General Care Discussion :: white flimsy flakes at bottom of tank

[darla1699]

Ive had Henry for 5 weeks now. Aside from food scraps and some poop, the water would be full of white flimsy flakes which settle at thebottom of the tank. Thought it's from shed skin but this occurs daily. Ive only seen henry with flimsy threads around his neck and limbs 3x since ive had him. So im quite worried that he's shedding too much if that is the case. I do 80% water change daily as a result. The water gets too murky after a day also. Since i want to minimize handling i do the waterr change with him inside the tank. He gets panicky when the water gets too low.

[jnutprincess]

Are you using a pump/filtration to circulate the water? How big is your tank? You shouldn't have to change the water that often if you have proper filtration. If you could upload a picture of the flakes, might just be shedding. When they shed the skin it mostly looks stringy and white. And when their shell is shedding it would be similar in appearance to the turtle's shell but transparent. Do you use a cuttlebone, could be the debris from that?

[steve]

Can you post a picture of it?

[darla1699]

I'll post a pic tomorrow when I clean the tank. Im faced with a lot of limitations. One, is space. I dont really have a big house so having a big aquarium would be a problem. I currently have a 10 gallon tank. Im planning to upgrade to a 20 gal but Im still looking for a way to fit it in the house. An outdoor enclosure is definitely not an option. Im also thinking of how to provide an ATBA to maximize swimming space.

Water level is not high just 3 inches since I can't find a floating dock in pet shops here. I bought a polyresin log which serves as the basking area. Henry's been constantly basking so I guess this is ok for him. I observed that on warmer days he mostly stays in the water. The most that he would bask would be maybe an hour or two. Im not using a filter as of now. I don't mind doing daily water changes as long as it is not harmful to my turt. I only started giving cuttlebone for 2 weeks and the flakes were there prior to my feeding cuttlebone. Is daily shedding ok? I think he hasn't shed a scute or part of his shell yet.

My current set up is composed only of the tank, polyresin log for basking and basking light. I live in a tropical country and right now our temps reach about 34 degrees celsius (93 F). I read somewhere in this forum of one who dispensed with a heater since he/she was living in a tropical country as well. The water level would also preclude me from using a submersible heater. I also know 2 people who haven't used any heaters, basking light or even uv lights but who have their turtles for years now. I think one is about 6 inches now. Im planning to provide supplements instead of providing a UV light since UV lights are not available here. Im also quite wary on too much electrical stuff left unattended since nobody's at home when I go to work. They pose as potential fire hazards especially during summer season. I have an electrical timer for the basking light as a precaution when I have to stay late at work.

I still want to provide the best set up for Henry but due to some limitations and unavailability of turtle equipment and supplies Im exploring options and alternatives. Importing stuff would be quite expensive since shipping costs would either double the cost of the item or sometimes would be more expensive than the cost of the item itself.

[SINI5T3R]

with a 10 gal tank you wont really need a heater. one wrong slip of the temp gage on a heater in a ten gal tank can kill everything it can get super hot. i did it once and killed almost all my fish accept for like 2. the water was hot to the touch. Also turtles get those growth spurts sometimes so i dont know how long a ten gal or even a twenty gal will last you. sooner or later you will need at LEAST at the minimum for a small Male turtle is a 55 gal and thats if hes small. one full grown nice sized female needs over 100 gals if you use the 10 gals per inch of turtle.

[darla1699]

Thanks for the tip. I guess I'll go straight to a big tank.