Habitat - Indoor :: silver-ish film on top of water.

[aresbamftortuga]

Lately we've been getting this film on the top of the turtle's water that is kind of silver-ish (almost looks like someone poured gas in there) Anyone know what this is/how I can get rid of it?

We change Iris' water pretty regularly and treat it with aquasafe and turtle clean as well.

[steve]

You need to have the water surface agitated and your filter should be able to do it. This is also beneficial if you have bio media since it will help oxygenate the water.

[marisa]

Some foods that have a high oil content will tend to leave a film on top of the water. (Reptomin is one pellet that supposedly does.) As noted, agitating the surface of the water will help---adjust the filter outlet so that it creates a little surface ripple. It should help.

[aresbamftortuga]

hmm ... we have a whisper filter in there and it moves the water around pretty well. I have the tank filled to the top and then have an above tank basking area.

We feed her turtle bites every other day and green leaf lettuce every day (with occasional treats).

Thanks for the responses so far! Any more thoughts?

[marisa]

HBH Turtle Bites? If so---there you go! They have a high oil content and could very well be contributing to that film.

Is that basically all your turtle gets for food? Try varying the diet more. You also might try rotating those turtle bites with some other pellets, like Reptomin (which is not nearly as oily as the turtle bites and has more nutrition), Nutrafin, Zoo-Med, etc.