Turtle poop floating

autumn_0201

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Hello, today I saw my turtle's poop floating on top of the water. Is this normal?? Personally, I have never had this issue before. My filter isn't able to absorb it either, which makes it a big problem to me now because oh my do they stink ? (don't worry, I changed the water already, but the smell is still there though. I think I will have to clean the whole tank next morning). If you're wondering how it looks like, it's like little clear particles floating on top. What should I do? Thank you in advance.
 

Yvonne G

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Keep a fish net near the aquarium and net it out as soon as you see it, discarding into the garbage.
 

autumn_0201

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UPDATE: Now the poop that sunk in the tank didn't get filtered TOO. What is happening ? My dad told me that this is normal and I just have to change the waters more regularly, but this is bothering me quite a bit. Are filters supposed to work like that? Or something is actually wrong with the filter? I am very confused. Thank you in advance again.
 

TeamZissou

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What size tank and filter are you using? What type of filter is it? My guess is that the pump is not appropriately sized for the tank.
 

autumn_0201

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What size tank and filter are you using? What type of filter is it? My guess is that the pump is not appropriately sized for the tank.

I'm not very sure as I'm quite new to this, but I think it's a power filter. My filter sucks water from the tank and filters it above the water through sponges and clean water should come out from another tube back into the water. My tank is about 120cm x 30cm, and the water is filled up to about 7cm. Is poop sinking in the water while the tank having a filter normal, or should everything be clean and spotless? Because I have been getting mixed answers from everyone. Thanks.
 

TeamZissou

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It's been a while since I set up a turtle tank, and technology has probably improved a lot but I would say that no, it's not normal--I don't recall ever having that problem over the course of about 20 years. I would think that if you have an appropriately sized pump and filter, there should only be the occasional floating poop.

It seems that you have about 25 L of water, or about 6.6 gallons, which is not much. Filters and pumps have a ratings for total volume of water, like this one, rated to 30 gallons:


What species do you have and how big is it? This does not sound like a big enough tank for anything but the smallest hatchlings. What are you feeding it?
 

autumn_0201

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It's been a while since I set up a turtle tank, and technology has probably improved a lot but I would say that no, it's not normal--I don't recall ever having that problem over the course of about 20 years. I would think that if you have an appropriately sized pump and filter, there should only be the occasional floating poop.

It seems that you have about 25 L of water, or about 6.6 gallons, which is not much. Filters and pumps have a ratings for total volume of water, like this one, rated to 30 gallons:


What species do you have and how big is it? This does not sound like a big enough tank for anything but the smallest hatchlings. What are you feeding it?

Oh no, I have to try and get another filter then. I will find out what volume of water my current filter is rated for. I have a Malayan box turtle baby. She is about 6cm long and her shell is about 3cm tall, from the bottom to the tallest part. I put a certain veggie (that I don't know the name of, but it grows in the area her wild counterparts live in and they are seen eating those) along with occasional lettuce in the tank in the morning everyday. Sometimes she eats everything, and sometimes she doesn't. At night, I feed her protein a little more than the size of her head. These include shrimp, fish, earthworms, maggots, and squid (this one is recent). Sometimes I give her some corn and fruit too. The fruits I gave her are strawberries, jackfruit, watermelon, apple and honeydew. These feedings are no larger than half her head.
 
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