Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:37 am
How often to change and how much depends on how big your setup is, how effective your filter is and how much turtle you have in the tank. If your tank is small and/or the filter isn't very strong and/or you have a big turtle in there or several turtles, then you'll have to change the water more often. I used to completely drain my tank and replace the water twice a week. Now that I have a big tank and powerful filter, I don't have to change it nearly so often. Once or twice a month to change out part of the water is enough, along with a good filter cleaning once a month.
You have to keep draining out old water even if your filter is very effective because a byproduct of the breakdown of turtle waste, called nitrate, will build up in the tank and the only way to get it out is to change the water. If you don't change it often enough you'll get algae and it will start to smell bad even with a great filter. If the filter isn't so great then you'll also get build ups of ammonia and nitrite, which are toxic.
You can measure exactly how clean your water is and how much nitrate has built up with a water quality test kit. A good kit is the Master Freshwater Test Kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. You can get one in the fish section of the pet store. The instructions tell you exactly how to do the tests and what the results mean. I think it"s a must-have for people with aquariums.
SpotsMama
