Habitat - Indoor :: Johnny(ette)'s New Home

[AllisonChains]

Finally we got the new home last weekend, a 55 gallon! I think he absolutely loves it! He just swims and swims. He loves the rocks, plays with them, but pretty much leaves the blue rocks alone.

I just wonder if the basking lamp is too close? It is the one towards the right in the first picture that you can see the bulb.

I did a complete water change today because the water on top was SO slimy...and that water was new as of this past Sunday. I have a few theories, but am anxious to hear what you guys might think, also. I mean everything I took out to clean was slimy, not thick slimy, but slimy.

1.) I have had new decorations cause slime in fish tanks before, even though I washed them and the 'tree log' with the plants is new, in the far right corner.

2.) My daughter accidentally sprayed a little sunburn stuff on her arm before I hollered at her to stop!

3.) Maybe something to do with the filter? I did separate the intake/output as much as I could today, they were both at the right side together.

4.) Maybe the wrong kind or too much water conditioner? I the bottle said one tsp per 10 gallons.


I am still going to get a background - I don't like seeing the cords and it still looks a little too sterile to me. I am also going to tackle an above tank basking area.

I am also having a hard time finding a decent cover... the one in the picture is plastic and a real POS!

Anyway - suggestions and comments always welcome!!

[megcornell]

So far it looks great! Backgrounds do add a lot to the tanks, so I think getting one will be a good choice.
As for the water- what kind of conditioner did you use? Some water conditioners have a "slime coat" which is intended to replenish the slime coats on fish and it can make the water look greasy.

[AllisonChains]

Ya know - DUH!

I have a bottle from my fish of Tetra Aqua Aqua Safe Water Conditioner that I did use the first time and guess what, I used it again tonight. I didn't even think about that. I wanted to use the rest of it since it is almost empty. D'Oh!

I imagine in 4 or 5 days I am going to have to clean it all over again, huh?

*puts TURTLE water conditioner on list of things to get*

[BullDog]

Looks good

I find I get a bit of a slime coat if the water isn't agitated enough. I can't see your output nozzle in the pics, but try aiming it toward the surface just a little bit. Doesn't have to be high enough so it makes noise, but just so it breaks the sufface a little bit.

[RESnTX]

Your new tank looks really good so far. You may want to get an airstone and pump to make some nice bubbles for your turtle to play in. They really love that. I have two in my tank. One makes tiny bubbles and the other is a frog that opens his mouth and releases BIG bubbles. My turtle hates it when I turn them off at night.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yeah, I've found that if I point my filter output on the surface of the water, the slimy appearance is gone (but I lose water faster from evaporation). If I have the output in the water, I lose a lot less water, but I get that slimy covering after a few days. It's not harmful. Actually, my husband and I have started just moving the filter output out of the water every couple days for a few minutes and it gets rid of the slimy appearance for a few days.