General Care Discussion :: red mildew

[laurapa]

In our new apartment building, we have encountered a delightful new mildew problem. Things that are remotely moist grow red mildew here. The traditional grayish mildew also occurs in the grout if we don't scrub it regularly, but when we moved in, we had a crazy time removing red mildew in harder-to-reach places that the previous tenants must not have minded. In the holes on the showerhead, for example, or in the faucet output of our bathroom sink. I have a mold allergy, so I was not happy about this.

It grows fast. It's harder than the regular gray shower mildew to stay on top of with cleaning, and it grows in more places.

My question: as Oliver basks, swims, basks, swims, can he get mildew-y? This new red mildew is so ubiquitous and opportunistic that I worry it will grow on him, or in his tank. Maybe I am just projecting my own mold allergy on Oliver, but I figure that can't be good for him.

Someone make me feel better or let me know what I can do to prevent/treat mildew in a turtle habitat.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Is it red or pink? I've researched the pink stuff before, it is often used as a means for tracking, or used to be and now it's contaminated everything. We get the pink stuff pretty frequently, even if we scrub and scrub.

However, I have yet to encounter any mildew in my tank (yay!). I don't think that it grows very readily in there. If it does, just wipe it away with a towel, though I don't know how easily it will come off of a turtle shell. You might be able to add some salt or vinegar to the water to change the pH and salt concentration, which may render the mildew gone. But I would use that after you have confirmed it's presence there.

[laurapa]

I forgot I posted this and have more questions.

1. I know that for aquarium salt, you're supposed to add half of the suggested amount on the container. Of course, I have no idea how many gallons of water are in my tank. I need to get a salinity test kit in order to do this right. What result am I looking for on the test? What's the optimal level of salt?

2. I asked the original question partly because I noticed that along with green algae, Oliver's tank is growing something rust-colored on the bottom. Usually we just brush it away, but it worries me. I guess it's probably different from the red mildew that grows in our bathroom/kitchen, because mildew doesn't normally grow under water. But what IS it?

[octpusgirl8]

The rust colored stuff is just a different kind of algae. Do you test your water for things like nitrate and phosphate? Those are two things that encourage algae growth.

[laurapa]

Hmm I test for nitrate but not for phosphate. Looks like I need to go buy some more tests!

Glad to know, though, that it's just a different kind of algae. Oliver seems to like algae, so I won't freak out about it.

[Breger3]

So glad for this forum, we've just got the rust colored stuff and I was trying to figure out how rust got into the tank! Good to know it's Algae!