Urgent Care :: New turtle -- cloudy water; should I panic???

[jessicasouth]

Hi,

We just inherited a red ear slider from friends who are moving. He's been with us for about two weeks and has been doing fine. The tank they gave us had gravel, which this site said was bad, so last weekend we emptied the tank, replaced the gravel with river rocks (from Petco), and refilled it. The tank looked fabulous for about two days, but now it's horribly cloudy. Is something wrong? What do we do??? Any advice would be great!

Here are the questions I am supposed to answer when I post:

How big is your turtle? About 6 inches head to tip of tail.
How long have you had it? Two weeks, but he's about three years old.

What is the water temperature? 78
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? about 14 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? yes, Nutrafin Turtle Clean
Are you using any filtration? yes, small filter on the side

What is the basking temperature? I don't know
Is there a basking light? Yes, per the recommendations on this site
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? a floating one -- plastic, I think.
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? turtle pellets, red leaf lettuce, and little shrimps once in a while
When was the last time your turtle ate? this morning (lettuce)

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 20 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yes

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? no, sorry

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? no, he seems fine

[megcornell]

It sounds to me like it's simply a matter of having too large of a turtle in too small of a tank. A 20 gallon tank just is too small for a turtle that is 6 inches. As you're seeing, turtles are pretty dirty and need a lot of water, so the best thing to do is to buy a larger tank and a filter that is rated for a tank 2-3x as large (i.e you'd get a 100 gallon filter for a 50 gallon tank). As this turtle sounds like an unplanned expense, you can always buy a rubbermaid container as a temp home until you can buy a stock tank or an aquarium. Ideally, I would buy the largest tank you can, so that you won't have to upgrade in the future.
A turtle that is left in dirty water will easily become ill, so this upgrade is pretty important.
Good luck with your new turtle!

[sleepygrl79]

Jessica- I'm new to the turtle world but...when I first started keeping fish I had the same problem. In the fish world it was an algae bloom..I did a partial water change and it went away..but as I'm learning the turtle world and fish world are two totally different things...

good luck!

[SpotsMama]

I think megcornell is right on target. The rule of thumb is that you need 10 gallons of tank for every inch of turtle. A bigger tank will hold more water, which will dilute the turtle's waste. And you can use a better filter.

The added bonus is that your turtle will be happier in a larger aquarium (or stock tank - which would work just fine.) In the wild they live in ponds and lakes where they have lots of space to swim and dive.

[jessicasouth]

This turtle has been in this tank since it was a baby. Do they outgrow their tanks? Also, this clouding never happened to the previous owners; it's only occurred since we replaced his gravel with river rocks. Does this clouding ever happen in new tanks? I've read a couple of things about bacteria blooms in new tanks; couldn't this be the case? There's no way I can afford a bigger tank (financially or in terms of space in my small apartment).

[kmichael55]

A 6 inch turtle should have at least a 60 gallon tank, larger would be preferred since he will grow more and could use the room to grow. Since you can't afford one, you could look into getting a rubbermaid storage container or stock tank. They are much cheaper, and are not as pretty, but will give your turtle the space he needs to be healthy. It could be cloudy if the river rocks were not washed prior to adding them to the tank, but turtles do produce a lot of waste, and this is definitely adding to the problem in such a small tank.

[SpotsMama]

To answer your question, yes, turtles do outgrow their tanks. Just about all of us on here have gone through several generations of tanks. My turtle started in a 10 gallon tank, then 20 gallons, then 55 gallons, and finally 100 gallons plus a 500 gallon outdoor pond! If I had to do it over again I'd get a larger tank early on and not go through so many upgrades.

There are beneficial bacteria (nitrifying bacteria) that grow in aquariums and neutralize the ammonia produced by the animal life in the aquarium, like turtles. They attach to solid surfaces, like the surface of the gravel and the pores or fibers in a bio filter. When these bacteria are abundant they help keep water healthy and clear. In a new aquarium, when animal waste is first introduced a huge bloom of bacteria grows to process the waste, and this makes the water cloudy. Once the amount of waste is under control, the level of bacteria in the water subsides, the water clears and the remaining bacteria attached to the solid surfaces will process new waste as it is produced.

