Habitat - Indoor :: Tank Cleaning....HELP!

[bruno]

Alright, i am having to change my RES water quite often. I have a 20 gallon tank and he goes to the bathroom quite often, making the water very cloudy and discolored. Any suggestions or tips on how to keep the water clean without having to do a complete water change on a weekly basis? I understand that it is not always good to do a full water change due to good-bacteria build up, however, it seems very unhealthy and almost cruel to leave my RES in those types of conditions. HELP!!

[LurycNitsuj]

What kind of filter do you have??

[mikee]

Along with the type and kind of filter, how many gph?? Sounds like the water flow it too low.

[erinemcgreevy]

How big is your turtle and tank?

[bruno]

its a twenty gallon tank, filled with a bit over 10 gallons. I have a 20 gallon whisper filter. Any ideas?

[octpusgirl8]

A bigger tank and a better filter. You didn't say how big your turtle is but you need to have at least 10 gallons of water per inch of turtle. If there's not enough water to dilute the waste of the turtle, any filter is going to be fighting a losing battle.

[bruno]

alright, thanks. Looks like the people at the pet store have no idea what they were talking about. Thanks for the info. I'm off to buy a bigger tank.

[FLhaven4strays]

Looks like the people at the pet store have no idea what they were talking about.

Just about all of us on here have learned that lesson the hard way. I NEVER listen to pet store employees anymore.

[mikee]

burno -- You have learned lesson #1

[TheComputerGremlin]

I feel like we should start a campaign to distribute this website on pamphlets to all of the pet stores. I wonder if we could present the idea to like Petco or Petsmart and see if they would go along with it. I mean, after all, we would be boosting sales. "Don't buy a 20 gallon tank, buy a 55-90 gallon tank, a canister filter, a water heater, filter media, turtle food, feeder fish ..." We'd practically be doubling their sales! At the nearest Petsmart to me, they are always out of the turtle pamphlets in their pamphlet rack (so I've never been able to read it!).

[daniela]

lol... I just learned lesson #1 & #2 "Need Bigger Tank" and/or "Pet Store Employees... are not too knowledgeable!"

Either way, those two lessons alone apparently have all different types of effects!

[Turtle_Turtle]

the sad thing is if u look at the care sheets that petco has it actually says all of the correct info on it

[mikee]

Point well taken!! The employees don't bother to read it and probably don't know they have a pamphlet, (care sheet).

[megcornell]

Bonus points to petco if they actually have correct care sheets. The ones at petsmart are dismally mis-leading.