Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, i have two turtles, and id like to begin to cycle the aquarium. I've done some searches and I've found most sites concerning the matter to be geared towards fish...i can't seem to find one that ISN'T.

anyway, i think the general concept is to dechlorinate the tank water so that bacterical colonies that digest the ammonia of excrement, and thus create a cleaner environment. Please correct me if i am at all wrong.

so i was wondering how to actually dechlorinate the water! most sites dont talk about it and when i've run a search on it, i come up with pharmaceutical filters that dechlorinate water, but at the same time ive found sites (geared towards fish owners) that say u just hafta leave the water out in the sun for 24-48 hours. i was wondering, how does one actually go about dechlorinating the water???!?!

any help is appreciated.

Chlorine isnt really an issue, it evaporates off the top of the water within 48 hours all on its own. Establishing the bacteria colony is the important part, you need a good filter with bio material for the bacteria to grow on, and if you want to speed things up they sell bacteria culture that you can throw in to get started. After that it is just a matter of waiting for nature to take its course. The water may be cloudy for a while, but if everything is balanced right it will clear up.
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I have to disagree with you there. Humans use chlorine specifically to kill off bacteria. While bacteria colonies would certainly be established without dechlorinating the water, it would take longer than in water lacking chlorine. But then, once you add more water to the tank, the chlorine in that water would damage - if not destroy - the bacterial cultures.

You can dechlorinate water in two ways. One, by adding some sort of a chemical, usually availabe in pet shops (although I personally prefer reptiledirect.com or bigalsonline). Popular brands include Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and ReptiSafe. The second way to dechlorinate water you already know: just leave it out, especially in the sun, for about two days. If you have the time to wait and the capacity to store that much water, the second way is much cheaper. I personally use the first.

Our drinking water is so low in chlorine that there is no way it can destroy all of the bacteria in a tank, unless it is a very small tank. I worked as a lifeguard for 7 years, so I know a bit about how chlorine works. The bacteria in a turtle tank will quickly overwhelm the chlorine in drinking water.
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Well, it seems that you definitely know what you're talking about. However, I think we can both agree that the chlorine will do some damage (however minimal), so de-chlorinating the water can only help, even if it is not absolutely necessary.

Cheers!

are ammo(nium) rocks a good idea? or will they just stint the bacterial culture?