Problem with Red Eared Slider

[DaveDragon]

We’ve had a 6 year old Red Eared Slider for nearly 5 months (given to use by one of our kids teachers). He’s been living in a 55G tank with an upper basking area and about 10 gallons of water cleaned with a ZooMed 501 pump/filter. Turtle Clean and Calcimize (?) are put in the water at every water change (80-90%, every week or 2) at which the filter is disassembled and all parts cleaned.
This past Sunday I noticed the water had gotten cloudy and it had been 2 weeks since the last cleaning so I did the usual. The next day the water was cloudy again so the following day I did a complete water change and rinsed the filter parts. Within 2 hours the water looked like it did before!!! Yesterday I did some reading on the filter and found they recommend replacing the carbon filter every month, something I hadn’t done in the 4 months I’ve had it. So last night I bought a new one and did a 90% water change (the stench was bad!). Within 1 hour the water was cloudy again and this morning it was worse and the stench was back!!!!
I starting to wonder if this is coming out of the turtle? I didn’t feed him yesterday to see if the problem improves but I doubt it will.
What could be causing this??? We’ve never had this problem in the 5 months we’ve had him. The ZooMed filter has always kept the water crystal clear. It looks to be functioning and assembled properly.

[spike06]

it could be the tank is cycling...that was my first thought, but then u mentioned a stench, which completely threw me off... Adrya will give u better advice.

[John_E_Dove]

Well first off your filter is not large enough. The ZooMed 501 filter is only rated for a max 30 gallons of water which is about what you are using most likely. With RES you really need to be using a filter that can handle twice the amount of water that you are using.
As the filter alone will not handle the waste produced by a turtle there will be stuff that sinks to the bottom of the water you must also do 25 – 50% water changes at least once each week using a siphon designed to vacuum the bottom. In addition you should do a complete tank cleaning and disinfecting every three weeks.
A complete tank cleaning is removing everything from the tank and washing everything including the tank (but not the animals or live plants) with a 10% bleach/90% water solution. Rinse everything thoroughly and allow it to dry then set everything back up.
I think you are seeing a bacterial bloom which would indicate to me that you need a complete clean out.

[DaveDragon]

Originally Posted by spike06

Adrya will give u better advice.

That's what I'm hoping.

[DaveDragon]

Originally Posted by John_E_Dove

Well first off your filter is not large enough. The ZooMed 501 filter is only rated for a max 30 gallons of water which is about what you are using most likely. With RES you really need to be using a filter that can handle twice the amount of water that you are using.
As the filter alone will not handle the waste produced by a turtle there will be stuff that sinks to the bottom of the water you must also do 25 – 50% water changes at least once each week using a siphon designed to vacuum the bottom. In addition you should do a complete tank cleaning and disinfecting every three weeks.
A complete tank cleaning is removing everything from the tank and washing everything including the tank (but not the animals or live plants) with a 10% bleach/90% water solution. Rinse everything thoroughly and allow it to dry then set everything back up.
I think you are seeing a bacterial bloom which would indicate to me that you need a complete clean out.

From what I’ve read on redearslider.com the filter is adequate for the volume of water we have but the volume of water is completely inadequate for the turtle.
Let me say up front – I didn’t want the turtle, my wife showed up with it one day. We’d like to rehome it ASAP but who wants one. He was living in a 20G but we just happened to have a 55G setup for a turtle. We definitely don’t want to spend any more money on him.
I’ve read cloudy water is inadequate bacteria to break down the ammonia and nitrates but the smell says too much bacteria. I’m assuming if I do a complete scrub down I should only rinse the filter again to leave the bacteria in it, or maybe just leave it alone. Yesterday I cleaned the foam filter with antibacterial soap, probably a bad idea. I will use Nolvasan to clean the tank and rocks and I’ll rinse the gravel again. Another 1 hour+ of work.
How do I get the good bacteria back once everything is clean?
Turtles are way too much maintenance; I’ll stick to lizards and snakes.

