General Care Discussion :: Slime on decorations

[Ty13]

About 2 weeks ago I got a treated wood decoration for my turtle's tank. I put it in and within a week it had turned the water a murky shade of orange. I took it out soaked it in water, let it dry, then put it back in the tank. the water didn't turn orange as quikly but the wood got covered with almost an inch of white slime all around. I took it out and I was wondering wether I sould try it again or take it back and get a different decoration? If i do put it back in will the slime hurt my turtle?

[marisa]

What do you mean by treated wood? Do you know what kind of wood it is? The orange color sounds like it could be tannin leaching out of the wood after being submerged for a while. Tannin (if that's what it is) is not harmful to your turtle. The water would have turned orange more slowly because there was less tannin in the wood to leach out.

I once tried grapewood in a tank and after being submerged for a while, it grew a lovely pale shade of green slime on it, which my turtles loved to nibble on. I would take it out, clean it and dry it only to have the process repeated. Grapewood, I found out, isn't meant to be submerged in water.

The fact that you're getting slime on the wood sounds like it's not a type of wood that should be kept in water either. I'd return it if you can and get something different, something that can be kept under water.

[kmichael55]

A lot of treated wood, the type for decks and playsets, etc. are treated with a compound that contains arsenic. This could leach into the water and would be unsafe for your turtles. However, if you mean treated for use in an aquarium disregard that comment.

[joker]

I seem to get a similar sort of 'slime' on my turt's decorations. It's not of an orange colour, in fact its not visible, but one can feel it. I clean Sushi's tank out at least once a week and i find that on the plastic plants and rocks theres a substance of sorts. I just though this might be from the food or her excrament.

[marisa]

It could very well be. I've found that plastic plants will get a slimy feel to them after they've been in the water for a good while and haven't been cleaned, but the slime is invisible to the eye. The slime I was referring to above is visible, a pale milky green (almost white) and only on the wood. It was from using a wood in the tank that wasn't moisture resistant.

[joker]

Actually not sure if this might help, but the wood i have in my tank seems to be giving off some of it sap. Which might result in the stickiness i find at times.Which isn't surprising as i took this wood from a natural source.

[marisa]

Resinous wood like pine, cedar, etc. isn't good to use in the tank. The sap may be natural, but it's not good for your turtle. It's better to use a wood that's resistant to moisture such as driftwood or corkbark.

[Bumby's Mom]

My tank gets orange slime as well but it got it before I put any sort of decorations in at all. However, it takes a while for it to build up. It was over a month ago that I cleaned the basking dock and got the orange stuff off and it is just now coming back. I don't know if it is the same as what you are having or not since my water doesn't turn orange.

[Ty13]

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I found out that the wood is specially designed for aquariums and the manager just told me to soak it in boiling water for about a week and it should stop turning the water orange. He has no idea what caused the slime but he said it shouldn't hurt my turtle and gave me a free bottle of this Exo-terra Biotize stuff to see if it helps to get rid of it.

[marisa]

Soaking the wood in water is going to release the tannin in it so eventually the water will not turn orange. It's a little strange about the slime on wood that's supposed to be in water, though...