everything not tied down! :nono: I did have a few big sandstones on the bottom. They even chewed on their dock. :nono: 

Tried different fish. They last for varying lengths of time. Depends on how frisky the turtles are feeling!  I sometimes get live feeders as a treat for them.

It's never really slimy when I clean it. Sometimes green. But has never smelled the way it did last week!! Must've been that hot, humid weather!! 

Happy to announce, the smell is gone!! :hobbyhors


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## fishhead

It might help to put a shallow water container for the turtle to get into inside the tank. Keeping the dirty water separate from everything else should help with the cleaning chore. That way you can just remove and clean the water container instead of having to empty everything.


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## GoatLove

WanderingOak said:


> Have you thought about getting a few small 'bottom-feeder' type fish to help keep the tank clean? Admitedly, I know nothing about turtles, so for all I know, they could view fish in their tank as 'fast food'.


I forgot to mention, I have a cory catfish in the tank with Harvey (the turtle  ). Harvey has never attempted to eat the catfish. Who knows, maybe that little cory is keeping it cleaner :shrug:


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## Sarah Bella

TedH71 said:


> Bleaching the tank will make it impossible for fish to live in it. They die rather easily from that. That's if you plan to convert the tank to a fish tank



that's not true at all. As long as you rinse a tank well and allow it to dry thoroughly fish can live in it. It's common practice to use bleach when cleaning a fish tank, especially after a bacterial infection. Chlorine (Bleach = Chlorine + oxygen) evaporates rather quickly from water too, so even if there was some left over the water would be fine to use 24 hrs later.


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