Turtle Tank Smells Like Rotten Eggs – Find Out What to Do

This is a very common problem for new turtle owners. I also had this problem when I got my first turtle, but over time as I got more experience with turtles, I learned how to get rid of the bad smells. So I decided to write this short guide to help other people that are faced with this problem.

Why does my turtle tank smell? There are a lot of reasons why the tank can smell, there are small particles of food, skin, or algae in the water. The tank could be too small, or the water filter can be too weak.

Turtles are very messy so it’s really hard to keep the tank clean and smell-free. But there are some things that you can do. So let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons why the tank smells, and then let’s see what you can do.

Why the Turtle Tank Smells

Before you think about solutions, it’s better to find out what the cause of the problem is. This way you will have a better understanding of the problem, and you can adjust every solution that I give you to your case.

So let’s start with some of the most common reasons for the bad smells.

Algae

Algaes can be found everywhere if there is enough water nearby. They don’t need too much to grow so they can pop up in unexpected places.

A few algae in the tank won’t necessarily make it smell bad, but if they get too numerous they will start to become a problem, they will give the tank an unpleasant appearance and an unpleasant smell.

Those three, food, skin, and algae, are usually the biggest causes of unpleasant smells in the tank.

Skin

Over time your turtle will occasionally shed some skin. If this is happening with your turtle, you should be able to see some small transparent shreds of skin stuck on your turtle, or floating in the water.

Those threads of skin will stay in the water, and just like the food particles, they will start to create an unpleasant smell after a while.

Food

When turtles eat, they don’t use their “hands” to hold onto the food. Instead, they charge at the food and take a big bite out of it, and then they break it into little pieces that they can swallow. When they do this they live hundreds of small particles that are almost invisible to us. Those particles will stay in the water and after a short time, they will start to emit bad smells.

This will happen with pellets, fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish. So regardless of the food you are giving your turtle, it’s inevitable to have those small particles in the water. But there are some things that you can do to stop this. But before we got to the solutions, let’s continue with the causes of the problem. We will get to the solutions shortly.

How to Get Rid of the Smell

Now let’s see what you can do to get rid of the smells in the tank.

Help the Shedding

The only time when turtle shedding becomes a problem is when they do it excessively. To help your turtle n with this you must make sure that they have a proper and balanced diet.

A balanced diet should contain a good mix of pellets, meat, insects, fish, fruits, and vegetables.

If you want more information about turtle shedding you can read this article: Do Turtles Shed? Everything You Need to Know About Turtle Shedding.

And if you want to know more about what turtles eat and what a proper diet is check out this article: What do Turtles Eat?

Clean the Tank Properly

A really good way to get rid of algae is to use a magnetic sponge. This sponge has a magnet that will connect the outside piece to the inside one and it will make cleaning the tank a lot easier. You can find one on the Recommended Gear page.

Using the magnetic sponge should help you get rid of most algae that form on the side of the tank. But you still have to clean the tank properly once a week.

Cleaning the tank properly is not that hard, and it shouldn’t take too much time. But if you think that you need a little help, check out this article where I cover a similar subject, and where you will find a guide that will tell you how to properly clean the tank, as well as the turtle: Do Turtles Smell?

The Water Filter

The water filter is one of the most essential things that keep your tank clean. But it’s very easy to choose the wrong one.

When I say the wrong one I don’t mean the wrong producer or the wrong brand. No, I mean the wrong power.

Most water filters are rated for certain water quantities. So it’s common to see a seller saying that this model is for 40 gallons of water, this one is for 60 and this one is for 120. But those water quantities are based on fish tanks, not turtle tanks. Fish also produce a mess, but not as much as turtles. So for a turtle tank, you should get double the power that the tank needs. So if you have a 40 gallons tank you should get a filter that is rated for 80 gallons, not for 40. If you have a 60 gallons tank then you should get a 120 gallons water pump, not a 60.

You can always go higher, there is no problem. But going lower will usually mean that you will have to clean the tank a lot more often, and the water will start to smell bad really soon.

You can also find my recommendations for the best water filter on the Recommended Gear page.

The Size of the Tank

One other thing that you can do to reduce the smell of the tank is to get a bigger one.

As turtles grow they will start to produce more and more mess. So to reduce the impact of the mess they produce, and to also offer them a proper environment, you should get a bigger tank that won’t be affected by the mess too fast.

If you got your turtle when it was a juvenile, then it grew a lot in the last months, as most juvenile turtles do. So now the tank that you got for your turtle, in the beginning, is probably too small. As a general rule of thumb, there should be 10 gallons of water in the tank for every inch of shell your turtle has. So if your turtle was 4 inches when you got it, then a 40-gallon tank should have been enough. But now that your turtle has 6 inches in shell length, that 40-gallon tank is too small. You have to get at least a 60-gallon one.

The 10 gallons per inch of the shell is a rule of thumb, so it’s not exact, but you can’t go wrong with it. If this is your problem I would suggest you get the biggest tank that you can afford, and you can fit it in your home. As turtles grow older they will grow at a smaller rate, but they will still grow. So instead of changing the tank every 2 or 3 years, it’s cheaper to just buy a big one from the start.

On the Recommended Gear page you can also find my recommendations on the best tanks on the market right now, the recommendations are based on the personal experience of the turtleowner.com team ( this includes me ) and a lot of research.

Feed Your Turtle Differently

There is one way to completely get rid of the food particles in the water. And that is to feed your turtle in a different container.

You just have to fill a different container with water and then place the turtle inside of it, and then place the food there. After the turtle eats you should let it stay there for another 10 minutes, and then place it back in the tank. After that, you can just throw the water from the container away and you are done. It’s that simple.

This method is very simple and 100% effective. Just make sure that you don’t use the container for anything else, like placing food that you want to eat in it. Turtles carry bacterias that can be harmful to us.

You will have to clean the container after you are done, but just putting it in the shower and washing it quickly shouldn’t take more than a minute.

The whole process should only take 5 minutes of your time since you don’t have to supervise your turtle while it’s eating. So you will lose 35 minutes in a week doing this, but you will save several hours since you won’t have to clean the tank as often.

Conclusion

I hope this article will help you solve your problem, but if you still have problems you can always let me know in the comment section and I will answer you as soon as possible.