General Care Discussion :: Turtle Shell

[Cim*Forever]

I was just wondering... I think the black lines on the shell are the growth lines... ? Does his shell look healthy?

Also, I just changed my tank water and its murky again, is this still new tank syndrome?

Thanks guys!








The picture of him out of his tank was when I was cleaning the water out yesterday, the other two are from tonight. Thanks for the help guys

[Vivi]

to me his shell looks very healthy. as for the the new tank syndrome i dont know because its been a long time since that happened to me. but im pretty sure it is.

[megcornell]

How much of the water did you change when you cleaned the tank?
As for the growth lines, it looks like he's growing a little fast. How much and how often are you feeding him?

[Cim*Forever]

I break up about 4 or 5 (depending on the size) pellets of Wardleys Premium floating sticks. To me, it looks like it can fit in the hollow of his head. I feed him just once in the morning at around 15 to 8. I offer him fresh carrots, and lettuce that I allow to float in the tank(not that the carrots float).
Should I feed him less?
As for the water, I drained it all, which would be the reason for the new tank syndrom? I thought it would be okay if I left the filter alone.

Thanks guys

[shannon_nicole]

if you take out all the water and put in tap water you need to use a dechlorinator such as reptisafe. the chlorine is put in by the water company to kill bacteria, so yeah it kills your biological filter too.

Also when doing water changes it's better to do less water more frequently. With mine I change about 1/4 of the water about once or twice a week.

[emma]

Your turtle looks health to me. And yes, those are growth lines. And that is how much I feed my turtles and they are about the same size as yours. Do you have UVB/UVA and heat lighting?

[megcornell]

The problem with changing all of the water at once is that you're essentially wiping out all of the beneficial bacteria that work in the nitrogen cycle to keep the tank water healthy. You should only do 25% water changes, so that you're adding fresh water but keeping the beneficial bacteria alive.
I think you can also buy bottled bacteria at petstores to "jumpstart" the cycle. If you're having troubles you should look into that.

[Cim*Forever]

Wonderful, thank you all for your suggestions and replies!

Yes I do have heat and UVB, water heater, filter, basking dock, ect.

I also bought a dechlorinater, which I used, I guess I will just do partial water changes. Thank you guys again I really appreciate it.

[Bascomb]

Everyone is on the right tract. I would suggest that you have some way to store or put aside some of you water to get out the chlorine. The containers need e open to the air. Putting water in capped or closed containers will not let the chlorine dissipate. I make 50 per cent changes every time the tank starts to get cloudy until I get the bacteria filtration started. I never make water change and clean the filter at the same time. Does your filter exchange the water at least 5 time per hour - question mark.