[John_E_Dove]

Originally Posted by DaveDragon

I’ve read cloudy water is inadequate bacteria to break down the ammonia and nitrates but the smell says too much bacteria. I’m assuming if I do a complete scrub down I should only rinse the filter again to leave the bacteria in it, or maybe just leave it alone. Yesterday I cleaned the foam filter with antibacterial soap, probably a bad idea. I will use Nolvasan to clean the tank and rocks and I’ll rinse the gravel again. Another 1 hour+ of work.
How do I get the good bacteria back once everything is clean?
Turtles are way too much maintenance; I’ll stick to lizards and snakes.

LOL, yes turtle are high labor when kept indoors compared to Snakes.
What you are talking about with establishing nitrobacters (cycling) cannot be done with a turtle in a small tank due to the need for frequent complete cleanouts. You can start out with a well cycled tank, add a turtle and in a couple of weeks you'll have stench
Turtles are just to dirty to be house in the aquaria environ without frequent cleaning.
Were you closre I'd tell you to bring it over and we'd stick it in my secure outdoor turtle pond but as you are across the country I would suggest seeking a rescue that will take it. I knew of one out your way but I believe they lost their 501 status and closed down.

[DaveDragon]

Originally Posted by John_E_Dove

LOL, yes turtle are high labor when kept indoors compared to Snakes.
What you are talking about with establishing nitrobacters (cycling) cannot be done with a turtle in a small tank due to the need for frequent complete cleanouts. You can start out with a well cycled tank, add a turtle and in a couple of weeks you'll have stench
Turtles are just to dirty to be house in the aquaria environ without frequent cleaning.
Were you closre I'd tell you to bring it over and we'd stick it in my secure outdoor turtle pond but as you are across the country I would suggest seeking a rescue that will take it. I knew of one out your way but I believe they lost their 501 status and closed down.

The strange thing is we've never had this problem is the 5 months we've had him. Now the water goes bad in an hour! I guess a complete clean out is going to happen tonight.
I hate to send critters off to a rescue (that's how we got him) but they just aren't worth all the effort. Tegu's & snakes are much more rewarding and require much less work.
My mother is out in the Littleton area visiting a friend right now (she lived out there for 8 years, about 1 mile from the Columbine HS). How's the weather? It's gotta be better than the upper 50's we've had lately.

[John_E_Dove]

Originally Posted by DaveDragon

The strange thing is we've never had this problem is the 5 months we've had him. Now the water goes bad in an hour! I guess a complete clean out is going to happen tonight.
I hate to send critters off to a rescue (that's how we got him) but they just aren't worth all the effort. Tegu's & snakes are much more rewarding and require much less work.
My mother is out in the Littleton area visiting a friend right now (she lived out there for 8 years, about 1 mile from the Columbine HS). How's the weather? It's gotta be better than the upper 50's we've had lately.

Well if you had room for a small pond indoorsor out I think you'd love your RES. I hand dug the one I have for rescues but I love doing that type thing anyway, though I grumbled a lot about my own idiocy as I was digging it. LOL
As for our weather here today, I am a little over 200 miles south of where your mother is and we are classed as desert country based on rainfall etc so the weather is slightly different.
Yesterday we hit a high of 89F last night it dropped to 41F and today is only supposed to reach 63F. The one thing I know is I will not be getting rain.

[DaveDragon]

Should I do a complete clean tonight or put up with the smell and let it cycle for a day or 2??

[John_E_Dove]

I would do a complete clean. It takes much more than a day or to to cycle an aquarium even for fish and as I mentioned it cannot be done for turtles in such a small water space.

[DaveDragon]

Originally Posted by John_E_Dove

I would suggest seeking a rescue that will take it. I knew of one out your way but I believe they lost their 501 status and closed down.

I found the NEARR website but that's run by Rick Sisco and I don't trust him. He's been accused by many people of fraudulently selling other peoples hatchling Tegus as his own.