My turtle tank stinks! HELP!!!!!!!?

Question

I have a large canister filter working great, regular water changes and the P.H. level is fine, does anybody know why it would smell SOOOOO bad and how i can prevent or stop it?!
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

Gee thanks,
My eleven year old daughter will LOVE that answer!
NOT!!!

I have a 4 foot tank.
uv light
a canister filter with vacuum that leaves no debris or anything to rot
i have half a dozen large pebbles on the bottom, so there's nowhere for debris to hide.
he has a tunnel and shelf to crawl on, and the tank is 3/4 full, lots of swimming space.
i've done everything right i think, i've had him 2 years and starting to think he's just a smelly boy!

Answer 1

What you are smelling is the ammonia in your tank. Meaning decomposing matter.

The reason would depend on how big your turtle is, how big your tank is and what filter you are using. Also do you have substrate? Gravel will hold alot of debris and will need to be syphoned out regularly.

If your tank is too small, it will build up high ammonia levels in no time.

And please ignore the advice from people who have their tank 1/4 full. Turtle swim, more than anything. The only land area they need is big enought to get out of the water and bask under a heat lamp and UVB lighting (Reptisun 5.0's).
If you fill your tank right up and build an enclosure ontop with a basking area, your turtle will look 1000 times happier. They need space to swim and having a 90 gallon tank with 20 gallons of water in it is pointless.

Search for the source of your ammonia buildup. Most lively, in the gravel, or in the filter.

Answer 2

Turtle Tank

Answer 3

the smell is usually from some kind of bacteria growth or something like that. One possible way to stop it is by buying a UV light. UVa are the common type and cost about $7/light bulb and the UVb are the more expensive bulbs usually around $50/bulb but they normally come with a 1year warranty. The UVb are better for the animal because it helps them absorb their vitamins. Anyway, UV light is one safe way of killing off bacteria that can cause a smelly aquarium. You may want to look into a new filter or a new filter media. I had a filter that had a multi-media filter in it.. I think it used ash & some sort of sandy composit. It seemed to work fine. Finally, I would take a look at the turtles diet and food intake. Is there left over food in the tank that rotts or anything like that? Hope that helps.. you can ask a pet store but they might try and sell you everything they can... good luck.

Answer 4

I have a turtle and this is what I do, I fill it roughyl 1/4 of the way with water, put in the rocks, bridge and other rocks as well, then when it's feeding time I take him out of the tank, I put him in a seperate container and just leave him there for a while so he eats and then does his business and then I just put him back in the original tank. I also get him feeder shrimp so that he can eat what he wants, and they also clean the tank at the same time, with this routine and regularly filling up the water as it evaporates I do his tank every 2 months as it stays so clean

Answer 5

You do not mention the substrate, but I bet it is some sort of pebbles.

Even with a good filter, debris and wastes get into the pebbles and decay, sending up the 'turtle tank' smell we all hate.

Get yourself a good 'siphon cleaner' tool and suck out several gallons of water while you vacuum the bottom of the tank. The cleaner the bottom is, the less smell you'll have!

You can reduce the problem by using different substrates. Sand, for example, looks dirtier faster, but is also easier to clean (but you'll want to put some sort of pre-filter on the filter intake to keep sand out of the workings!) A lot of pros don't put ANYTHING on the bottom!

Answer 6

If you have rocks or soil in the bottom of the tank that could be the cause of the smell. If you don't have anything in the bottom try to spot clean often, a gravel vac (you can get this from Wal-mart) is great for this. When you clean the take you can use a mixture of 1 part vinegar 1 part water and it will kill all the bacteria that is on the tank. Decorations can hold a lot of bacteria, so less is better.

Answer 7

Try and scoop out the turtle crap more often. Also you might need a bigger tank. Depending on the size of the turtle you might need a larger filter. Once they reach a certain size a fenced outdoor pond is the E- ticket.

Answer 8

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RE:
My turtle tank stinks! HELP!!!!!!!?
I have a large canister filter working great, regular water changes and the P.H. level is fine, does anybody know why it would smell SOOOOO bad and how i can prevent or stop it?!
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

Answer 9

get rid of any gravel in your tank, provide a basking area/land area, get a uvb bulb, do weekly water changes of 25% each week. there are waiste degrader supplaments you put in the water that will help and also ass calcium to the water to help out the turtles shell. ammonia is the byproduct of waiste...too much in there and the water becomes toxic, even if the ph is fine...water changes......must do everyweek.

Answer 10

Maybe the turtle that was eaten was just stinky. Or maybe it was sick and that's what made it smell. And since your other turtle ate it I'd say if that's the case that one's pretty ****** too because whatever it was that made them smell bad also apparently made them delicious.