Does the tank cycling method apply to tanks with turtles as well?

Question

or only with fish? i am new to the tank business and i just read about tank cycling. right now i have 2 red ear sliders in a 40 gallon tank with fluval 4 plus.

do i need to leave the filter on 24/7? and how often should i clean the filter..im thinking once a week?

Answer 1

Cycling refers to the development of the biological filter. Basically:
Food (eaten or uneaten it's the same) -> ammonia + 1st group of bacteria -> nitrites +2nd group of bacteria -> nitrates (just builds up)

Nitrate is much less toxic than ammonia, and nitrite. For example 3 ppm of ammonia/nitrite is very bad and call for massive water changes. While 30 ppm means you should really change out 20-30% of your water in the next week.

Turtle as they lack gills can take a lot more ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, but it's still bad. You'll need to change out some water every few weeks.

As far as leaving the filter on 24/7 yes. The bacteria live in your filter, and gravel. They need water circulation, or they will die. Don't clean your biological filter media as you'll destroy your biological filter. On the other hand if you have a coarse mechanical filter you have to do it daily. Ideally a good filter will have both. You want to clean the 1st filter pad.

Answer 2

I answer in both sections, so here goes.

Your tank will cycle whether you do it beforehand or not (as long as you have a filter and some kind of substrate for the bacteria to colonize). All cycling refers to is the establishment of a bacterial population to remove toxic ammonia and nitrite by converting them to nitrate. You'll see cycling mentioned more often regarding fish, because fish take these in through the gills and they affect oxygen content in the blood.

Turtles are primarily air-breathers, although some are capable of limited oxygen exchange through the skin when hibernating, so the amounts of ammonia and nitrite aren't as critical for them as for fish, other than for feeders you might be giving the turtles. The major thing cycling will do here is prevent cloudy water after a few months, once the bacterial population peaks and stabilizes.

About once a week is a good frequency for filter cleaning, unless your filter is getting clogged earlier. You'll be able to tell by any changes in ripples at the water's surface (if you position the outlet to create them). You should leave it on 24/7 just to keep the water moving and keep waste from building up.

Answer 3

you're precise in desirous to placed the Betta in a heated tank. notwithstanding, it will be very complicated to change the temperature in only a million gallon of water. heavily evaluate a minimum of a 2.5 gallon or maybe extra acceptable - 5 gallons +. you are able to velocity up the cycle by technique of including gravel or the clear out media from an common tank. including a touch bit fish foodstuff provides the bacteria some thing to advance on. the way you examine the style of the cycle is by ability of monitoring the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate ranges. All will be 0 on the starting up, and then you're searching for for for a huge spike contained in the ammonia. This ammonia will set off bacteria advance which will reason an advance contained in the nitrite factor. Then because the nitrifying bacteria earnings a foothold, the ammonia and the nitrites will drop to 0 and the nitrates will start up to upward thrust. at the same time as your ammonia hits 0, your tank is completely cycled. it may take 4 weeks or extra to get hence far, in basic terms relies upon on how straight away your sturdy bacteria get common.

Answer 4

I imagine you'd get the best response in the Reptile section.