When you don’t clean turtle tank regularly, they start smelling. This smell increases when you have multiple turtles inside the tank. Turtles are also just naturally dirty, so it’s essential to clean turtle tanks regularly to keep your turtles healthy. Moreover, you should remove certain particles which cause odor buildup from your tank.
So, if you’re not sure how to stop the turtle tank from smelling, then keep reading this post because here you’ll find some valuable tips for maintaining a smell-free turtle tank.
Why do Turtle Tank Smell?
Before we look for solutions, it’s essential to understand what causes the problem. When you know the problem, you can get a better solution. The main reasons turtle tanks smell is because of:
- Food
You might have noticed that turtles don’t use their hands to eat food. Instead, they charge at the food to take a bite, and as a result, they break the food into pieces so that they can easily swallow it. By doing this, they leave hundreds of small food particles in the tank, and unfortunately, we can’t see them with the naked eye.
When these particles stay in water for some time, they create bad smells. It doesn’t matter what you feed your turtles; these food particles will always be there. Don’t worry; we’ll provide you with solutions in the next section.
- Algae
When there is water, there is a chance of algae growth. They can grow in unexpected places. A small amount of algae won’t cause the tank to smell bad, but it results in an unpleasant smell when algae growth becomes excessive. If you are worried about algae growth, you should check out algae eaters.
- Skin
Turtles shed their skin regularly. Therefore, you’ll see some skin shreds floating in the water. When these shells remain in the water for some time, they start to produce an unpleasant smell in the tank.
So, let’s discuss some tips for keeping your turtle tank odor-free.
How to stop your turtle tank from smelling?
To stop your turtle tank from smelling, you can change feeding method, remove leftover food and molted skin shell, maintain proper temperature, and clean weekly.
Change feeding method
It’s perhaps the best way to get rid of food particles from water. It might be an expensive approach, but it’s 100% effective. You need to feed your turtle in a different container. Fill your separate container with water, place food in it and leave your turtle in that container.
Once your turtle eats that food, wait for 10 minutes. Then, take your turtle out of the container and place it back in the turtle tank. You can remove the water from the container, and you are all done. Ensure that you don’t use this container for anything else.
You can clean the container after use, and it will not take more than a minute. For example, it takes 10 minutes daily, so it will hardly take 70 minutes a week, which is much faster than cleaning the tank to get rid of a bad smell.
- Remove Leftover Food
Take a skimmer net and remove uneaten food from the tank at the end of each day. This uneaten food usually floats on the surface of the tank, and it’s easy to collect and remove. However, these food particles can clog the filter of the tank and result in inadequate circulation.
When you don’t remove them, they can get smelly. Therefore, it’s essential to get the uneaten food out of the tank and throw it away. If you don’t have time to remove leftover food daily, you should get a high powered filter.
- Remove Molted Skin Shell
Turtles shed their skin regularly from the scutes on their shells. They’re different from other reptiles and don’t shed in an entire piece, and their thin and tissue-like fibers peel from their bodies. Regular shedding is normal, but this extra skin floating in the tank can clog the filter.
You need to pay extra attention to skimming and disposing of shed materials during molt. Also, ensure that you remove feces from land and wet area to prevent your turtle tank from bad odors.
- Maintain the Right Temperature
It’s important to maintain an adequate temperature in the turtle tank. It’s essential to understand the ideal temperature for semi-aquatic species. These species thrive on a water temperature of 70-80 F. Moreover, this temperature should be paired with a light-heated and dry basking area so that their shells get dried periodically.
This temperature can help you maintain a healthy turtle and an odor-free tank. If you don’t maintain the proper temperature and the tank gets too hot, the tank will grow algae quickly. These algae can contribute to bad smells. A tank that is too cold can also cause your turtle to develop smelly white film over your turtle’s eyes.
- Clean the Turtle Tank
Ensure that you perform a partial water change each week by removing a quarter of the water. Moreover, replace it with non-chlorinated water. If you want to use tap water, check out my article on how to make tap water safe for turtles. Make sure that the temperature of the replacing water is the same. Consult your vet about using nitrifying bacteria to break down turtle waste. This practice can significantly help reduce the smell.
Ensure that you perform complete tank cleaning after a few weeks or at least every month. This cleaning will help you remove the old substrate and bad odor. Use hot water and a reptile-safe cleaning agent for tank cleaning.
When handling your turtles and dealing with a tank, be careful and keep washing your hands. Moreover, wash the cleaning surfaces thoroughly after you clean your tank. Turtles carry salmonella, and by using antibacterial agents, you can prevent yourself from this disease.
How to Clean a Dry Turtle Tank?
Dry tank cleaning is straightforward. First, scoop up any dirty sand, uneaten food and feces from the tank. Then, use and replace substrate every few weeks. So, these simple tips can help you clean a dry turtle tank and make it odor-free.
Final Words
Many turtle owners are worried about bad smells coming from their turtle tanks, and they want to know how to stop their turtle tanks from smelling. To answer this, we have compiled a detailed guide so that they can understand the causes of bad smells and how to stop the turtle tank from smelling.