When you removed the gravel you probably removed a lot of beneficial bacteria and the result was a bacterial bloom. In time, a new set of bacteria will establish itself on the surface of the river rocks.

You said your turtle is 6" from head to the tip of his tail. The way we usually measure turtles is by the "straight shell length", the length of the shell from front to back not counting the curve in the shell. Measured this way, is your turtle less than 6" long?

In any case, when the turtle is too large for the volume of water in the aquarium, then the beneficial bacteria in the bio filter and on the solid surfaces will not be able to keep up with the amount of waste produced and the water will continue to turn cloudy and foul and be unhealthy. At this point, maybe your turtle is really less than 6" long but he/she is still too big for a 20 gallon tank. The beneficial bacteria won't be able to keep up with the waste and you'll find yourself having to change the water all the time.

I certainly sympathize with you not wanting to spend the money for a big new full fledged all glass aquarium right now. It's a big investment. What kstewart55 suggested, though, is an excellent alternative. A lot of people on here use rubbermaid containers or stock tanks. You can get really large ones for very little expense. You can put them on the floor in a corner where they don't take up much space. Then in the future, if you want to, you can switch to a glass aquarium. Or, you may choose to stay with a rubber container or stock tank. A lot of people do because they believe it provides a more natural environment for the turtle.

[Breigh]

Spotsmama covered pretty much everything you need to know. I've had the cloudy water issue as well and it was exactly what she said, a bacteria bloom.

Unfortunately (like many who take on turtles) you're faced with having to provide a larger enclosure... but you'll see a major difference in the turtle once you do and nothing will make you happier than seeing the turtle with so much space to swim around and explore

[RunninWideOpen]

Can't think of anything anyone else didn't cover! lol

i've had that fogginess before once, was just because i cleaned it too well actually. i make sure to leave surfaces and old filters in for a few days to let the bacteria catch back up when i do a full water change. then i'll change the filters.

also, you'll find that once you get a larger tank it will be so much easier to keep clean......found that out from experience as well. big turtles dirty up small tanks so fast.

[jessicasouth]

Thank you all SO MUCH!!! His water is still cloudy but he seems happy, so I'm assuming it's a bacteria bloom and waiting patiently. To my surprise, someone at Petco actually knew what I was talking about when I asked them about this and she said what you all have: that it will resolve itself.

Thanks, too, for clarifying the way to measure a turtle. Based on the straight shell guideline, I think he's more like 3 1/2 to 4 inches, which seems to be too big for his 20 gallon tank anyway, but at least I don't feel like I'm torturing him because he should be in a 60 gallon tank. I will look into the bigger enclosures. (I don't even know what a "stock tank" is!) If I put him in something rubber, is it okay to leave him outside? Will anything wild eat him?

[SpotsMama]

I'm glad the issue is cleared up - hopefully the water will be cleared up soon!

On the container, a "stock tank" is a big rubber tub that people use to water their horses and cows. I think you can get them on-line or at feed stores. I've got a big black rubber tub that I don't think could be called a stock tub. I got it at Lowes. It's round and very sturdy and probably holds 50 gallons. These days I use it when I have to "dry dock" my turtle but in the past I'd sometimes take it outside and put water in it and let my turtle spend some time in it.

However, on leaving your turtle outside, it's really not a good idea to leave him in such as small container unless it's in a well protected area or you're there keeping an eye on it all the time. When a turtle is small, almost anything will eat him - dogs, cats, racoons, hawks.

[VuONG]

furthermore, yes it is a bacteria bloom and thats a good thing your suppose to get that, usually when raising fish it occurs more often. its apart of the new water cycle inside your tank.

I'm assuming you just put tap water inside of the tank? when you got the turtle? This usually happens when good bacteria is trying to colonize inside of your tank and you have an over abondance of organic material inside of your tank. IT GOES AWAY THOUGH! pretty quick also just dont empty out the water that stuff is liquid gold! haha

Also about the tank size thing. Its not really the size of the tank. even though it is good that you should get a very large tank for a larger turtle, because tehy are so messy and they do demand alo of swimming space. The tank size does not cause the water cloudiness