General Care Discussion :: Messy Tank problem

[cooleststan]

well, I don't know if my turtles just have diarrea or something, but the past 2 days, when I wake up, the tank is filled with tons of junk. THe poop is dark green, and there are tons of little flakes (look like little bits of lettuce) floating around. Is this diarrea or should I expect this every day?
In the past I just got a few chunks of poop on the bottom which I removed wiht my turkey baster. BUt with the dark green poop, I have to spend about 5 minutes sucking everythign up witht he baster, wait another hour until eveyrhting settles to the bottom of the tank, and then suck eveyrthing up again. The filter helps but it is not strong enough to suck up the big chunks.

Any reocmmended products for cleaning?

Also, I don;t see how feedingin another tank helps keep the tank clean, my turtles just eat the pellets completely, there is no mess. ANd with vegetables, I like to leave them in the tank so they are never hungry

the only mess is the poop, but it gets EVEYRWHERE!

[DavidY]

Veggies will make their poops looser and messier. What are you using for a filter? You might need a stronger filter to keep up with their mess.

[untsmurf]

The problem with leaving food in the tank, is the turtles won't stop eating it (unless they don't like it of course) they will eat what they need and a whole bunch more and it isn't good for them.

[cooleststan]

i thguoth I was supposed to leave veggies in the tank?
because it doesn't matter how much of it they eat?

and I have a marinland 125 bio-wheel for a 29 gallon, I could get a stronger one, but I think I am going to wait until I need to upgrade my tank to get a bigger one

[untsmurf]

You're supposed to feed them veggies everyday and remove the uneaten food. Unless I'm mistaken of course.

[DavidY]

I usually give them a bunch of leafy greens every day but they eat it all within 15 minutes. They usually won't touch the wilted stuff after it's been in the water for more than a couple of hours.

[ptcake]

About feeding: I feed my babies separately and I carefully monitor how much they eat. They DO eat the pellets, but you need to know that turtles are messy eaters. It may appear that they are not leaving food in the water, but the container I use to feed Asia and Warren in is quite messy after they finish their dinners. I keep plants in their aquarium all the time...they nibble frequently...the messy tank is evidence of that! I change the water frequently. I also try to allow them to "poop" in the container in which I feed them by adding warm water to the container. It doesn't always work out as I want. So....maybe you can try feeding separately and watching what happens...it takes patience, but it's worth it. Also, I don't feed pellets every day...maybe once every three days. So far, so good!....it's been 10 months today and all is well with my babies. Hope this info is what you are looking for.

[marisa]

If they're leaving poop like that in the tank, it sounds like you're giving them too much in the veggie dept. How much do you feed them?

I augment the turkey baster with a very fine mesh net (find one that's for brine), which helps skim the pieces off the surface (but will not pick up everything unless you're willing to stand there and keep going over and over the surface). If you've got a floating basking area, check underneath it, a lot of poop gets trapped there.

How big is your tank, and what kind of filter are you using?

[steve]

It could be vomit. This might happen if you put in too much and they eat quickly. Even out the feedings and offer less portions.

[cooleststan]

ok, is it normal for the tank to have a lot of random stuff flaoting around when I stir up the bottom. I shoot the bottom with a blast from my turkey baster, and I see a lot of little particles flating around, (probably poop, uneaten food, etc)
the filter picks up some of it, but then it floats back down and the water is very clear. Is this normal? or does this mean I need to clean the bottom more? I'm pretty sure a stronger filter wouldn't help, the food and poop go down to the bottom no matter what!

[DavidY]

Yea, that's pretty normal. I usually siphon the gunk off the bottom of the tank when I do a water change.

[cooleststan]

ok, would getting a vacuum help clean the gunk off the bottom more effectively than a turkey baster? or would that just save me the exercise that my fingers are getting from squeeszing the baster?

[DavidY]

Yea the vacuum will make it easier and be more thorough.

[steve]

What exactly are you using for substrate? I'm glad a lot of people have stopped using gravel, but sometimes they over do it with the river rock. No need to cover the entire bottom

[cooleststan]

I am using nothing! just 1 big river rock that weighs about 5 pounds
and some fake plants of course