General Care Discussion :: Algae??

[guitarplayer97]

My turtles tank has very bad algae in it. I replace the water every week but the algae just persists to be there. Is it safe to put a type of algae killer, and if so is there any that you guys would recommend? Thanks

[gwennie]

Do you replace all of the water completely, or just some of it? An algae problem in the tank means that your tank could be getting too much sunlight, and also that you probably have a very high nitrate reading in your water parameters. Both are easily fixable w/o adding an algae killer to your tank that could harm your turtle.

[theartbook35]

Some algae, the green stuff, is a sign of good water health.

Too much algae is just very irritating and not aesthetically pleasing to some. I've never heard of it meaning there are high nitrates, especially since algae can grow in even the cleanest of water.

If you have a UVB source sitting on a floating dock, you will get algae no matter what, even if the tank isn't by a window. So far, the only solution I've seen to this, is to scrub everything, and either get an above tank basking area, or a live aquatic plant to compete with the algae. Thing is, the turtles eat the aquatic plants, and damage them to the point where they don't grow back.

Algae killers are unnecessary, and I personally don't trust any kind of chemical that goes into the place where my turtles live 24/7.

[guitarplayer97]

Some algae, the green stuff, is a sign of good water health.

Too much algae is just very irritating and not aesthetically pleasing to some. I've never heard of it meaning there are high nitrates, especially since algae can grow in even the cleanest of water.

If you have a UVB source sitting on a floating dock, you will get algae no matter what, even if the tank isn't by a window. So far, the only solution I've seen to this, is to scrub everything, and either get an above tank basking area, or a live aquatic plant to compete with the algae. Thing is, the turtles eat the aquatic plants, and damage them to the point where they don't grow back.

Algae killers are unnecessary, and I personally don't trust any kind of chemical that goes into the place where my turtles live 24/7.

The algae is very green and it is right below where my basking lamp is. I do usually scrub it off but the problem is it just comes back so soon and it becomes very annoying. It is most visible on the ramp leading up to the dock. What type of aquatic plants do u recommend that i could attempt to try?

[marisa]

If the algae is just on the edges of the basking area and ramp where it meets the water and the water itself is clear, I'd just learn to live with it (which I have) and only scrub the area in question if it got really bad. If you scrub the area and don't get every bit of it, the algae will return amazingly quickly.

The algae is growing beneath/near the basking area because it thrives on warmth and light. What's the temp of the basking area and water? How long do you have the lights on for?

If you had an outdoor enclosure, plants would help, because not only would they compete for the nutrients in the water, but ones that spread and cover the surface (water hyacinth, duckweed, for example) would block sunlight and help keep the algae down. I don't know how big your tank is, but the smaller the tank, the less effective I think they would be.

I'd look at the temps and amount of time the lights are on and see if they could be altered without compromising what your turtle needs. You said you replace the water weekly, so I'm assuming it's a pretty small tank (10 gallons?). You could also do partial water changes to dilute the nutrients that the algae is growing on.

[seanwb]

Some algae, the green stuff, is a sign of good water health.

Too much algae is just very irritating and not aesthetically pleasing to some. I've never heard of it meaning there are high nitrates, especially since algae can grow in even the cleanest of water.

Algae needs food to grow. The presence of too much algae means high nitrates / phospates. Neither of these is a sign of good water health.

[jozzep]

You will always get "a little" algae by the basking dock.If that's the only problem, then it's not a problem.it's normal.

[gwennie]

A high nitrate level is what feeds algae blooms usually ^^ (if we've ruled out direct sunlight on the tank anyway). This means the beneficial bacteria in your filter are doing their job at breaking down the nitrites, but that you need to up the amount of small water changes you're doing each week to keep your nitrate levels down, otherwise you'll most likely keep having problems with algae in your tank.

I get some algae growth on the end of the tank that has my UVB light as well, but not enough to really bother me at all. I only really have to scrub it every two weeks off the glass, and even then you can't see it unless I put the sponge on the inside of the tank glass. If it's only on your ramp and near the basking area, I agree with Jozzep that it's not really a problem.

Testing your water parameters is always helpful though.

Here's the nitrification cycle in a nut shell as explained to me by an awesome turtle keeper on another forum:

Your turtle produces waste in the form or urine and poop - ammonia. Beneficial bacteria (BB) will colonize the biomedia (not the ammonia removing stuff, nor the carbon) and "eat" the ammonia. The waste they (the BB) produce is nitrites. Another colony of BB will take up residence and "eat" the nitrites. The waste they produce is nitrates (with an "A").

You'll get an ammonia spike first. It will soon be followed by a nitrite spike and the water will get REALLY cloudy. Shortly after that the water will clear and there will be a nitrate spike. The only way to safely reduce nitrates is by changing out part of the water.

Once the "cycle" has finished you should show almost no ammonia and nitrites. The BB keeps up it's "eating" as new ammonia is introduced into the water in the form of turtle waste. That's why weekly (or every other week depending on the size of your tank) water changes are SOOOOO important - to keep the nitrate level under control.

I do two small water changes a week to keep my nitrate levels below ten. Anything over 30 ppm is considered on the toxic end of the scale and isn't good for fish or your turtle really.