Equipment Review and Discussion :: Fluval 305 and water stinks

[Elisa0829]

Ive had my filter for 6 months now and for the past month my tank water stinks and is cloudy. I clean the filter every time I change the water and I bought new carbon bags which made the water stay clean for a week longer but now it stinks again. What's going on? The filter used to keep myself after clean for a month now it's 2 weeks . I cleaned the tubes and everything

[steve]

How much water does it have to filter? How big are your turtles? What filter media besides carbon are you using? What's the process for water changes… is it complete or partial? Are you sure the smell and cloudiness is not from cycling?

[Elisa0829]

It's 40 gallon breeder tank so it has about 35 gallons on water in there.
One turtle has about 6 inch shell from the neck to his tail. The other one is about half a inch bigger but she is much wider.
Her shell is much much thicker than the boy ( I think his a boy).

The filter has 3 baskets top is two carbon bags, middle basket has two sets of white ceramic rings and the last basket has two black foams. On the side of those baskets it has four long sponges.

For water changes we vacuum all the water out and put fresh water which is treated with the drops (once a month) with one or two partials in between. The filter would be rinsed out including the filter media every other month.

Recently since we started noticing the water get cloudy and smelly, so we began to clean the tubes which were filled with gunk and replaced the carbon. And we are doing full water changes every week, though they need it about every 3 days, in addition to the weekly filter rinse.

Two days later the water was cloudy and smelly again.

I don't know what else to do. They get feed once a day- pellets.

I did notice this happen when I began to feed them red leaf lettuce but I've rinse the filter plenty of times after so I'm sure there is no lettuce residue in there. My mom would drop the lettuce in there and of course they'd wouldn't eat it all and the filter sucked it in.

Thanks for your response Steve!

[Elisa0829]

One more thing!

My last water change which was last week, I didn't clean the filter I only cleaned the tank and put fresh water. I wanted to leave the ceramic rings alone since I always rinse them with fresh cold water along with everything else. Perhaps a cleaned the healthy bacteria I've been reading about.

One more thing!

I also left the new carbon which was replaced the previous week. I thought since it's new, why rinse it!?

But shortly after the full water change......... It was cloudy and stinky and here I am now...

[Kansasslider]

Your not letting your tank cycle and your not letting your filter establish bacteria. This is what you need to do.If your tank has water in it and I assume your filter has been cleaned do NOTHING for 1 week. Then start doing partial water changes 20-40% once a week. Do not add any drops to the water. If you are adding drops because of chlorine just fill 2 5 gallon buckets with tap water and let them sit for 24 hrs the chlorine will evaporate . Do the partial water changes for one month before cleaning your filter. Clean your foam pads and ceramic rings in a bucket of tank water and replace carbon. Now if you just follow this routine your tank should be cycled in 4-8 weeks.You should only do partial water changes once a week. I do 20-40% or so.And clean your filter once a month. Now for your other problem your turtles are too big for that tank. Can you get a bigger tank? You also need a siphon so you can clean the waste off the bottom of the tank. Siphon when you do your water changes. Dont use a shop vac it removes water to fast and you will have an empty tank before the bottom is clean. There are many ways to cycle a tank this is just what works for me. Its important to stick to a routine until the tank is established.Hope this helps.

[Kansasslider]

Also this is how your filter should be set up.

[Elisa0829]

Thanks for the feedback and for the picture. I left the baskets of media the way they came in box which was....from the bottom up -- bio foam, ceramic rings and carbon on the top basket with the four foams on the side.

I'm going to put the ceramic rings on the top, bio foam In the middle and carbon at the bottom and see how that goes. Thanks kansasslider!

[Kansasslider]

Your welcome. Have any more questions just ask thats what we are here for.

[Scalegripper]

I use Fluval 306 canisters in each of four, 40 gallon breeders. My tanks are paired on the same 73" stand and share an above tank, basking platform common and accessible to all three turtles allowing basking and/or access to either tank? I also have a 55 gallon with two turtles and a 75 gallon with my last 2 turtles! My 75 gallon uses a Fluval 406 canister!
My water was impossible!! I even have a separate 55 gallon where I mostly feed my turtles the live Superworms, Dubias, fresh greens and their Mazzuri pellets!! My 55 gallon dedicated feeder tank has another Fluval 406 and two powerful Marineland power heads that leave no dead spots void of circulation! My feeder tank uses no substrate!! My turtles love Superworms and roaches!! The slate tile tank bottom serves perfectly for traction and easy prey capturing!!
All my tanks water issues VANISHED after I researched water clarity in turtle tanks and bought a large Aquatop fully submersible 13 watt UV Sterilizer with Powerhead from Amazon for around 65.00 each!! The 13 watt UV Light destroys so much trouble before it has time to fester and grow and ruin my turtles water clarity!!
Also,...all my Fluval canisters use Purigen & Seachem BioMatrix porous biomedia in the bottom drawer and just full drawers of Bio Matrix in ever drawer above!! It is important to assure your bio media has been allowed your patience and sacrifice while your tanks beneficial bacterial flora is establishing itself throughout!! Huge water changes significantly disrupt your positive bacterial environment so limit them!!
Try the UV Sanitizer when your water is impossible to get clear!
Bless,
Bill

[Elisa0829]

Scale gripper (bill),

So you have your baskets full of the same bio media? I ended up buying a new filter though it was the same kind (305) lol and my water has been super clean with only partial water changes. We've had no stink and it's been a month. I left the media boxes the way it came which was carbon on top, ceramic rings middle and bio sponge and polishing pads on bottom. I don't want to open my filter because I'm scared the water might start to smell like it did before. You should post some pics of your tanks!! They sound cool! And of your turtles too of course! And thanks for the info about the uv light. The uv light I use is only for them to bask and I'm sure it's not 13 watts strong and defiantly not submersible

[Kansasslider]

Scale gripper (bill),

So you have your baskets full of the same bio media? I ended up buying a new filter though it was the same kind (305) lol and my water has been super clean with only partial water changes. We've had no stink and it's been a month. I left the media boxes the way it came which was carbon on top, ceramic rings middle and bio sponge and polishing pads on bottom. I don't want to open my filter because I'm scared the water might start to smell like it did before. You should post some pics of your tanks!! They sound cool! And of your turtles too of course! And thanks for the info about the uv light. The uv light I use is only for them to bask and I'm sure it's not 13 watts strong and defiantly not submersible

Your water is not going to start stinking just because you open your filter. Also no need for a polishing pad. They become clogged up real fast.