General Care Discussion :: Cycling a tank

[Karawr]

I bought a new tank for my turtle (90g) and am in a little bit of a rush to move him over. However, the filter isn't cycled. Do turtles need a cycled tank or are the still sensitive to ammonia/nitrites?

The first time I got him I put him in an uncycled tank and continued to add chlorinated water (thus killing off any bacteria) until I learnt better.

I do weekly water changes of 25% but bumping this up to 50% might help him cope better? Or is this just a bad idea all together?

ALSO should I use a Rena XP3 or Eheim 2217 on a 90g tank? I have both, but only one can go to the tank!! Eheim is rated for a bigger tank but Rena has higher GPH. Not sure which to use. I find the eheim has a stronger current on the outflow, which I like for all the turtle gunk.

[Love of Animals]

You should put your turtle in the uncycled tank. Without the turtle waste it won't be able to cycle. Turtles are hardier than fish. Put purigen or carbon in your filter to start, that will dechlorinate your water. Keep an eye on ammonia levels. When the ammonia gets to high do a partial water change maybe 20%. Some people may say no water changes during cycling but I don't like the idea of high ammonia in with my turtle. I did 20% changes weekly while cycling. You may get a white cloudiness during this process. That's normal, wait it out. If you have a test kit your readings will be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 20 - 40 nitrates when fully cycled. I don't know about the Eheim but I have a XP 3 on a 55 gallon so if the Eheim is rated for a larger tank you might want to use that one. Or go with the one that can fit the most bio media in it. Good Luck!

[Karawr]

Well I can cycle the tank by adding liquid ammonia to it (I have other fish tanks so I'm familiar with fishless cycling ) but that will take probably a month or more. I know the last tank I cycled took over 2 months. Can't wait that long.

So he won't be bothered by the ammonia levels? What would be considered "too high"? 4ppm is very high for fish but for a turtle...? I'm unsure of a turtle's sensitivity to ammonia/nitrites. Should 2ppm be a max or?

I think I'm gonna put him in alone so he can cycle the tank lol. Then move my fish over once it's cycled.

[Love of Animals]

Just stick him in. He'll be fine as long as you do the water changes. Turtles are more tolerant than fish. He shouldn't develop any problems from just cycling a tank. It's long term bad water that will cause problems. With turtle waste in there it shouldn't take 2 months.

[VeipaCray]

See this thread for filter sizings: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

The XP3 and the 2217 are both undersized for the turtle tank. They both handle about the same size tank 55-60 gallons. Your best bet is to figure out a way to use both of them or upgrade to a larger filter.

You shouldn't be doing water changes during the cycle. It just prolongs the cycle and kicks off mini cycles. You can actually prevent your tank from cycling if you do enough water changes. Remember your turtle can climb completely out of water unlike fish. 's aren't nearly as sensitive to the ammonia as fish. It'll take from a few weeks to a month for your tank to completely cycle. You should do regular ammonia readings. When the ammonia drops to 0, start taking ammonia and nitrite readings. When ammonia and nitrite are both at 0 and stay that way for a few days, your tank is fully cycled. At that point, you'll need to start taking nitrate readings. Nitrates will always climb. The purpose of the regular water change is to keep the nitrate levels in check. Don't add your fish until the tank is fully cycled. Your turtle will be fine. Also, no filter maintenance after the first few days of the cycle. The bio filter needs that time to build up it's bacteria colony.

Don't add any biological supplement or water conditioner to a new tank no matter how convincing the wording on the packaging is.

That thread I posted earlier lists steps for an "optional" or new tank setup. The first few days with your new tank, you want CARBON in the filter, not purigen. Carbon will remove chloramine. We don't care about chlorine. Chlorine isn't used by most water municipals and even if yours does use it... it will evaporate out by itself within 24 hours or so. Aeration of the water (the running filter) helps speed up the chlorine evap process. What we care about is chloramine and Purigen does not remove chloramine... carbon does. You want to run your filter with carbon for the first day or so to pull the chloramine out. Once that's complete you can put your regular filter media (switch to purigen at this point) back in (again see that thread for suggestions) and leave it alone. No cleaning of the filter during the cycle once you put the regular media in.