Habitat - Indoor :: RAWR

[ColeweezY23]

alright so i came home after being away for 4 days with my sister taking care of my turtles.the water smells very bad. 1 - 10 its probably a 7.5 it usually never smells like this and i have no clue why. can anybody think of why? any kind of suggestions would be useful thank you veryyyyy much.

[octpusgirl8]

Well if your water smell bad in general, i'd say you odn't have adequate filtration. I can put my nose up to my turtle's water and smell nothing at all. Your sister may have overfed him, creating a lot of extra waste in the tank.

[ColeweezY23]

i am pretty sure my filtration is good.i have a whisper filter. the one with two canister things.((i dontknow what they are called.)) but yeah its the one with two on the side it doesn't seem to be working GREAT but its doing okay. only one side is pumping fast.the other is decent that might be it?

[mikee]

Cole-23 All bets are that it is you filter. You must have 5 or more times the gph filtration of your tank. If you stick to the correct gallonage and filtration, that is recommended for your turtle you should be fine.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I believe in my filter (a Rena Filstar XP3) the BioChemZorb keeps the odor down. Is there a carbon insert for your filter? If so, it might need changed out (which you should do every 1-3 months). My tank has no noticeable smell to it, like ever, and I feed my turtle in the tank. I'd look into a better filter, you can find them frequently on ebay for not bad (I got mine for $120). Without the BioChemZorb, I'd be dying!

[Nettle]

I have the same filter and if it goes long enough without being cleaned, it'll still stink.

[Starchick]

The fact that this is a new issue makes me lean toward octpusgirl8's suggestion. Unless you hadn't cleaned the tank and filter in a while, it shouldn't just randomly start smelling. Feeding in the tank is pretty much the worst thing you can do for your water quality, especially if there's food left over hanging around the tank. Do you have a test kit? I'd just give it a thorough cleaning and keep an eye on your water quality for the next few weeks.

[ColeweezY23]

so you think i should just get a new filter?i have those carbon cartridges in it but they keep getting dirty...fast. should i clean it out fully and start over?its a 55 gallon tank and the filter came with it as a whole total setup my parents got it for cheap like 200 i think so it is probably not the best filter. also it was made for fish not turtles and fish aren't quite as dirty as turtles as we all know

[octpusgirl8]

Yeah, i think a new filter is in order. It's a big investment, but trust me, it's worth it. A good canister filter is the best choice for a tank that size. An XP3 would do wonders on your tank!

[ColeweezY23]

yeah i dont have that much money to put on a new filter right now.should i feed them in a different container to keep the waste down?

[mat012]

I think starchick's suggestion is good. Give everything a good clean out and go back to you old routine. If that doesnt tackle the smell then seriously think about a new filter. But I wouldnt assume that you filter has stopped working properly just yet - especially if the cost of another filter is prblematic.

My whisper did a fine job as long as I kept up with water changes. You can actually use those filter "packets" again. Wash them out really well in hot water, dump out the old carbon and refill with new carbon. I could usually add a couple of extra tablespoons of carbon too without slowing down the output. The carbon will take care of the smell.

If a canister filter isnt in the budget you can add another in-tank or hang on the tank power filter. I think some on the forum have said good things about aquaclear filters. They are reasonable.

[ColeweezY23]

i just want to say thank you to all who helped me i gave the filter a good cleaning yesterday emptied some water and put new water in and put some tank cleaner in and now it has no smell to it.its doing a lot better because of your help thank you.