General Care Discussion :: Dirty Water

[natbostow]

I have had my turtle for three days and his water is already murky, why is that? What should I do to keep it from getting murky so quickly? I have a water filter but what else can I do?

[meltedspork]

What size is your tank? How big is your turtle? What kind of filter do you have?

[natbostow]

I'm not quite sure how big my tank is, my turtle is probably 4" and the water filter is a repto filter on the back it says filters up to 55-gallon shallow-water.

[meltedspork]

If your turtle is 4" long, he needs at least 40 gallons of water. Turtles need 10 gallons of water for each inch of their shell. If you have less than that, the water will get dirty very quickly.

"Reptile" filters are usually junk, and turtles should NOT have shallow water, they are aquatic and love to swim. The water in your tank should be filled up as high as possible.

Turtles need filters that are very powerful as they produce a lot of waste. You need a filter that is rated 3 times higher than the size of your tank. So, if you have a 40 gallon tank, you need a filter rated for a 120 gallon tank. And the gph (gallons per hour) should be 5 times higher than the size of your tank. So, if you have a 40 gallon tank, you need a filter rated for 200 gph.

If you don't have a big enough tank and strong enough filter, the water will get dirty very quickly.

[natbostow]

I have it filled up as high as I can. I had a feeling that the filter I got wouldn't work very well. Thank you for your help!

[Bascomb]

Nat-sto -- It does sound like your filter is not large enough. Establish how many gallons you have in you tank and make sure that the filter pumps at least 5 time that amount. Another thing to worry about is that if the water is too high the turtle will try and get out. They can climb out the length of their bodies plus the length of thier reach. Most are escape artist and will hide in the darnest places. b.

[VashTCP]

My tank got dirty after three days but cleared up on the sixth

[easy2putt]

I have a 10 gal tank running a ReptoFilter (rated at 90 gph, filters up to 20 gal. aquariums)

I have it half filled and the water looks cloudy today.

I've heard, read here though that this should clear up and it's cloudy due to the bacteria balancing in the tank..?

[pickerbp22]

are you using gravel or alot of river rocks?

[easy2putt]

are you using gravel or alot of river rocks?

All river rock..

[pickerbp22]

i would decrease the amount of river rock. or just get rid of it all. its most likely trapping the poop and food and grime and then when the turtles dig at the rocks it makes water cloudy instantly. You could take all the water out. Put new water in. and it will still be cloudy. The rocks are trapping all the grime that the turtles make.

[pickerbp22]

and you really should get a way better filter. Cannisters are really a great way to go. i dont think the power filters are great for turtles. The better the filter is. the more expensive it is. usually the better it is. better means clearer water and better filtration

[Azfar]

So far i'm using the power filters and it does the great job, the water still maintain clear.. I just have to change 60% of the water atleast once 2 weeks..

[SpotsMama]

It's normal for the water in a tank with a new aquarium and/or new filter to get a milky white or cloudy look for a few days or a week as the colonies of good bacteria (the ones that break down ammonia and nitrites) get established. After this "new tank syndrome" stage, the water should clear up and stay clear, as long as you don't do something that kills all the bacteria (like change the filter bio-media or scrub everything in the filter and tank). This is assuming the tank and filter are adequate for the bio-load. If they aren't, then the water will have a murky, unclean look and will smell bad.

Good advice about the river rocks. A few on the bottom of the tank to add interest are great, but a covering of them will reduce water quality and make keeping the tank and water clean more difficult.

[jameshermanto]

good tips for everyone, thats why i love this website, they help each other.
especially me. thx to all of you