Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For a while my turtle dock has been getting this brown build-up on it and i don't know what it is and it kinda smells wierd. It only shows up where the dock is in contact with the water alot like on the slanted part the turtles get up on and around the edges. When it gets too bad i just put it in the sink and scrub with a toothbrush and it comes off. Recently though i let it get a little bad cause i was on vacation and now it looks like the actual dock material has been discolored. There's also a little bit of green around the inner edge of the marks that's really stubborn and doesn't want to come off. What should i do?

It's probably some type of algae, try soaking the dock in 9 parts water, 1 part bleach for 20 minutes or so.
Then rinse it well, air dry it in the sun if possible, & that should do the trick.
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PHRatz

That's not a good idea with the the Turtle Dock. The dock is porous and will hold the bleach in it, regardless of how well you rinse it off or dry it in the sun.

Try vinegar or something similar. It has a low pH and will kill anything on it. Plus it's non toxic to turtles.

Good luck.

as the previous post suggested... it is just various types of algae.. unless it really bothers you, i dont see why you need to remove it.. or at least not every bit of it.. it will just keep growing back anyway.. i like algae growth in my tank, makes it look more natural... although the brown algae could be a sign that you have an excess of nutrients in the tank.. in fish tanks that is usually and indication of overfeeding, overcrowding or not changing the water enough.. i wouldnt worry about it too much though, turtles are pretty messy eaters, so i wouldnt be surprised if the algae is just sucking up the nutrients from food that hes chomped to bits ...
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my pets: clown treefrogs, reed frogs, big eyed treefrogs, tiger leg monkey frogs, gray treefrogs, milk frogs, cuban treefrogs, whites tree frog, green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, blue webbed gliding treefrog, chameleon treefrogs?, dusky salamanders, tiger salamander, veiled chameleon, box turtles, mud turtle, map turtle, yellowbelly slider, florida softshell, two saltwater tanks, four cats, two chinchillas, and a boyfriend.

If your worried about the chlorine in bleach soaking into something, you can always rinse then soak the item in water treated with fish aquarium anti-chlor, then air dry it. That'll get rid of all the traces of chlorine.
I don't have algae build up in my aquatic tanks but it builds up quickly in my nonporous outdoor water dishes for box turtles & the tortoise.
Bleach is the only thing that seems to kill that for at least a week at a time. Everything else I've tried won't work, I'll see algae growing back in 1-2 days.
I don't want my outdoor pets drinking green water. :-x
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PHRatz