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My turtle (Charlie) has a ceramic gave in her tank where she can hide. I've noticed that it develops something green on it and I have no clue what it is. I'm assuming algae but I'm not sure. It was just on the cave but I noticed a little green in one of the corners of the tank as well. Is this normal? I take out the cave and clean it when I see the green. Should I get some drops or something to clean the water?

it's algae. Not harmful at all. I don't clean it because I think it makes things look more natural.

It's not harmful, but it can spread. If you don't like it, I recomend a product called AlgaeFix which is manufactured by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.

Just clean everything affected and add to the new water. Works great, one corner of my take gets some sunlight in the morning and I had it on everything. started using this about a month ago and *poof* like magic, no more algae.

Thanks for the tip! It's good to know it's not harmful. I was scared it would make Charlie sick or something.

Warmth, light and nutrients in the water combine to form algae. I use corkbark for the basking area, and the edges that are under water have algae on them. I think it adds to the "naturalness" of the habitat, and I generally leave it alone until I happen to do a thorough cleaning of the tank, then I just scrub it off.

It won't bother your turtle, but if you find you're getting more of it than you want, there are some things you could do to slow down/discourage its growth:

1. If you've got the tank in a window, move it to cut down on the light.

2. How long are the lights on? If they're on for something like 14 hours a day, shorten the time they're on.

3. I've read that turning the lights off for a few hours during the day can disrupt growth--maybe this isn't possible for you, but since the summer has been really warm and sunny here, I try have my RES outside for a few hours each day, and I turn off all lights when he's not in the tank.

4. Keep the water temp down to around 76F (hard to do in the summer, I know).

5. Dilute the concentration of nutrients in the tank by doing partial water changes in between regular cleanings/changes.

6. Add oxygen to the water with aquatic plants that are oxygenators like anachris (hard to do because the turts will eat them), or devices like bubble wands or airstones.

Thanks! I figured it was the light because in the corner where the light hits the water (I have a lamp so it's facing the basking spot at an angel so it hits just one corner) is where the algae is really starting to spread. I'm not sure why it's so heavily on the cave...I guess the material it's made of grows it more than the glass. Those tips are really great so thanks!

mines green where the light hits but no bother to me , I have a big apple snail in there slow but eats at it.