Well My problem/ Question is whats goin on with my lil guys/girls that all of the sudden their tank is getting WAY more dirty and Cloudy so fast??? I am having to clean their tank about "everyday" from the normal one time a week I am getting worried although they seem healthy! What could it be why is it getting SO DIRTY SO FAST??? (as I write this thier taking turns diving off the top bricks into the water! LOL thier so funny!) Thanks ahead!
**Oh Yea**
I have a 50 gallon tank
and only a water circulator
2007-01-05 08:26:37 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Thanks girls! I will start feading them in another tank or bucket (ive been reading that everywhere) But Im still confused on why all of the sudden its gotten sooo bad? Nothing has changed altough your right they have grown but this (cloudy) change in the water is all of the sudden??? hmm. thanks!
2007-01-05 09:00:22 · update #1
Unfortunately, thats a common problem. Water turtles are VERY dirty. You need to have a water filter and you need to change their water often. A tip for you that really worked for me:
I noticed that most of the mess was caused by them feeding. Their food would come out of thier mouths as they chewed and would go everywhere. So I got a bucket and filled it with some water, and put the turtles in there to eat. When they were done, I put them back, and dumped out the bucket. It helped so much!!!! And if you put warm water in the bucket, it wil encourage them to poo and pee in the bucket, and then they will go less in the tank.
2007-01-05 08:39:30 · answer #1 · answered by Laurie 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Anytime you set up a new tank you will have cloudy water. This is called " new tank syndrome". There is a whole biological process that needs to establish when a new tank is set up. There are millions of bacteria that develop in tanks that actually help break down the ammonia and nitrites in the water. These bacteria take time to develop. Your 10 gallon tank would have had these beneficial bacteria established therefore the ammonia was being broken down. Now that you have a new tank, you have to start from scratch. Give it time. Just don't panic and rinse the 20 gallon completely out. If you do this you will destroy the beneficial bacteria and the problem won't get better.
2016-05-23 06:47:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Red Eared sliders have to eat while they are in the water. I bought a large rubber maid tote and fill it with enough water to cover there shells and I feed them in the tote. You should really be running a filter in your tank due to the fact that red eared slider like all other aqautic turtles drink the same water they go to the bathroom in. " Yummy" I have a 125 gallon Red Eared slider set up and I run a fluval 403, 2 power heads at 140 gph, 2 air pumps for the benificial bacteria that is needed to break down there waste. I can go 3 weeks at a time with out changing any water just have to add because of evaporation. If you want to see my tank I'll send pictures
2007-01-06 02:25:51 · answer #3 · answered by xxmack675hpxx 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is the water heated properly- 75-80F? Having a big tank of warm water required a LOT of filtration or LOTS of water changes.
Turtles soil water in many ways, and ammonia builds up fast. Your cloudiness is probably just a lot of things happening all at once.
Try this article for more info: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/waterquality.htm
2007-01-05 15:56:52 · answer #4 · answered by Madkins007 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Get a better water filter.
Observe those little guys carefully, are they eating normally? if not, the uneaten food is just polluting the water. If one or more is sick, they could be deficating/urinating more than usual. You can go to a pet store or a vet and they will give you full details on your problem.
good luck! (ps:your turtles sound so funny! I wish mine would put on a show for me too!)
2007-01-05 08:34:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
RES do not eat in the winter time so the food is clouding your tank as it sits. If they do eat (it is probably very little) and they shouldn't be for their health. They do not have a true hibernation, but they have a "dormancy" period, roughly Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day, (This is when I stop feeding then start again). Think of it as you not getting any sleep when you were supposed to, or only an hour or so. You wouldn't stay healthy. Decrease there food significantly or stop it altogether for a few weeks and see if the problems stops.
Good luck!
2007-01-05 10:01:54 · answer #6 · answered by Robin B 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yeah, that's the problem with water turtles. It's hard to keep things clean. You can reduce the mess by reducing how many turtles are in one tank and getting a larger filtration system. We also fed our turtles in the kitchen sink rather than their tank, so they wouldn't get food matter in their tank water.
2007-01-05 08:30:46 · answer #7 · answered by Fetch 11 Humane Society 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