General Care Discussion :: Opinion on my setup, Smelly tank question.

[mtxsub7]

I have a fairly big RES I adopted. I currently have him in a 29gallon and he has a lot of room to move around. The tank is about 3/4 of the way filled, maybe about half. I have a large basking area on one side and a 40 gallon in tank filter. No gravel or anything. I changed the water yesterday and it already smells really bad right now, the turtle is very active, eats like a fatman and is always swimming around and basking. Just curious any tips or anything that can help get this smell down, I don't leave food in there and if I do he usually eats it all so yeah.


Will update with pictures if someone requests I post them! thanks

[jenaero]

Pics would certainly be helpful

Sounds to me that the turtle is just too big for the tank. The tank you have is good for a turtle of 3-4 inches max. A large turtle in a small tank will mess up the water very quickly and require more frequent cleaning.

[TheComputerGremlin]

We recommend 10 gallons of water/tank per inch of turtle. You want to measure your turtle's shell length, starting at the top of the shell to the bottom, don't follow the curve. I found this is easiest by setting the turtle on a piece of paper and drawing a line at the top and the bottom and using a ruler to measure distance. Please post the shell length for us, since "fairly big" to the average person means around 4-5", and to us on the board, it means 9-12"!

Also, your filter is likely inadequate. You want the water to turn over several times per hour, so for a 29 gallon tank, you want it to be at least 100 gallons per hour, if not more. The bigger the tank, the stronger the filter needed. With a good filter, you can use activated carbon to decrease the smell considerably, though the carbon needs to be changed every few months.

Owning a turtle is not cheap when you start up, a female turtle may need over 100 gallons when full grown, and one of the only filters that will support that gallonage is a Fluval FX5. Together, those alone will cost you about $500, not including lighting fixtures, bulbs, water heater, and custom basking area. My 40 gallon setup cost about $500 altogether. Once you get the tank setup, though, the upkeep is cheaper!

I recommend looking into a tank upgrade, as you will need it in the very near future and finances can be fun sometimes. Until then, you may be needing to change the water 3-7 times a week. Look on Craigslist, Ebay, your local ads for deals. Ideally, you'll want to buy the biggest tank and filter you can afford so you don't need to upgrade again. Are you certain that you have a male? If so, you may need only a 75 gallon tank ...

[marisa]

Welcome. I don't know how big "fairly big" is, but a 29G would ideally be good for a 3-inch turtle (size is measured from the scute in back of the neck straight to the scutes above the tail, not including the curve of the shell). If yours much larger, then the tank is too small for him.

The filter is inadequate for the size of the tank and a turtle that's not the size of a small hatchling. If it's an internal (in-tank) filter, would it happen to be one of the Fluval Plus series? A turtle that eats like a fatman is a pooping turtle, which is going to result in foul water fairly quickly.

Carbon will help with the smell in small tanks. If you can, add carbon to the media in it. Carbon needs to be changed monthly, but with the size of the tank, and a filter that's too small for it it may need to be changed more frequently.

[nativekiwi]

I have an on going battle with water, nz on metric system so litres not gallons and centimetres not inches. My tank 1metre 50 centimetres long ( 5ft i think?) and 600cm wide. My female 40 cm long male about half her size. They are messy eaters but don't really leave scraps. Filter is JEBO 819, the filters were disgusting when i got it but have replaced them all and put a carbon one in too. took out the ton of filthy gravel which i reckon was adding to the problem. We'll see how it goes now i guess. Just feel so bad if their water not right.