QuestionHi, I have a pair of red eared slider turtle babies. They are roughly an inch in size and are housed together in a 20 gallon tank. They have stones along the bottom which are about .5 inches across. I've had these guys for about 2 months now and recently have had them smell extremely bad. I do 50% water changes daily, with full changes every week. I was wondering what the most likely cause for the sudden smell was. The temperatures are all very well regulated with the water varying between 75 and 77. They have a uV light as well as a heat light and floating cork to bask on. My only thought is that maybe the filter for the tank is not strong enough. Is there another reason for a sudden smell?
Thanks in advance.
Anna Jack
AnswerSeveral things...
1. Crowding- we suggest 10 gallons of water per inch of shell length to help prevent crowding, stress, and to make cleaning easier. With 2 1" turtles, you need about 20 gallons of water, or about a 1/2 filled 50 gallon tank (they will grow quickly so plan ahead!)
2. We recommend an external filter rated about 2-3 times bigger than the tank. Try the Water Quality article on http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for suggestions.
3. Gravel bottoms trap debris. A big chunk of the odor comes from the substrate. There are a lot of schools of thought on this, but common solutions include much smaller natural-looking pebbles, almost sand, or nothing at all.
With good filtration, you can use a siphon cleaner to suck off the crud on the bottom and change about 1/4th of the water every week- lots less work for you!
The suddenness of the odor can be many things- a minor change in diet, old debris rotting, the turtles getting older, etc.
For other good info, try the above link and http://www.redearslider.com
Good luck!