General Care Discussion :: Recommended Water Chemistry

[The Troops]

Hi,

I have been in the swimming pool business for 10+ years and know that water chemistry is a MUST for everything! And owning several fish tanks over my 30 years alive, it is also very important to fish and obviously.... Turtles. Question is.... What is the perfect water chemistry for Turtles? I test my water at work at least twice a month just to make sure pH ( 7.2-7.8 ) & hardness (200-350ppm ) is within recommended range for swimming pools. Been searching online for the past few months trying to find out if turtles like anything specific that maybe fish dont need.

General balance-
Water Temp:
pH:
Hardness(calcium):
Alkalinity(pH buffer):

Max Tolerable levels-
Phosphates:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Ammonia:

I know you dont want any of the tolerable stuff... But a "what if" kinda thing

[steve]

I have no idea I think what's good for fish, will be fine for RES since they can thrive in the same environment. VeipaCray will give you the best info about water quality.

[VeipaCray]

We're trying to replicate their natural habitat - freshwater rivers and ponds from different regions, so there is no exact perfect number.

What is the perfect water chemistry for turtles? I'd go with H2O.

All kidding aside...

Water temp- turtles are cold blooded reptiles so having water that's cooler than their basking area gives them the ability to self regulate body temp. 75-77F for an adult and 77-79 for a juvenile are target temps. Too cold and they slow down eating or even hibernate.

pH- again RES come from different regions with different water PH so they tolerate a wide range. Consistency is more important than exact number. 7-7.8 is the ideal range.

kH - same answer turtles tolerate a range. Ideally we need a kH level to keep the pH stable if you need numbers, I think 100-200 would be the target range.

GH - Again this ties to pH stability, but too high of a GH can lead to algae growth. This number is much more important (different requirements) if you're trying to keep aquatic plants in your turtle tank.

Nitrite and ammonia - with proper filtration your tank will fully cycle and these will remain at 0.

Nitrate - turtles can tolerate much higher nitrate levels than fish as they can climb out of the water. Too high of nitrates and youll be battling algae. We use the nitrate levels on a cycled tank as a gauge to indicate when water changes are needed. I try to keep my nitrates below 50ppm.

Phosphates - primary food source for single cell algae. If you're not growing plants in your turtle tank then very low phosphates is ideal.

[The Troops]

Thanks!

[dumbork14]

this one will go to my turtlenotes! thanks.

[The Troops]

We're trying to replicate their natural habitat - freshwater rivers and ponds from different regions, so there is no exact perfect number.

What is the perfect water chemistry for turtles? I'd go with H2O.

All kidding aside...

Water temp- turtles are cold blooded reptiles so having water that's cooler than their basking area gives them the ability to self regulate body temp. 75-77F for an adult and 77-79 for a juvenile are target temps. Too cold and they slow down eating or even hibernate.

pH- again RES come from different regions with different water PH so they tolerate a wide range. Consistency is more important than exact number. 7-7.8 is the ideal range.

kH - same answer turtles tolerate a range. Ideally we need a kH level to keep the pH stable if you need numbers, I think 100-200 would be the target range.

GH - Again this ties to pH stability, but too high of a GH can lead to algae growth. This number is much more important (different requirements) if you're trying to keep aquatic plants in your turtle tank.

Nitrite and ammonia - with proper filtration your tank will fully cycle and these will remain at 0.

Nitrate - turtles can tolerate much higher nitrate levels than fish as they can climb out of the water. Too high of nitrates and youll be battling algae. We use the nitrate levels on a cycled tank as a gauge to indicate when water changes are needed. I try to keep my nitrates below 50ppm.

Phosphates - primary food source for single cell algae. If you're not growing plants in your turtle tank then very low phosphates is ideal.

Seems we speak the same language

I have had my first Turtle (Squirt) for about 6 months now and always worried about these levels. I found one forum that was no help at all. They just started conversations on your thread and acted like your question didnt exist! But I seem to have came across another great forum... I belong to a few

[VeipaCray]

Thanks for the kind words. We're glad to have you here. Turtle Talk is a smaller forum with most of our info geared at sliders and other aquatic turtles even though we have sections for other turtle / tortoise types. We may be a bit slow to respond as there aren't as many people on here but Steve the forum owner prefers quality over quantity.

Over the past 25ish years of keeping fish, I've had freshwater, reef, planted, and now a turtle. I'm by no means a turtle expert (others on this forum certainly are) so I try to answer all of the water quality, filtration, and habitat questions that I can. If you speak water quality... please stick around. There's ton's of questions that pop up and we're always looking for experience and knowledge.