Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently got 2 baby softshell turtles and had them in a temporary container and they did great, I finally go the aquarium set up and put them in and withing 24 hours
they developed spots that I asume are some type of fungus,
when I setup the tank I dug out canister filter that has not been used for sometime and I think the problem could have been that the filter or hoses were not cleaned out well enough and had developed some type of fungus.
does this sound possible ? and what is the best way to treat this condition ? they are both eating well and show no signs of any problems other than the spots
I will try to post a picture but if it does not work I can email it to anybody who wants to look.
I went to the pet stores around here and nobody stocks Sulfer bath so it would have to ordered in, I am hoping somebody had a good solution that I can start treating right away

here is the picture
http://www.stoneyacres.com/softshell.html

Photo

Yup,definately a fungus..Pretty rough looking at that..Go to your local fish store and find a product that has malachite green in it (most ich cures do) and make a solution just in a bucket or something,put enough in that the water turns a pale blue and soak the turtles in that for maybe 15 minutes a day once or twice a day until it cleans up...I also suggest you get an extremely good biological filter on your turtles aquarium and use Stress Coat (by aquarium pharmaceuticals) on a regular basis, it works wonders for softshells..I'd also put some in their tank while healing the fungus. Don't put the malachite green in the tank with them though,as it is pretty strong and can kill the turtles. Good luck.
Matt

Hi Thanks for the advise, I have a fluval 404 for the tank now
is that considered a good filter ?
also is it normal for this condition to occure overnight ?
or was it there and just doesnt show up visably right away?

Thanks again

You can also give them baths in a saline solution - use 20 g of salt per 1 litre of water - malachite can be deadly if overdosed; most fungi do respond to this very well.

Also, lower the ph of the tank water by either using black tea (add a bag or two in filter) or by using peat extract or such - again, most fungi don't last too long in acidic water.

To answer your last question: Yes, it could have been around in a dormant state and probably broke out due to the stress caused by changing tanks etc.

Be sure to only use smooth sea or river sand as substrate for them to dig in - wrong substrate/sand will cause abrasions which WILL get infected in no time.

Kai