Very Dirty Turtle Tub...

[jc92195]

hi bros,

seeking advice.
i am keeping 2 turtles in those Big transparent tubs about 2.5ft x 2ft x 1.5ft from ikea.
inside has a RES and MBT, they are very dirty and poo alot...
i am not sure what todo???

my filter is a Dolphin type OHF on the top of the tub.
inside the OHF has 1KG of CR rings and a thick black sponge on the top.
but water is still very dirty after 1 week.
may i know if changing to those cheap Bio-Rods $2 per-piece are better than CR?
the OHF can house 6 bio-rods with the thick black sponge on the top.

thanks bros

[Urban Aquaria]

When keeping turtles, you just have to keep cleaning up their waste regularly, thats what i had to do constantly when i kept them last time (it was almost like a daily activity cleaning after them). No choice, they are poop machines.

Filtration only goes so far in helping to clear the waste, but the waste is still in there circulating and generating ammonia and nitrates, so you still have to manually remove it, clean the filter often and export the nutrients, they will not magically disappear on their own. As indicated by the dirty water, that tub and limited water volume/filtration is also simply too small to handle all the waste being generated.

The best option is to up-size your small tub and filtration into a much larger tub or pond with larger filtration (larger the better, get those jacuzzi size tubs), then it will have larger filter volume and greater water volume to handle all that waste... until the turtles grow larger.

[tetrakid]

The turtles can grow quite big after a few years and it can live very long.
It is a long-term commitment which requires a lot of devotion and daily chore.

[fireblade]

I once had filter for my pig nose turtle .... they keep destroying the filter till now I give up... remove filter and do water change ...

[jc92195]

hi bros
thank you for your advice.
ya when they are small, i keep them in shallow water without filter, and WC every few days.
now bigger already like 5inches. poo alot, almost everyday also need to WC.
so i added a OHF filter and increase water level to 1ft to allow more swimming space in the tub.
i was hoping the OHF filter can help me to be less shag doing WC...
ya i think need to wash the black sponge everynight to remove the poo everyday.

but is those cheap Bio-rods better than CR?

thanks bros

[jc92195]

hi bros,

because sometimes i am overseas for 1-2 weeks and nobody will WC for me.
i thought to replace the CR rings with Bio-Rods in the OHF and then just throw all the CR rings inside the turtle tub to become the gravel...lolx
maybe i will need another 4-5kg of CR rings to cover the bottom of the tub as gravel.
do you think this will allow for better filtration?
just a silly idea not sure it will work...

thanks

[BFG]

You need to capture and remove the solid waste. If you let it go through the pump again, it will be chopped to finer pieces. Whatever waste material that pass through the mechanical phase of the filter will contribute to the dirty water condition. It seems your filtration volume is way less and is unable to cope with the load.

[tetrakid]

Basically, an aquarium filter is meant only to treat a fixed body of water, as in a fish tank where the thin strips of fish poo are normally dispersed in the water.

But for a growing turtle, the filter is not much of use. This is because like other reptiles, their poo is rather solid and voluminous in bulk. Thus the only way is to clean up the mess on a daily basis. If you are not present personally to do that, you will need to make alternative arrangements for some other person to do it.

[jc92195]

hi bros,
thanks for explanations on filtration.
i guess i will need to wash the black sponge everynite to reduce the dirtiness.
may i ask those 4ft blue color plastic koi tub roughly how much?
maybe need to upgrade to a bigger tub...lolz

thanks good nite

[tetrakid]

hi bros,
thanks for explanations on filtration.
i guess i will need to wash the black sponge everynite to reduce the dirtiness.
may i ask those 4ft blue color plastic koi tub roughly how much?
maybe need to upgrade to a bigger tub...lolz

A bigger tub is good for your turtles. It should cost less than $100. Try checking at Seaview.

Also, it would be useful to get a 4" fine mesh fish net and a 1" paint brush to be used as a 'dustpan' and broom to clean up the poo daily. Poo passed inside the water should be immediately removed with the net before it gets to the filter sponge, as a fouled sponge will smell horrible soon (unlike a filter placed in a fish tank). It is important not to let the poo get onto the sponge. But poo which has already been sucked into the sponge must be washed regularly.

Due to the volume of turtle poo, aquarium filters are not able to handle that kind of heayy foul matter loading.

[jc92195]

hi bro,

ok, $100 for 4ft tub not too bad...
hahha. ya i will use a fine fishnet to scope the turtle shit if i see them in the tub.

thanks bro

Happy CNY.

[BFG]

This will get old very fast. You might need to use those filter sock to catch all waste matter of various sizes.

[Young Man]

instead of changing the media which handles the bio filtration, try changing your black sponge or adding fine wool on top so as to trap finer debris.
i think the black sponge you are using may have a much larger pore size, thus water clarity is not improving.
i am using a single tier OHF with fine wool for my 1.5ft PNT. water is crystal clear.
but, as mentioned earlierby others, WC is a MUST so as to remove contaminants and keep the water in good parameter for the turtles.

[jc92195]

hi bro young man,

how often do you need to WC? your PNT big man 1.5ft...
do you add salt?
do you use UVB light for your PNT?

thanks

[Young Man]

for me currently WC once a week, after WC i add in some sodium bicarbonate and abit of epsom salt.
no UVB light, tank gets direct sun during the day.

[tetrakid]

for me currently WC once a week, after WC i add in some sodium bicarbonate and abit of epsom salt.
no UVB light, tank gets direct sun during the day.

Can you show a photo of your turtle tank? Previously I also liked turtles (terapins, but not pig-nose ones).

[jc92195]

thanks bro for advice on WC.
can i use normal aquarium rock salt? those 1 pack $1 type
sodium bicarbonate is calcium for PH?

thanks

for me currently WC once a week, after WC i add in some sodium bicarbonate and abit of epsom salt.
no UVB light, tank gets direct sun during the day.

[Young Man]

Can you show a photo of your turtle tank? Previously I also liked turtles (terapins, but not pig-nose ones).

yes sure i'll get a pic and video to post later.