Other Turtle Discussion :: how do i stop my turtle tank from smelling?

[Rocky YBS]

i have a 120gallon tank, but i want to know how to stop my tank from smelling like turtle poo.
can anyone help?
i have a filter but still my turts make a big mess.
i have no gravel, but i have river stones.
i clean the tank every 2 days!
any sudjestions?

[turboturtle8]

I put my turtles like 7 inches away from an oulet so I just put an air freshner it helps a little.Sometimes it does smell realy bad though

[Turtle addict]

My house does not smell, you need a better filter!

I have 12 water tanks here and no smell! Clean the land ones once a week and those don't stink either.

[pumpkinsherbet]

get a better filter and clean it more often.

how often do you do partial water changes?
how often do you syphon out the debris from the bottom of the tank?
what grade filter do you have?

[industrial_girl_2000]

I agree with Pumpkinsherbet.

But also, how many turtles to you have in there?
How much water do you have in the tank?
Do you feed the turtles in the 120 gallon tank or do you feed in a separate container with water in it?

[SpotsMama]

I've got a 100 gallon tank and it does not smell. I use an XP3.

Before, when I had a 55 gallon tank and a very weak or no filter, it smelled. I completely drained the tank, cleaned it with bleach, rinsed like heck, then refilled it twice a week for probably a year. A couple of days after each cleaning it would start to smell again.

But since the XP3 and the 100 gallon tank, no smell! I clean the filter every month or 6 weeks, do partial water changes every couple of weeks. A few weeks ago, after 6 months of running the XP3, I did the first complete drain of the tank, cleaned everything really well with a vinegar solution, rinsed and refilled. I'm set for at least another 6 months.

The key is to have a large enough tank and a good filter.

[pumpkinsherbet]

i forgot to ask how often you clean the filter and if you have one with the bags how often do you rinse/replace them? when i cleaned my friend's tank i had to do heavy duty filter cleaning and change the bag i'm not even going to get into how bad that was (surprised it was still running). of course if the thing that keeps the water clean isn't properly cleaned and maintained itself it's simply useless. i myself an due to make a trip to the store to pick up more bio bags for my own. also keep in mind turtles are messier than fish so you'll need a filter rated higher than your actual tank's current gallon capacity.

[Rocky YBS]

i clean my filter every week.
i clean my tank very well all the time. when ever my turtles swim, it looks like they are flying.
im not sure about the filters capacity, it gets full in about 4-5days and it holds 2 sponges but no bags.

[industrial_girl_2000]

What kind of filter? If you don't have any charcoal in the filter media, that is one reason why it may smell.

Also feed your turtles in a separate container so you don't have any leftover food rotting in the tank. This helps a lot.

[Rocky YBS]

it is just a filter that contains two sponges when you take it apart.
it does the job but still my tank gets smelly.
i dont realy know what type of filter it is.

[pumpkinsherbet]

if you're cleaning that often and still have problems i would say the filter's not doing its job. check the equipment section, someone will be able to recommend a good filter for you i just have a 55 gallon so i wouldn't have a clue.

[SpotsMama]

For a 120 gallon tank you definitely need a canister type filter. Look among the canisters to find the right one for you. If all your filter has in it is is two sponges, then it's not the right type.

And I agree with pumpkin, if you are having smell problems with your tank, then the filter's not doing its job!

[DavidY]

replace one of those sponges with a carbon bag

[marisa]

Your filter holds two sponges but no other bags of media? Is the filter an internal filter (inside the tank)? It doesn't sound like a canister, which is what you need for a tank that size.