Habitat - Indoor :: Whisper Power Filter and Water Quality Issues

[Gabel26]

Hi there, I'm relatively new to taking care of a turtle. My turtle is 4 inches long and I've currently got him in a 25ish gallon plastic storage container.

I know that this is too small but my current living conditions don't allow a bigger tank. The turtle was thrust on me and I'd like to take care of him rather than let him go.

My issues right now are I'm using a Whisper Power Filter for 30-60 Gallon Aquariums. But the filter seems to be giving off sort of a nasty smell, it smells almost like cigarette smoke. I put the water in on Sunday (3 days ago).

With the issues today, the water start smelling like the above metioned smoke and was very cloudy. I did about a 25% water change before posting this.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

[kenaz]

the pump might be defective, one of mine smelt like that and it was because the pump was overheating. is it a new filter?

[Gabel26]

Yeah, it was brand new. I just opened it when I set the tank up on Sunday. The smell seems to have gone away.

[Kyurois]

I may not know as much about turtles as some of these people on the forum, but I do know alot about Whisper filters. I was (am) a fish person first.

How old is the filter? How deep is the water in the tub? Is it a external filter? If it is, how much of the intake tube is in the water? Sometimes certain Whisper's can be touchy if the motor has to work to hard to get it's water, especially if it's one of the power filters with two waterfalls. You can try making the water deeper, and the intake tube shorter (if it's the adjustable kind, DON"T cut it, bad idea). You may also want to check the heat of the filter motor, that will tell you if it's working too hard. And take the filter apart when its off, take off the intake and the current generator (spinny thing), to check the magnets. If they're shot, then you may need a new filter. If it's new and you have the packaging and receipt still see if the store will take it back, or contact Whisper and tell them it's default, they should replace it or refund you.

[Kyurois]

It could also be new filter smell.

[steve]

Is the filter working normally? If it was running dry, then it could burn out and become a serious hazard.

No equipment you are using for your turtles should produce any odor or smells.

[Kyurois]

Whispers do, if very rarely, have new filter smell. It's happened to me with my 30-60 Whisper Power Filter in my goldfish tank, but it was more of a hot plastic smell and didn't make the water smell, and went away after a day of cycling.

[Gabel26]

It appears to be working normally, I've got the intake tube about an inch from the bottom of the tank. It is an internal filter. I don't have any gravel or substrate. It doesn't appear to be running hot when I touch all of it.

I will check the magnets later tonight, it doesn't appear to have any problems sucking up water. I'm just worried about the water, the smell I'm smelling isn't a bad odor like dirty water, but I am concerned with the cloudy water + off smell.

[Kyurois]

Cloudy water is probably new tank syndrome, give the beneficial bacteria time to grow and it will go away. Some of those large rounded river stones may help with that, and they're easy to clean. If it's doesn't have a issue sucking up the water, don't bother with the magnets, they're fine. Internal filters have that funny smell alot, really. I've had those too and it went away. Don't worry unless it takes the smell longer to go away than you think the filter is broken in, try a week.

[Gabel26]

Allright thank you, the first two days neither of these issues seemed to pop up. Am I right in thinking of doing a 25% water change every 3 or so days?

[Kyurois]

Yeah, its a good idea I think. I do and Mikey loves the fresh water, just make sure the water is kept at 78-80 degrees for a hatchling. Slightly higher or lower is alright for a while, but don't let it fall below 75 degrees for too long, or 85 for too long. You should also make sure your turtle's basking area is 10 degrees more to stimulate basking!

[Gabel26]

Allright, I'll keep an eye on everything and drop an update.

[Kyurois]

Glad to help.