Habitat - Indoor :: New tank cycling questions

[nh198921]

Hi

So we have our 3.5" res Clyde in a 75 gallon tank with a fluval fx5. He was avoiding the output side of the tank so I decreased the flow a bit and now he uses the whole tank- not sure if that matters. I ran it for like 36 hours with the optional media set up then I switched to vepiacrays recommendation of media- with carbon only and no purigen. My water was crystal clear the first day or two but now is extremely cloudy to the point where we can barely see Clyde. I am concerned for his health in the water.

Yesterday afternoon it started, and white sort of cotton looking things formed on the edges of a few slate rocks in there, some were also floating so we got rid of the rocks and scooped up the floating pieces best we could with a net. At first I thought it was little pieces of poly fill that escaped after the first run of the filter because I didn't use a bag for them (not sure if I should've). I do not have a testing kit yet but will get the API kit. Anything sound out of the ordinary? Is my tank cycling??? Will he be safe? What do I do??

[VeipaCray]

Your tank will cycle with any ammonia source. The cloudiness is usually a bacteria bloom. The cotton stuff... sounds like you didn't clean all the the polyfill out of the filter when you switched.

[nh198921]

ok, it has the appearance of cotton but i believe It isn't cotton though, it just looks like cotton. to check and see if it could've been that i took a few pieces of polyfill and placed them in a container of water for 24hrs to see if they became of the same texture of the stuff that "grew" on the rocks in the tank and they aren't. that makes me think they are bacteria of some sort.

so the cloudiness of the tank is probably cycling- but the reason for my concern is that in a previous question pridgnyc said that it shouldnt get too cloudy with an fx5 in a 75 gallon, but it is very cloudy. my main concern is it it safe for clyde to be in the tank? i should wait a week and then test the water and go from there or...? thanks

[VeipaCray]

Yes it's safe. It will get cloudy during the initial bacteria bloom.

[nh198921]

Ok I'm glad you're saying its safe, just concerned. Is it normal for the bacteria to attach to the turtle himself? My girlfriend Said when she got home today Clyde had what appeared to be some white filmy stuff on his face like around his mouth. I have read in other posts that you said the bacteria will bloom and grow on all surfaces of the tank but not really in the water itself but the water will cloud. Has anyone ever heard of the bacteria actually being on the turtle?

Tank picture attached

[steve]

Could the cottony material be shed skin?

[nh198921]

Well we've seen shedding skin before and this looks thicker and white-er if that makes any sense... That cloudy water look like a bloom? Anyone else experience a filmy sort of white floating off your turtles face?

[steve]

The picture looks pretty hazy, so I'm not sure if just a bloom. Anything new in the tank?

[VeipaCray]

I agree with Steve....

What are the ammonia / nitrite readings? Did you use any chemicals to treat the water? Did you use warm or hot water to fill the tank instead of cold?

[nh198921]

I need to get the API test kit ASAP i am strapped for cash but i will see if i can grab it today. So i do not know the readings. I did not treat the water with any chemicals whatsoever.

I filled the tank with cold water then heated it. we have the temp set at 78 and i check it almost every day it is like 78.3-8 or so usually. 78 too warm? he is less than a year old so i thought thats a good temp. the water was totally clear when i had the fluval fx5 running with the optional set up and no turtle. Then i changed the filter to bottom 2 trays of biomedia and top half biomedia with a carbon bag and blue sponge and the water became cloudier with each day. That picture was this morning and I havent seen the tank since today. Our turtle is behaving normally though.. He hasn't wanted as much lettuce as usual but i dont think that relates.

this is my first time using biomedia. i took it out of the box and rinsed it like 15-20 secs per box in a strainer. if the media isn't rinsed enough could that cause cloudiness?

should i look inside the filter and see if anything looks dirty/out of the ordinary?

[nh198921]

the filter was run with optional set up for about 36 hrs from thurs to sat am. the tank media was switched saturday AM if that matters. the cloudiness appeared probably around sunday late afternoon and has increased. i dont know if this helps

steve- nothing new in the tank. everything is store bought- floating dock, half log thing and filter.. we took 2 slate rocks from the previous owner and used them in this tank he used to have them in fish tanks. i scrubbed them with hot water and had them in there but when we saw the white stuff forming on the edges of the rocks we threw them out.

[VeipaCray]

Sounds like you've done everything correctly. It COULD be really dusty bio media... but it would have settled / filtered out in a day or so. It's probably a bacteria bloom.

If you're strapped for cash... you can just get the ammonia test and save a few $$ for now. 78 degrees is fine.

[nh198921]

ok. thanks for the tip. i am probably going to get the test kit today or tomorrow and i will see what the levels are. thanks again

[PridgNYC]

How much bio-media did you use? Enough to fill the baskets? How far down did you turn the output? You should keep the flow rate pretty high for the best filtering. You can direct the output along the walls to reduce the strong current, that is what I did. Output hose is in the corner with one nozzle directed along the rear wall, and the other directed along the side wall. Your turtle will get used to the currents, and enjoy playing in them once he is familiar with their flow.

[apondfortimmy]

I'm having the cloudy issue here too. It's been just the right amount of time since I started up the tank so I'm not too concerned. All my levels are within the correct levels, so ... it just looks like crap this week.


My baby turtle (different tank) does love the flow and he'll swim directly into it and get pushed away, then go right back again.

I love reading about how concerned people are for their tanks and turtles. It's such a nice change from so many people not caring for their animals that I see far too often out here.