General Care Discussion :: Tank Water Not Clearing Up

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Hello,

We are new turtle owners and we have owned our new RES turtle for about 3-4 weeks now and we noticed that his water was a little cloudy and unclear. So we went out and bought new filters. We replaced the filter (the old one was filthy, very yellow and brownish) and its been almost 24 hours since and it hasn't gotten better if not worse.

I check the entire filter, the input the output, the inside everything. It was slightly dirty on the suction pump that pulls the water into the filter, but not bad at all. Everything seems to check out.

Except one thing. Our filter is an Aqueon filter and we accidently bought TopFin filters. They are the same power annyd meant for the same strength of filter and they fit just the same in the filter as the original one did so I am just wondering if this could be the cause.

(We also have this Fluker's Water Treatment stuff that has bacteria in it that is supposed to eat up of the waste and food particles. We haven't started putting him in a smaller cage yet for eating. But all he has been eating so far are Turtle Pellets)

Any suggestions?

[Love of Animals]

What size is your filter and tank? How often do you do water changes?

[Kallistos]

What size is your tank and what size tank is your filter rated for? The "gallon ratings" that filter manufacturers advertise are for fish tanks; turtle tanks tend to need more powerful filtration. (1.5-2x the recommended power of a normal fish tank) Ex: If you have a 20gallon tank you'll want a filter that's rated for 30-40 gallons. If your filter is powerful enough and the water is still cloudy it might just be the tank's bacteria/microorganisms balancing out. Give it some time, it usually clears up. If not you can always replace some of the water.

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

What size is your tank and what size tank is your filter rated for? The "gallon ratings" that filter manufacturers advertise are for fish tanks; turtle tanks tend to need more powerful filtration. (1.5-2x the recommended power of a normal fish tank) Ex: If you have a 20gallon tank you'll want a filter that's rated for 30-40 gallons. If your filter is powerful enough and the water is still cloudy it might just be the tank's bacteria/microorganisms balancing out. Give it some time, it usually clears up. If not you can always replace some of the water.

The Tank is a 40 Gallon but only holds 20 (its a turtle tank, made to fit a filter on the side of it so it can only be filled half way). And the filter is rated for 30-50 I believe. Like I said I put in a TopFin filter into a Aqueon Filteration System so I dont know if that has anything to do with it but it shouldn't really.

We have some gravel in there and when we clean out the tank, we move the gravel around to pick up a lot of gunk but its still there.
We JUST cleaned his cage today and we have been doing it weekly. Almost the entire water gets replaced.

[LeonardoDaTurtle]

Also, we have our turtle in another tank, under a basking light and uvb light while we wait for the water to settle and filter out. How long can he stay in this tank? Like is there to much basking time here or what

[Kurtni]

Just because the water is cloudy doesn't mean the turtle cannot be in the tank with water. You can't keep a turtle under a basking light without water access constantly because they can overheat and become dehydrated, and the temperature gradient allows them to thermoregulate.