General Care Discussion :: poop, the biggest water poluter

[Boston_Zhao]

As my turts grow up, their poop is growing accordingly, and the poop is really a pain in the bottom It messes up the water quickly, I have to change the water every 3-4 days. Any solution???

[DanielRES1180]

This shouldn't happen, given you have a decent filter. What's your tank setup like?

[scripta_elegans]

There are battery powered gravel vacuums that work very well to suck up the poop, it's what I use daily. I have also seen people post that a turtkey baster works well. Here's a link to the gravel vac I use. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Hagen-Battery-Power-Gravel-Fish-Aquarium-Vac-Vacuum_W0QQitemZ180055265443QQihZ008QQcategoryZ20756QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Boston_Zhao]

I have an underwater vacuum cleaner, but their poop gets decomposed ino fine powder that leaks back into the water....if I use a net, the poop also disintegrate and melts into the water. My filter is Whisper 30i tank is 20 gallon with 1' and 1 1/2 inch turts living in...... the filter doesnt seem to be able to take out that fine particles in the water, so the water remains milky

[Kallistos]

I'm confused? What does the Python exactly do? This battery vac that you provided looks a lot better than the Python.

[flutterby]

A python can change and refill water in a large tank fairly quickly, the vacuum can suck up debris, but the problem with them is, you get water in the wrong place it won't work anymore.

[Boston_Zhao]

I have a similar product, but the poop melts down to fine particles and leaks back into the water through the garbage bag

[Kallistos]

How does it suck the water out? With a battery, I hear it's connected to the sink? WHat purpose does that server, other than of course re-filling the tank. Does it use any mechanical or battery to suck the water out?

[scripta_elegans]

I am unsure about the python. I use a garden hose that I attached to the sink for filling the tank, and a siphon with large plastic tubing for emptying it. I think it's along the same lines, just more streamlined in the python. The gravel vac uses 2 C batteries, so I use it just to pick up debris at the bottom of the tank. Here's the siphon I use to empty the tank.
http://cgi.ebay.com/LEES-ULTRA-AQUARIUM-GRAVEL-VACUUM-LARGE-72-LONG_W0QQitemZ110058036534QQihZ001QQcategoryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[flutterby]

Python connects to the sink and creates a "vacuum" to suck the water out of the tank, it has special fittings etc to accomplish it. Its like a siphon but less disgusting and a lot quicker.

[Kallistos]

If it's connected to the sink, where does the water that it's sucking out go? Are there holes in the hose that let the water out?

[Boston_Zhao]

its just like a vac, the only difference is that its in the water rather than in the air so it sucks debris from water into the garbage bag and traps the garbage and releases the water back into the tank......but the problems is: the melted poop particles are smaller than the garbage bag holes, so literally the poop goes back into the water melted

[flutterby]

If it's connected to the sink, where does the water that it's sucking out go? Are there holes in the hose that let the water out?

There are special valves that make it so the water goes down the sink drain.

[SpotsMama]

I think the filter simply isn't keeping up with the load like it should. I don't know anything about your filter but if your filter were acting right you shouldn't need to change the water every three or four days and still have a mess on the bottom of the tank.

If you had no filter at all I would expect you to have to change the water frequently and work to keep the bottom of the tank clean.