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i recently saw in a pet store these bottles of waste degrader and was wndering if they were a good idea. turtles are really messy in general so my first impulse was to think that it would be good to decompose their waste and/or uneaten food. but the more i thight about it i just had too many concerns with possible ingestion or possibly causing other health problems. could someone more educated offer some advice on this?

most of them are bacteria that break down the waste not chemical. We use them in all of our tanks and it helps a lot

Good bio media and regular water changes go a long way for me. I'd rather not add anything into the tank that is not necessary.

I have a very large adult turtle (9" long shell) and probiotic/enzyme waste degraders come in really handy for her since her poop is so large.

Basically the waste degraders are just enzymes & beneficial bacteria ("microscopic bugs") that help break down the poop so it doesn't just rot in the tank. This does not replace the need for regular water changes, but it helps prevent a "smell" in between water changes. It's also great for just after you change the water, you can add in the waste degrader which helps establish friendly bacteria in your bio-filter. There are many different brands of waste degrader. I have tried at least 3 different brands, all with success.

But if you have a small turtle (less than 6 inches), I wouldn't bother buying it since it really isn't necessary. Their poop isn't big enough to warrant spending the money on it.

could you post the names of those waste degraders? those might come in handy since my little ones are growing quickly!

Here's a link to the one I use:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 006+113626

I like turtle clean too. I have had the best results with it of all those I tried, although the others worked too. It might be that different brands work better in certain areas due to pH and dissolved solids.

Turtle clean is great. I used it for years. There is another one called "Biotize" that works great too.

Currently I use one that is more concentrated so I don't have to buy 10,000 bottles of enzyme cleaner (I go thru a lot since I have a 90-gallon tank). I bought it at a salt-water shop, but can't remember the name off hand. I only use a teaspoon of it for my entire 90-gallon tank so it lasts longer (it's also a lot more expensive than turtle clean).

Needless to say, if you go with turtle-clean, you will be fine. You use a capful of the stuff for every 5 gallons of water. Use turtle clean every time you change the filter media. The water may be a bit cloudy for day or two, but it will clear up & be sparkling with no smell for weeks on end.

FYI - I do 100% water change for my 90-gal tank every 4 weeks, just to give you an idea.

We use Biotize

I got a bottle of turtle clean too! I don't use it very often since I always suck up Serra's poop with the turkey baster

Just because the poop is broken down and you can't see it doesn't mean that the water is clean. Water changes (full and partial) and a good filter will be more important to keeping up the water quality than anything you add to the water. Take the poop and other debris out when you see it.