General Care Discussion :: Grossed/Freaked Out

[Mom2RES]

After I put Angelina's lettuce in this evening I sat down in front of the tank to watch her for awhile. Life has been crazy, and I haven't really had time to do that recently. I have trouble with this brown algae looking stuff and have from not long after I set this tank up in January. For the most part it only happens on the side of the tank that has Angelina's basking lights. It was happening on the other side of the tank that only had the flourescent hood. I quit leaving that light on all day, and it has become almost nonexistant on that side of the tank.

Anyway I'm sitting there watching her and looking around the tank and I notice these teeny tiny white dots on the brown algae looking stuff. I look a little closer and I think I see one move. I sit and watch and yes, I'm pretty positive I see movement. It is not a lot of movement and if you don't sit a stare you probably wouldn't notice. Then behind this in the water I see something teeny tiny swimming around. Then I see another and another. Mind you both the white dots and the swimming things are so small I can't make out any type of shape.

So I get on here and look at the Freshwater Hitchhiker thread. I'm guessing the things I saw swimming are Freshwater copepods(Cyclops). I can't say forsure, because as I said I can make out not shape or anything. As for the white dots... I have no idea. So I do a couple other things around the house. Go let the dog in and go back to the tank after the dog is in her kennel. The thought of these critters are really bothering me.

I decide to go ahead and get the scrubber and scrub the brown algae looking stuff off the sides. I had some down very close to the sand, so I scrubbed it too. Of course that stirs stuff up. I sit back down to watch. I notice what look like very thin strands of hair of maybe a 1/4 of an inch or less. Then I start seeing some of them flick their ends. So now I'm postive this is some type of worm that was down in the sand. It too is so small, I can't make out anymore detail than very thin hair strand.

Now I know in the Freshwater HH thread it states that these things are probably harmless and should probably be left, but quite frankly I do NOT want them in my tank. It grosses me out, plus if I have company over and they want to see my tank/turtle, I do not want them seeing "bugs" or "worms"... YUCK!!!

That being said is there anything I can do to get rid of them short of draining my entire tank and cleaning everything? If I do get rid of them, how do I keep them from coming back? I can only assume they came from the food I feed her. The thing is I rinse her food good. For example with her lettuce I actually rub it between my hands (kind of like washing your hands) while under the running water.

Lordy I do not want to have to drain that tank, but I do not want these things.

Also, how common is this? I mean are they in almost every tank or is it something I'm doing wrong? Could it be I'm not cleaning my FX5 often enough? Could it be my water condition isn't good enough?

UGH... I'm thoroughly disgusted right now.

[steve]

I sometimes feel cleaning the tank and filter can be therapeutic

I would do a through cleaning and keep the tank bare until this is figured out. Organic material will draw flies and other bugs, so it will be an issue without regular inspections.

[Mom2RES]

This may be a better in the indoor habitat section. I'm going to ask here and then go over there too.

What is a thorough cleaning of the filter? I just took it apart over Memorial Day weekend and changed the carbon, purigen and rinsed/scrubbed the sponges (by scrubbed I mean rubbing the sponges together like you would a stain on clothing). I did this in the water I had purged from the filter, because I think I've read you should clean/rinse in water from the since. Is that true? The reason I read is because the chemicals from sink water will kill the good bacteria. Other than that, what am I supposed to do to clean the filter?

I don't have flies or other bugs in my house that I know of. I guess probably all houses have an ant, spider, etc. here or there.

When you say thorough cleaning do you mean empty all the water out and start all over? Will my tank have to cycle and all that again?

I'm just really bothered by how it happened in the first place. I have an FX5 on a 125 gallon tank. I clean the filter once a month. When I clean the filter I do a partial water change. Between evaporation and the water I suck out when vaccuming over the sand I probably add about a 1/4 of a tank of new water. Maybe a little more.

I don't think I overfeed. Angelina gets three to four reptomin baby pellets everyother day and one koi pellet at the same time (trying to promote shedding). She gets one large piece of lettuce (red or green leaf or red or green romaine) everyday that she doesn't get some other fruit or veggie. On the days she doesn't get lettuce she either gets sweet potato (not often), carrots (not often) or blueberries (been trying to do once every week or two - again to try to promote shedding). Is that overfeeding? Can you overfeed fruits and veggies?

Should I consider feeding her in another place besides the tank? UGH!!!

[Rubicon]

Should I consider feeding her in another place besides the tank? UGH!!!

It sounds crazy but I've heard of people doing this. Especially with older turtles that don't mind getting handle/don't freak out if moved into a different tank. It may be a PITA but it will keep your tank cleaner. Have you searched around on any of the other many fish forums out there? I'm sure you're not the only one who has dealt with this before. The brown worms sound very familiar.

[VeipaCray]

Most fish will eat those things.

