Whats growing on my turtle

Question
Hello, we have a yellow belly slider (found in our pool filter we have had him @ least 5 months or so) then we added a red eared turtle found in a local pond.  The problem; now the tank stinks, and both turtles have a white "fuzz" growing all over them & the tank.  I cleaned the tank with white vinegar and added H2O conditioner, But they do not look good.  What can I do?

Answer
Wild-caught turtles are foten infected with many parasites, diseases, fungi, etc. that do not cause a problem until they are crowded or stressed.

Turtles, especially wild caught turtles, need lots of room. We usually figure about 10 gallons fo water per inch of shell length. If your turtles add up to about 8", you would need a 100 gallon tank with about 80 gallons of water in it.

Smelly water suggests overcrowding as well, as well as a lack of a good filter. Turtles need about 3 times more filtration than fish do, so our 100 gallon tank mentioned earlier would need a filter rated for a 300 gallon fish tank.

The water conditioner, by the way, is a waste of money.

For some great care advice, try http://www.redearslider.com or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Good luck!