What can cause turtles water to turn back???

Question

(I have 4 baby red ear sliders I hae almost had them for about a year now and for some reason their waer is just now turning black)

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Answer 1

It sounds like your tank is too small and you don't have a filter. The more turtles you stick in a small tank, the faster and more dirty it will get. Imagine if you kept a dog in a yard, not too dirty. If you kept 4-5 in a yard, it will get dirty quick. This is the same idea with turtles. Either you clean it often, which is a pain, or get a bigger tank and a filter.

RES start small and get very large. You turtels are probably 3" SCL (straight carapace length) and they will grow an inch a year for the next couple of years. When they reach 5-6", their growth slow down. Females grow up to 12", while males only grow up to 7-8".

A general guide ia 10 gallons of swimming water for each inch of turtle. A good tank for your 4 RES right now would be a 50-75 gallon tank which will last for a year or two. You should really start looking for a 100-200 gallon tank or a pond in the next couple of years. If you got a 50-75G tank, a canister filter like Fluval 404 will keep it clean and you won't have to clean it for a month. You will have to do partial water changes though (change 30-50% each week only) and your water will be pristine.

Turtles do grow fast when they are young and you need to invest in the equipment or else it will be messy, which you are finding out. Often, people get overwhelmed with the costs, but it's part of the responsibility for caring for a pet. If money is an issue, I can provide inexpensive solutions, like 50G rubbermaids, kiddie pools, etc. But each solution has strengths and drawbacks.

Answer 2

As turtles get older, they tend to excrete more,and that may be what you are seeing.

1 year old red-ears should be a few inches long now, so with 4 of them you really should have about 60 gallons of swimming space. If the tank is too small, it could be etting soiled very quickly now. Temps might also be causing blooms in the water.

Baby Red-ears are actually pretty hard ot care for well, so you might want to review their basic care needs at one of the sites listed below.