Habitat - Indoor :: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Turtle tank setups and other indoor configurations.

Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 3:33 pm   Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

We have had our red eared slider for over a year and he's in good health. We have a Fluval 306 canister filter which seems to work pretty well. We do small cleans ( removing poop) every few days and larger cleans every week and half to two weeks. Recently I noticed a way like reside at the bottom of the tank. I have to scrape it then auction it up or use a net to remove it. Does anybody have any idea what this is or how to control it? Our turtle doesn't seem to be bothered but it is making it more difficult to clean his tank. I've attached a picture. [img][img][/img][/img]Thanks!
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rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 6:59 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Sorry I can't help !
Last edited by litefoot on Sun May 21, 2017 9:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:44 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

It is a 40 gallon breeder tank. Out turtle is about 3 inches. Are you sure those are worms? I haven't seen any of them moving and when wiping them up they look like food residue. I looked up images and they don't look like what in seeing in the tank. I just want to make sure that is the problem. We usually clean out the poop using a turkey baster and wipe down any alge that has formed. Every week and half or so, we do a full clean changing about 20 percent of the water. We take out some of the artificial plants, rocks, and his platform to remove any algae. Every few weeks we clean out his canister filter. We took a water sample to Petsmart and they told us that all of the levels were normal. His water is crystal clear and we spend a few hours a week keeping his tank clean. I'm not sure what else we can do. We haven't noticed any changes to his behavior. He's still active, begs for food and basks. Do you suggest a way of cleaning up the worms, if that is what is at the bottom of the tank? The debris is only at the bottom of the tank and showed up in the past week. The sides of the tank do not have any residue. Thank you for your help.
rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 8:49 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

I'm sorry if I didn't answer some of the questions, but the link didn't work on my end :( in on my cell phone, so trying to respond as well as I can. Also, he has not had any issues. He's very active and friendly. We occasionally take him outside to walk around. Thank you for your help.
rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:01 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Lastly, I've read that plants can be the source of the worms. I started noticing the residue shortly after purchasing a live plant from petco. We put the plant in after doing about a 40 percent water change a week and half or 2 weeks ago. We also cleaned all of the rocks and plants with a tiny bit of bleach and water. We also cleaned out the filter.
rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Sun May 21, 2017 9:23 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Here are a few pictures of our turtle Franklin:
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rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:40 am   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Very weird looking. The only time I see something fuzzy like that is with food waste, but the wavy pattern throws me off because it's usually not dense enough to form a pattern like that. How fast do they appear? What brand of pellets are you using? Is water being circulated in that area? A couple of things to try... feeding in a separate container and repositioning the filter outlet.
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Post Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 1:31 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

It turns out that it was worms, as they were also in the filter. :oops: We did a full clean of the tank, including all of the rocks and plants, a 75 percent water change, all of the filter hoses, and replaced everything (sponges, filter medium, etc) within the filter. Everything seems to be good at this point and our little friend is happy. Thank you for the helpful responses! :mrgreen:
rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Wed May 24, 2017 6:24 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Sometimes it's hard to hear when someone with over 50 years in this hobby say's it detritus worms. Sorry I changed my post with links to "I can't help you". I apologize for that. I had several newbies in a row that just did not want to hear they had a problem. I guess my age is getting to me. Almost every problem in a habitat is preventable. To some what look's crystal clear can still be very toxic to a turtle. I ran your photo to my D5 monitor and most looked dead , always even a single plant quarantine it for a week before anything goes in your main tank. Most photos of Detritus worms on the web do not tell you that picture its blown up 500x's , or at different magnifications and is misleading when one looks at there's. You broke the cycle but I would still do same type cleaning in a week to get any other generation's still in tank. They start out microscopic.
One other simple thing to do is not feed the turtle in the tank of a week this will cut off there food supply and any others die off. Being a small tank I would always feed in other container ! You will be surprised how it helps you to control the water with maintenance. If it was 100-150 gallons the volume , the beneficial bacteria and cycling would take care of it a lot more giving you easier control. That's comes later he's a male RES and will get 9" that's 90 gallons "water" alone plus basking area as a adult. With bare bottoms some see these worms here and there. They are in most tanks just live in any gravel out of sight and are harmless until something causes a population explosion. Good observing never stop that will be the day something happens.
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 10:07 am   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Litefoot,

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry if my posts came off the wrong way. I was in panic mode, since we love our turtle very much. We are planning on doing another full clean in the next few days (like you recommended). He doesn't seem to want to eat out of the tank, but will try again this afternoon (I assume that if he's really hungry he will eventually eat out of the tank). Thank you again for your help! :mrgreen:
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 10:26 am   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Not sure how many in household but to control any overfeeding try this. In tank or out . Get or make something like a pill box sort out the week ( a good variety) of food , inform everyone no matter when one feeds ( turtles love a schedule) once that amount is gone it's gone no extra feeding. This is for the protein side , as far as veggies anyone can give extra veggies. Never seen a fat turtle on veggies !
In the second photo see a little sign of over feeding , not bad and can be corrected before it does. Better to underfeed than overfeed ! He is not a baby , ( a juvenile now ) diet should be at least 50/50 with veggies ! Veggies every day , a good start for them is a piece about the size of his shell ! My Piggley male RES is a little older than yours and I have him 70% veggies / also I skip two days a week on the protein side !
You had your RES a year any name ?
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 10:53 am   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Yes, his name is Franklin. :) It's just two of us and we will work on giving him a little less food. It's hard sometimes when he's begging non stop, but I know that we have to hold back! He is still a bit picky with leafy greens, although he does seem to like red lettuce, red romaine and red butter lettuce over some of the others. We are currently giving him Zoo Med Hatchling formula. The large pellets seemed a little too big for him to eat in one bite (less mess). Do you recommend any other pellets? We've also tried mustard greens and dandelion, but he just spit them out. He also wasn't a huge fan of zucchini, although he has eaten it in the past. He loves carrots (softened) and fruit like bananas, but we rarely give him fruit since they are high in sugar. Thank you again for your help.
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 11:22 am   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Piggley say's Hi Franklin !
Hatchling food has way too much protein , needed as babies grow fast but not for a juvenile. Look at Omega One foods , they range from baby to adult , is the best on the market for good nutrition. Read labels and you will see that Mazuri Koi food can be used , I do along with others ! Get a good variety even we would not like to eat hotdogs every day. As far as plant matter here's a good read :http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 12:28 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Thanks! I looked through the Omega One foods. The juvenile pellets have 39% protein while the adult have 37 %. Do you think the juvenile would be okay? Otherwise, I'll go with the adult and cut the sticks in half (to make it easier for him to eat).
rev84tam
 
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Post Posted: Thu May 25, 2017 2:35 pm   Re: Wavy residue at bottom of tank.

Yes , it's also the other ingredients in Omega One that's good making it a well regarded food with long time turtle keepers. How much you been feeding? Also how many times a day ? Are you using head size "not the neck to" ? Most say 2/3's the head size. Me I go 1/2 head size and offer more veggies for Piggley , that works for me.
What I said about the pill box that's a day !!! You could divide that set amount into two feedings am/pm or protein in am and veggies pm Bottom-line it's a day NOT at each feeding ! Get use to the begging they only get better at it with age. To get Piggley mine off eating more I play with him then in a few minutes all he wants to do is play.
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