Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Hi everyone! Intro, pics and a question

[DaddyJJ]

Hello Turtle Talk folks,

I'm Jon, I am 32, married and a father to 3 children. Two boys 3 and 6 and a 19 month old little girl. We live in Macon, GA. We got our RES a little under a year ago from Petsmart, the 6 year old named him Speedy, but the 3 year old calls him Leo after the Ninja Turtle. So far things have gone pretty smoothly, the kids love watching him swim around and chase the fish or stare through the glass back at them, he will follow them as they walk around the tank sometimes.

The question I have is about his shell. I searched around for some answers and think I found the answer but I wanted to be sure that I am correct. In the pictures below, is his shell peeling? I purchased some VitaShell moisturizer and have been applying once a week for 3 weeks. Is it ok to keep using that?




Here are some pictures of his tank. He is a little bigger than the recommended size for this tank but I am waiting on taxes to arrive before I upgrade. This current tank is a 30 gallon. The filter is a Fluval U2 for a 30 Gallon tank. The rocks come from different places I've visited, Las Vegas, Portugal, Turkey, my front yard, San Jose CA, Jamaica and a few other places I cant think of atm.
http://imgur.com/fjBG6YC -Large image




I'm open to and constructive criticism, comments and suggestions.

-Jon

[penelope]

Welcome!
The tank is very pretty
It looks like just shedding scutes.
Do you see glimmers of gold on the shell when he is under water?
That is a tale-tell sign of skute shedding.
Personally, I think it would be nice to scrub the algea off.
Most people think algae is OK. Still, when Penelope is shedding, I am parinoid that gunk will grow in the space between the shell and old, raised scute.

[xcristina]

Welcome!
The tank looks nice and turt-friendly, I guess you need a canister filter, though, those rocks must be trapping a lot of debris.
And it seems you need a sturdier basking place, your turt is partly in the water when basking and he should be completely dry. Other than that, everything looks ok!

[DaddyJJ]

Welcome!
The tank is very pretty
It looks like just shedding scutes.
Do you see glimmers of gold on the shell when he is under water?
That is a tale-tell sign of skute shedding.
Personally, I think it would be nice to scrub the algea off.
Most people think algae is OK. Still, when Penelope is shedding, I am parinoid that gunk will grow in the space between the shell and old, raised scute.

Thank's for the warm welcome. The shell does show some gold glimmers when he is underwater so it appears to be skute shedding.

What do you use to scrub off the algae?

-Jon

[DaddyJJ]

Welcome!
The tank looks nice and turt-friendly, I guess you need a canister filter, though, those rocks must be trapping a lot of debris.
And it seems you need a sturdier basking place, your turt is partly in the water when basking and he should be completely dry. Other than that, everything looks ok!

I do get quite a bit of debris trapped under the rocks so I have to clean it pretty frequently. What advantages would I see with a canister filter system?

As far as the basking platform goes he is on the edge preparing to dive off that is why it looks that way. He usually sits in the center which keeps his underside dry.

-Jon

[xcristina]

To help with water quality, the best option would be to take out the rocks, but if you wish to keep them, a canister filter may help, it has more space for filtering media and a higher flow rate. Plus I find it easier to clean
As for the basking place, it seems you got it covered

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! I'd skip the VitaShell as well. It mostly looks like shedding to me as well, however the algae might mean he hasn't basked much before or there might be water quality issues.

[penelope]

What do you use to scrub off the algae?

Just a soft toothbrush and water.
You can tackle a little but at a time; it will give you some 'turtle bond' time

[Into_the_Mystic]

Do you give him cut up cuttle bone? (make sure you take the hard back off) He looks like he needs some calcium and do replace the rocks for pool sand.. Much nicer and doesn't trap all the yucky stuff.