Urgent Care :: Needing some quick (and lifesaving) advice...

[pretty.rock.machine]

I was talking with some other people under the indoor habitat board about PH, and they brought up the nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate levels. I didn't know how to check 'em, so I went to Wal-Mart (closest thing) and bought some testing strips. They were Jungle brand (something like that) and one was a 5 in 1 and the other was ammonia. They checked everything you guys disscussed. So I got home read the directions and did it (I hope I did it wrong). They levels were so crazy! If they are as bad as the say, I don't know why he isn't acting worse. Except maybe it hasn't "kicked in" yet. He eats, poops, and basks. I'll admit that I had nothing to fish his two turds out with, so I bought a net tonight to fish them out, and they were gone (maybe he ate 'em). I use reverse osmosis water, I bought some decholorinator so when I go to skool I have something to use.

I have other stuff to say (I added some stuff to his set up, like a plant. More on that later) but right now I'm really scared. I don't know. The levels showed were the ones for fish, but I figured it would apply. I'm really worried though. I don't know what to do if they are really as bad as they say...

[steve]

I do not know any details about the reverse osmosis water you are using but is it the same water you use for drinking? If so, I would expect that it would be relatively safe and from the pic I saw, I don't think there could be a serious ammonia problem. Fish are more sensitive than turtles, in fact you can throw a couple of guppies in there to see how they do.

How often are you changing the water?

[pretty.rock.machine]

Well, me and my sister had a second look at the ammonia papers and I think they are faulty. They were already changing colors (like they had been exposed to moisture). So I think I will call the company and complain.

Other than that, we checked the PH, nitrite, and nitraite levels this morning and they all seemed find. I thought about buying him a guppy or some rosy reds, will they eat them when they are that small.

BTW, yes it is our drinking water. I don't think they are to too terribly popular thing, but we have been drinking it forever. It's supposed to be really clean, and refills itself daily. It's like a pump thing and purifies the water like crazy, so it fills up when it gets low. It's a really cool thing, I don't know why more people don't have 'em...

Thanks for the concern. I feel better. I was really upset because that water was fresh. I almost thought that maybe something was wrong with the osmosis, but I drink it so it must be good.

[marisa]

If you have a 10-gallon tank (I think you said) and you change the water weekly, I don't think you'll have a big problem, especially if the water level is relatively deep. feeding your turt in a separate container of water would help, too.

[steve]

I have read that those kits do expire, the manufacturer should be able to replace them.

[therizman1]

To answer your other question, yes your turt will eat the fish you put in there. Even if he is small, if he can catch them he will chow down. My two guys love fish... they wait for that every other Sunday so that they can chow down on some of em.

Mike

[Jen182]

I put a male guppie in my turts tank (so it's a bright orange color) and she hasn't even paid it any mind. I think they've developed a friendship. lol. But she's never tried to eat it or anything. She'll eat cricketts I throw in there but not the guppies.

[pretty.rock.machine]

He likes to chase his food so I'm sure he would enjoy some fishies. Also, I tried to introduce some carrots to him. I tried in a separate container, but he really didn't seem interested. Maybe when he tames more and gets used to his new lifestyle I'll try him in a separate container. I've been trying to think of some device to put the carrots on in his tank for now though. I tried slices and they sunk (cleaned 'em out). I figured I'd cut them long ways into strips, if there was just some way to dangle them in the water. I bet he would find that fun. Any thoughts?

EDIT: Therizman1, I saw your signature with your turtles length, and I had my sister (an engineer mathmatician) calculate your turts growth rate. She says they have grown about .95 inches in what she is assuming is three months. So about .316 inch per month. I just thought that was interesting. Don't you love smart siblings?

[flutterby]

X.) Tap Water Quality

This isn’t likely to matter much with the turtles I recommend. It may with specialty species like some South American exotics. Consider testing your tap water (pet stores sell aquarium water test kits for pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate). Many U.S. cities offer moderately to very hard alkaline tap water. It can be hard to create soft, acidic water without resorting to chemical additives like the Proper pH line, that alter the pH & artificially buffer the water in that range. Such maneuvers as adding distilled or reverse-osmosis (RO) water to reduce hardness & alkalinity are labor-intensive & costly over time. Eventually you’ll resort to using straight tap water, commercial additives or give up the turtle. Research the turtle you are considering. If it needs soft, acidic water & you’ve got hard, alkaline tap water, move on.

[pretty.rock.machine]

Thanks for the info, Flutterby. Our reverse osmosis is installed into our kitchen sink, so we don't have to buy anything. Other than that I buy spring water at Dollar General. I'm sure once I get the hang of his needs I will switch to decholorinator.

[TexasJagsFan]

When you do test's like that, make sure you never touch the strips, body chemicals can rub off and make the reads faulty.

[mikeowins]

"pretty.rock.machine"I was talking with some other people under the indoor habitat board about PH, and they brought up the nitrite, ammonia, and nitrate levels. I didn't know how to check 'em, so I went to Wal-Mart (closest thing) and bought some testing strips. They were Jungle brand (something like that) and one was a 5 in 1 and the other was ammonia. They checked everything you guys disscussed. So I got home read the directions and did it (I hope I did it wrong). They levels were so crazy! If they are as bad as the say, I don't know why he isn't acting worse. Except maybe it hasn't "kicked in" yet. He eats, poops, and basks. I'll admit that I had nothing to fish his two turds out with, so I bought a net tonight to fish them out, and they were gone (maybe he ate 'em). I use reverse osmosis water, I bought some decholorinator so when I go to skool I have something to use.

You said you used reverse osmosis water? the reverse osmosis filter takes everything out of the water. all thats left is pure h2o. that means that there are no vital minnerals left in the water that a turtle would usualy get directly from the water. i sugest that you stick to tap water with water conditioner or dechlorinator. with turtles reverse osmosis is not nessesary. i have a salt water tank that requiers reverse osmosis and then i have my res tank. i talked to a guy that workes with aquatic animals. he said it isnt nessasary for the turtles to have reverse osmosis. i hope i helped

[marisa]

This is true and was written about in a past post.

[STRAYKINGFISHER]

Here is a description of what Reverse Osmosis is, incase anyone wants to know :
http://www.gewater.com/library/tp/833_What_Is.jsp

[sheldon]

i really pay attention to new info on sick turtles.... you know just incase my sheldon ever gets sick.... i once stumbled upon this web site....

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/waterquality.htm

it tells alot about water quality... and it even suggests brands that are available... for my turtles water i like to use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals

http://aquariumpharm.com/aqtest.html

when i was growing up i remember my grandmother using it in her fish tanks and her fish seemed like they were as old as here lol... what i mean is they never got sick and usually lived a really long time

also if you ever run out of pH upper (which would make the tank more alkaline), and you really really really need to bring up the pH you can use regular old baking soda... does pretty much the same thing but if your tank is really really really acidic and you bring it to where it should be, then you will probably get cloudy