Habitat - Indoor :: Need Advice on Water Quality

[Jet]

Hi Experts!

I have a couple of questions on water and I think I'm not doing something I should be. We "adopted" a RES about 5 months ago and he needed a great deal of care due to bad husbandry.
We finally got rid of the rinkydink HOT and invested in a Fluval 250 (I think). I thought this would solve the cloudy, green tinged water issue. But it hasn't. I also bought a siphon hose that I can use to clean the rock and bottom which I did on Saturday but today the water is cloudy and greenish again! I pretty much replaced all the water after siphoning it a few times.
So I am kind of stumped. My turtle is in a 20 gallon and I know he needs to get up to a 40 gallon so we bought the filter to handle the bigger tank we we upgrade. Could it be that our turtle is too big for this tank?
Is there anything I can do to keep the water more clear in between siphons? Also how often should I change this type of filter? Do you replace the media inside or do you rinse and reuse? Is totally cleaning the tank once a month sufficent?
Whew! Thanks for your help!
Tina (Jet)

[soopermum62]

Cloudy green water is caused by an algae bloom. Algae occurs naturally in nutrient (to them) rich water that gets pleny of light (either natural or artificial).

Are you using Aquarium Salt? (not instant ocean) This will help cut the algae.

The siphon hose is an excellent investment.

How big is your turtle?

How long has the Fluval been set up and running? Part of your water issue could be due to the tank trying to cycle.

Because Turtles are so messy, I like to jump start my new filter material with some canned microbes.

[Jet]

Hi Mum,
Thanks for your reply. I thought maybe the water thing was due to the nitrification as described on the website because there is also an odor.
Squirt is about 4 inches maybe a little bigger. We have not used aquarium salt. We set the Fluval up about a week ago.
I have never heard of canned microbes or filter media for that matter. As you can tell I'm still in the learning curve.
Thank you so much for all your tips. If you have anymore please send them on we need all the help we can get over here, keeping this little guy healthy!
Tina

[soopermum62]

No problem,

Go to the fish aisle and pick up a product called Cycle or Start Right.
You can also use a product called Turtle Clean.. My Mother in law used "Microbelift" on her pond. all 4 products do the same thing add the critters that break down the nitrogen.

To let the filter do it on it's own, with out a one of the chemicals you need to do a 25% water change every other day or every third day (I can't remember exactly) until the water clears. (use a tap water conditioner to remove the chlorine so you don't kill off the microbes that are forming) Then do a 25 to 33% water change weekly.

I recommend a new tank ASAP. Go as large as you can afford. Don't go any smaller than 75 gallons.

Do you have a photo of your baby?

Is that 4inches SCL? (Straight Carapace length?) IF so your guy is cramped up.

Oh yeah, if you can lose the rock in the bottom of the tank.. All it does is trap dirt and poo..

[steve]

I had green water problems only if there was a large area of the tank exposed to sunlight. Small tanks with small water volumes will get green pretty quickly when exposed to sunlight.

[Jet]

Hi Steve,
thanks. Yes the tank is near a window in my son's room. I think I will have to do some turtle feng shui and find a place away from the window.

[Jet]

Hi Mum,
Thanx I'll take a look for the stuff you suggest. I agree he is probably cramped up and need to get him a bigger apartment!
I have taken out alot of his rock but he likes to dig so I've left him some to play around in, it has cut back on some of the nastiness but yeah your right it is a nasty trap.
Do you know how often to change the filter? And do you replace the media or just rise it?
thanks again

[steve]

Remove any gravel/rocks that is smaller than the size of his head. This will prevent him from eating it. The filter cleaning varies greatly depending on how you maintain and feed your turtle. The smaller the setup, the more frequent the cleanings.

Foam media can usually be rinsed and reused. If you are using bio media, like ceramic rings, then you can just rinse it in tank water.