General Care Discussion :: How long can the water be unfiltered before it is unsafe?

[Crazy Girl Turtle]

Hi. We set up our new 90 gallon tank on Sunday night. We then discovered that our filter was going to be noisy and not working properly b/c we only had about 40 gallons of water in it. (We do not plan to increase the water level b/c we are not even supposed to have aquariums in the apartment, so we are trying to be low on the water in the meantime. Since our turtle is not even 2 inches yet, it is fine.)

So we ordered extensions for the inlet and outlet pipes so they go deeper into the tank. They arrived tonight and the water is now being filtered.

My question is, the water was in the tank and Rena XP3 filter from Sunday night to Thursday night without any filtering going on. Do we need to replace either/both the water and/or media?

Also, we plan to put our turtle in the tank for an hour or so on Saturday to test it/get some of her bacteria in it and then put her in it permanently next weekend. Does that work? (It doesn't seem to have a "new tank" syndrome going on, the water is clear.)

THANKS!

[TXGUY]

Hi, well i don't think you need to do any changes to the water ,if the turtle was not in the tank by then , the water sholud be good, just ad the antichlorine anti amonia and I don't think you need to do put the turtle for some time in the tank and then get it back to the old tank, changing from one tank to the other one may cause stress to the turtle , just leave it in the new tank,
be sure you have places (plants ) where the RES can hide till get use to the new home
this is just my opinion and my experience

[marisa]

If the water wasn't yet being filtered, I'd say replace some of the water (do a partial water change, even around 25%) to increase the oxygen content (water tends to get stagnant just sitting there). But if you're filtering it now, you could keep the outlet above the water level to let the water get exposed to some air.

If you've got the filter going, I'd just put the turtle in his new home.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Leaving the water unfiltered for a few days isn't going to hurt. Marisa had a good idea about doing a partial water change though.

[SpotsMama]

One way to know for sure how clean the water is is to test it. Aquarium Pharmaceuticals makes a Master Freshwater Test Kit with supplies for testing ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. It's very simple and comes with complete instructions for interpreting the test.

I think also a lot of pet stores will test the water for you for free if you bring in a sample.

[steve]

I would do a partial change as suggested, empty out the filter and rinse the filter media.

[Boston_Zhao]

by the way, for extending your intake pipe, you don't need to oder... I just went to Home Depot and got a piece of plastic tube, it fits perfectly, and only cost 2 dollars.....