General Care Discussion :: SMELLY??

[CanadianAmphibian]

Hey guys! I have a 2 year old turtle. About a size of a palm. I' d say maybe...6 inches in length from tail to the head.

My question is...is it natural for them to stink more as they grow? I really have a good filter.

thanks,

Fred

[missibsu]

I've never heard of a turtle stinking more as they grow. Have you cleaned his shell? Have you changed his diet recently? What kind of filter are you using and have you changed the media recently?

[SpotsMama]

My turtle didn't get smelly as he got older. However, his water gets dirty faster because he's bigger and if I didn't work at keeping it clean, the water would be smelly.

One thing I learned recently is that even if the water looks clean, it may have a lot of ammonia and nitrite (waste products) in it which will definitely make it smelly. Do you test your water for ammonia and nitrites?

[Yayita]

my turtle does not smell either, she does poop more than before and the poop smells worse if that helps any

[CanadianAmphibian]

Thanks guys for the reply. I think it' s her diet. I' m feeding her the adult kind pellet. The tank smelled more when I started feeding her that. Also she' s been pooping alot more than before.

I have an excellent underwater filter which is pretty strong.

Guys..how often do you clean your turtle tank? I' ve been cleaning mine every 2 weeks lately.

thanks,

Fred

[missibsu]

Depending on the size of tank, number of turtles, type of filter...it all depends on how often you will have to clean your tank.

Ideally your filter should be rater for 2-3 times the size of your tank, turtles are messier than fish. I have a 75 gallon with two turtles and an xp3 filter that gets partial water changes every other week and full cleanings once a month.

The bigger the tank, and the better the filter, the less often has to be changed.

[wetchikn]

One thing I learned recently is that even if the water looks clean, it may have a lot of ammonia and nitrite (waste products) in it which will definitely make it smelly. Do you test your water for ammonia and nitrites?


QUESTION? How do you test for ammonia and nitrites? I live in Italy but if someone can tell me what I am looking for I am sure I can order it online. Thanks

[SpotsMama]

You can get kits in the fish section of our petshops. There are different ones to choose from but I like one called Freshwater Master Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. You can test for four different things with the kit - ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. I'm sure you can get it on-line from a number of places. It cost me about $30 and it has enough supplies for hundreds of tests - so it lasts for months and months.

Opinions differ somewhat as to the ideal ph for a RES, but some feel that a slightly low (acidic) ph is best for the health of the turtles shell as it inhibits bacterial growth. I am one of those!

If you've got ammonia and nitrites in your water it means your bio filter either isn't established or there is too much turtle waste for it to handle. The bio filter will take care of ammonia and nitrites when it's working properly. You need to be careful when changing the water not to wash away all the good bacteria in the bio filter. It takes time - several weeks - for the good bacteria to build up to a useful level. If there's not enough water for your turtle the bio filter will never be able to handle the load.

So far as I can tell plants in the water will consume some of the nitrates (which are not as harmful as the ammonia and nitrites) but you'll also need periodic partial or complete water changes to keep them at a low level.

I'm still a novice at this myself so jump right in here you veterans out there if you need to add/correct something.

[CountryGirl68]

Very good answer, Spotsmama. The kit you suggested is the one I use - very good especially if you don't know the hardness of the water; the kit should include a test for that as well (mine does).

You can buy Biozyme (beneficial bacteria at the pet store fish section. You can add about 1/8 teaspoon every day for 5 days either to the filter or the tank water until your tank is well established, whcih can take up to 6 weeks. I prefer to add it to the filter because it really only works in the tank water if you have gravel - which isn't needed for turtles and makes cleaning the tank that much harder.

[GPRenegade]

I use somthing called "Turtle Clean" to keep waste and odor down... there are plenty of water conditioners out there.

[marisa]

If, by underwater filter you mean a submersible filter, it's probably not enough to keep up with the increased waste your turtle is producing as your turtle grows. What filter are you using?

And what size tank is your turtle in? How much water do you have in it?

[CanadianAmphibian]

I have the Tetra In-Tank filter. She' s in a 10 gallon tank right now. I know that it' s pretty small for a 6 inch turtle. It' s just she was way smaller 2 months ago. She' s almost double the size than 2 months ago.

[marisa]

Small tank that can't hold much water (10 gallons max, and it can't even be full or your turtle could escape) and a dinky filter for a turtle that size (may be OK for a small hatchling, but not for a 6-inch turtle)---not counting the head and tail maybe the shell length is more like 4 inches?--- that's producing waste) equals a smelly tank that needs frequent cleaning (more than just every two weeks).

If you have gravel/a lot of pebbles in the tank (you didn't mention if you did), that will only magnify any smell (traps poop and other debris).

Before you start experimenting with products like Biozyme or testing the water (the results won't be good after even a few days), do your turtle and yourself a favor and get an appropriate-size container (a tank or even a Rubbermaid storage container for the time being) and a better filter. Allow for ten gallons of container per inch of shell length and get a filter that's for a tank about 3X the one you get for your turtle. Bigger tank, more water and better filter should take care of the smell.

You said your turtle is 2 years old and has doubled in size the past few months. Why is your turtle suddenly been growing so fast? What is the turtle being fed, how much and how often?

[CanadianAmphibian]

Thanks Marisa for the reply. Yes, the shell is like 4 inches. And no, I don' t have a gravel in my tank.

I feed my turtle an Exo Terra ADULT pellets. I didn' t notice that the pellet is for adult turtles when I bought it. Now it' s almost finish and I' m going to feed her a Nutrafin Basic food pellets. I feed her everyday for 10 minutes. I tried feeding her lettuce and carrots before but she won' t eat them much.

Is my turtle too big for a 2 year old??

thanks,

Fred

[cam722]

I don't think it's a matter of your turtle being too big for 2 years old but more the rapid growth. That usually indicates that it's being overfed and usually too much protein. 2 inches in 2 months is way too fast .. usually that is the growth over a year and that only during the first year. You should aim for an inch of growth over a years time for a 2 year old turtle.

You should feed your turtle a specific amount of pellets not go by the .. as much as they can eat in a time period. How many pellets would you estimate your turtle is eating at one feeding?