Will my red eared slider eat the gravel if I put it in?

Question
Will my red eared slider eat the gravel that I put in? Also how do I remove the smell, because it smells like fish and I'm afriad he'll eat it, you know what I mean?

Answer
Turtles often eat a little gravel for one reason or another, which is one reason I don't particularly like fish tank gravel for turtles (I prefer bare floors or pea-sized gravel).

If you are talking about reusing used, smelly gravel, rinse it in a mild bleach solution and let it air dry well- ideally in strong sunhine.

If you are talking about the smell of a turtle tank, the tricks are simple, but not necessarily cheap or easy.

1. Big tank. Turtles need big tanks of heated water- aim for about 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. Big tanks take a lot longer to get smelly and offer many other benefits.

2. Big filtration. Use about 50-100% more filtration than you would for the same sized fish tank. In-tank filters or external power filters both work OK.

3. Big water changes. Change a lot of water every week, trying to suck it from the bottom when possible. If you've got good filtration, just change about 1/4th of it. If you have little filtration, change over 1/2 of it.

4. Biological cleaners, like catfish, algae cleaners, snails, live plants, etc. can help as well bu may be eaten or harassed by the turtle.