Equipment Review and Discussion :: i have some questions about water testing

[Twoster]

i do not have any water testing kits... i know i need tests for nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium..correct?..i was wondering if there were any more test(s) that i need...

i hope the water is alright..i always turkey bast the turds out when i see them, he eats his baby turtle pellets in one bite (i break them up), and i always use jurrasi-safe (removes toxic chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia)..and ive seen turtles in a lot worse conditions so i cant be too hard on myself..im doin the best i can, but you know, bills, human food, gas, bills and such..but i always throw koopa in the mix..

i have one 1-1/4 inch turtle in about 15 gallons of water with an xP3..should i be REALLY concerned with those levels being dangerous for a couple of days? (until i take a trip to a store)..im not going to lie, i havent tested the water, ever..

so um, could anyone help or throw in some opinions?..

[SpotsMama]

Our Petco says it will test water for free. I'm not sure what all they test but you might ask.

The other thing to test for is ph.

I you have to do limited testing, ammonia and nitrite are the most critical ones.

[Twoster]

alright, thanks..we have a petsmart..and 2 other aquarium type stores..ill talk to them about free testing, as well as kits.

[steve]

Doing regular and partial water changes will eliminate the need to do water testing. If you have well water, it would be fine or if you have tap water then most water conditioners will be OK.

And XP3 in 15 gallons of water is a bit much, how big is the tank?

[marisa]

I think almost any aquarium shop will test water for free, especially if you're buying something. At one shop I've gone to, all they do is put one of those strip testers in the water and read it (I don't particular care for testing with strips---they can be somewhat inaccurate compared to a testing kit).

If you have the turtle in 15 gallons of water, how big a tank is it (I asked this in your other post but don't recall reading an answer). For that amount of water and if the tank is small, you should be changing the water fairly frequently, especially if the water gets warmer in the summer where you live. If you do test for nitrate and the level is high, do a partial water change to lower it. But if it's been a while since you've done a water change, it would be better to just change the water completely with only 15 gallons in the tank. Remember to rinse the biomedia in tank water and keep it wet until you're ready to put it back in the filter (keeping a container of tank water on the side would be good).

[DavidY]

Turtles are much more tolerant of poor water conditions than fish are. That's another good reason to keep some minnows in the tank with the turtle (if they can keep from getting eaten). Ammonia and nitrite are the toxic substances you need to test for, but once your filter is setup and running properly (biological filtration) you shouldn't neet to worry about it again, unless you have a major incident like drastic temperature change, completely new filter, 100% water change/tank cleaning, etc. Testing the pH once a month is a good idea too and those tests are pretty cheap and easy to do.

[Twoster]

alright, thanks everyone!

i do partial water changes once a week,
and i always remove all the poo and excess stuff on the tank bottom.

i got the xp3 because it was on sale,
and i know im going to need one later on,
and its better than my cheap ol' "repti-filter"

im pretty sure its not hurting anything,
(i got the water flow as low as possible, for most of the day, i turn it up a lil to move some extra debris and let koopa play in the rapids, but for no longer than like 10 minutes or so)
(i also have a 150w heater because it was on sale..and it works perfectly fine in 15 gallons,even though its rated for 45 or 50 gallons, just so ill be prepared and i wont have to upgrade equipment when i can afford his final kingdom!..you know?..not trying to sound like an [---]..but i already got em)

i dont believe there is such thing as "too much" filtration with xp's, since you can easily control the water flow, what else could cause a problem?

and im sorry marisa, its a 20 gallon long aquarium i believe.
the water temp stays REALLY consistant here.
and thank you.

im getting a test kit this weekend.
i have 2 survivor rosie reds, and they are still kickin.

but thank you all for the input!

[Twoster]

and sorry for droppin that "A" bomb..lol..

and this tank will soon have 20 gallons of water when i construct this above tank basking area!


i believe he will be alright with this setup until he grows to about 2 inches or so..

[DavidY]

Yea, I want to get one of those xp3's too. That's a good idea to turn it up for a few minutes to stir things up.

[Twoster]

oh yes, they do the duty

[SpotsMama]

That all sounds very good. As long as you're getting a kit, why don't you get the Freshwater Master Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It's in the fish section of most pet shops, or you can get it on line. You can test for ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It's got lots and lots of test solution so you probably can test all you want for a year before you need to replace it. It's got good instructions too.

I thought of something else that you could test for - hardness. I don't test for it - our water here is supposed to be soft. But you never know for sure until you test. I may try it sometime but it's not on the list of the important ones for a turtle.

[Twoster]

cool, im writing that down right now..this place called china house (aquarium/fish store) is closed right now..and petsmart is a looong walk from here..but im def. gonna get something tomorrow..thanks again!