You don't need to rinse your filter parts in tank water. Tap water is fine. The small amount of nitrifying bacteria you lose will not be enough to get your tank parameters out of whack. The brown algae is diatoms... too much light+phosphates and other nutrients in the water. Your tap water is probably high in phosphates. The freshwater copepods are naturally occurring as Steve mentioned. So short of regular scrubbings, a natural predator (fish) will help keep them under control.

For help with the diatoms - you can try some freshwater plants and/or a pleco. The pleco and the plants both have the possibility of becoming turtle food.

I sometimes feel cleaning the tank and filter can be therapeutic

Really?!?! I'll PM you my address. Feel free to stop over any time and clean one or all of the tanks and filters.

[Mom2RES]

I sometimes feel cleaning the tank and filter can be therapeutic

Really?!?! I'll PM you my address. Feel free to stop over any time and clean one or all of the tanks and filters.

Yea I'll give you mine too.

My biggest thing with doing an entire tank emptying and cleaning right now is that the hubs has been/is away on military duty and will be for another 16 days. I have a six year old and a two year old. Between working full-time and taking care of them, the house, the grass, the laundry, etc. by myself I just don't see being able to empty the tank and start all over right now.

Will a pleco do a better job than snails? I have four mystery snails but obviously they aren't taking care of things.

On my filter, should I be doing anything with the bio media? I never do anything to it. What about the tubing to the filter? Do I need to do anything to it?

I have did some reading and have found that this probably is pretty common as others have said. I just don't like it.

[VeipaCray]

USUALLY the pleco will do a better job than a few snails. One of the problems with plecos is that they sometimes get a taste of the uneaten turtle food and will almost refuse to eat algae. Depends on the individual fish. Snails usually multiply quickly so they do have that going for them.

Bio media - just rinse it occasionally. Sometimes the pores will get gunked up with particles that have passed the other stages of filtration. A quick rinse (again tap water is fine) is all you ever need to do to bio media.

Filter tubing - I never clean mine. Unless it's clogged (I've NEVER had that happen on any of my filters) you shouldn't need to do anything with the tubing. If the tubing ever gets to a point where it's clogged... just replace it. Your hardware store will sell tubing by the foot of most any diameter.

[Mom2RES]

So I decided to test my water, because it has been awhile. My water is pretty close to perfect. I think my PH is a little high at 7.6, but I'm pretty sure tap water around here has a higher PH. My amonia is 0 ppm, my nitrite is 0 ppm, my nitrate is 5 ppm. Those are the best readings I have had since I set the tank up in January. In past tests my amonia has been .25 ppm, my nitrite 0 ppm and my nitrate 40 to 80 ppm.

I don't get why I have the creepy crawlys.

[VeipaCray]

Nitrate is only half of the story when you're talking about algae. Algae feeds on other nutrients as well.... phosphates being the other primary source. Do you have a phosphate test kit? If you have a decent fish store near by the store should be able to test a sample of your water for phosphate level if you bring it in. Your creepy crawlys are probably feeding on the algae in the tank.

[Mom2RES]

Ahhhh ok... so nitrate does not cause phosphates. I don't have a phosphates test kit but will look into buying one. I know of one pet store near by that used to test water. The owner sold it and retired, so I don't know how good it is anymore. I'll look into that option too.

I onced asked about those algae ball things. If I remember correctly someone said the turtle would probably rip it apart and make a huge mess in the tank with it. Does anyone have experience with this plant?

[Gracie Turts]

if you haven't find an answer to the bug question yet, then a magnifying glass might help.

i think its always good to be cautious when it comes to the health of your turtles(s).

[SINI5T3R]

All of you guys should be happy to have to just clean out a tank. When I have problems I have to clean a POND...lol..thats like 15 tanks right there haha..

[VeipaCray]

Ahhhh ok... so nitrate does not cause phosphates. I don't have a phosphates test kit but will look into buying one. I know of one pet store near by that used to test water. The owner sold it and retired, so I don't know how good it is anymore. I'll look into that option too.

I onced asked about those algae ball things. If I remember correctly someone said the turtle would probably rip it apart and make a huge mess in the tank with it. Does anyone have experience with this plant?

Are you referring to a moss ball? http://www.thatpetplace.com/Chladophora ... a_7c208883

Yes plants are VERY good to have in a tank as they consume the same excess nutrients as the algae thus starving out the algae. The problem with plants is they are tasty treats for turtles, so yeah you run the risk of your turtle shredding / eating whatever plants you put in there.

[Mom2RES]

Is a moss ball the same thing as a marimo ball? I'm thinking what I asked about one time was called a marimo ball. I've seen reference to moss ball and marimo ball, so I went with the technical term algae ball thing. LOL

[Mom2RES]

So SINI5T3R you are the one that posted about freshwater HH. So are you saying that if you saw these things in your pond you would do a major cleaning or just leave it alone?

I need to buy a magnifiying glass to try and see these things better.