Urgent Care :: turtles shedding bright fluorescent green shell!

[mrodrigo]

hi
i changed the aquariums water yesterday and when i got home from work today i noticed it was kind of blue/green, never happened before. as i looked more carefully i also noticed some bright green stuff in the water and i noticed they were pieces of shell as they normally shed but bright green! very weird.

the only thing i can think of is that last week i bought some turtle food at target, animal planet brand, its bright green, could this be the cause?? thanks a lot for your input. cheerio

[megcornell]

Do you have any pictures?
Hatchlings have very vibrant shells sometimes, so perhaps the color of the shed scutes is normal, just alarming if you haven't seen them before.

Do you mean all the water is an aqua blue green color? Are you using a water treatment?

[marisa]

The water itself is blue/green? What's the water temp? Is the tank in the light, near a window perhaps? If so, I'm wondering if it isn't algae and the green scutes don't have algae on them...Younger RES can be a vibrant green, but the scutes that are shed aren't nearly as colorful, though they may have traces of a shell's pattern on them.

Can you post a pic of the scutes?

I doubt the food is causing the color, especially since you've only been feeding it for a week. How often do you feed, and how much do you give at a feeding?

[mrodrigo]

i dont have a camera here, i took some pics with my cell but the blue/green color doesnt really show. the tank has always been (3 yrs) in direct sunlight and ive never had any problems with algae, i thought the color was fading but its still there, any suggestions? are algae harmful? should i just change the water?

thanks a lot

[marisa]

Green algae isn't harmful, but it can be aesthetically unpleasing. My turtles have some carpeting the edges of their basking areas and on some of the objects (plastic plants mostly) in their tanks. The water is clear, however, and I like the look---it's more natural. I would not, however, want to look at green water...

I'm thinking that your turtle has no doubt grown in the last 3 years and is producing more waste, which increases the nutrient and phosphorus content, which along with heat and light encourages algae growth. Even though the tank has been in direct sunlight (not a good thing to do, especially in hot weather), I'd move it. I'd also do more frequent partial water changes to help keep down the nutrients and phosphorus in the water. See if those things help.

BTW, how big is the tank, how big is your turtle, what kind of filtration do you have and how often have you been changing the water and cleaning the tank?

A pic of those green scutes would be interesting to see...