Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi i recently went to my local fish shop and told them i had some turtles and he stongly recomended on putting a tea spoon of tonic salt in after every water change is this ok for my two young maps? He said it gets rid of fungal infections which they both have a very little of? Anyone know? I no some people put aquarium salt in there tank put i been to a few pet shops and they dont know what it is! One last thing i put about 40 liters of water in every week anyone know much about the zoo med 501 turtle filter?
Hope someone can help
MERRY XMAS

I've also read bout putting some salt on the tirtles water in a few books and articles, it seems the salt makes the enviroment for fungi unacceptable. I usually put a few tablespoons of salt (not to much) in my turtle tank. I've also read that salt may help with aiding and prevention of necrosis. The author recomended 2 grams of salt/liter as a preventine measure.

Of course, fungi and other pathogens are also efected by the quality of the water, so as long as you have clean water and a good strong filter, little problems should be encountered.

Good luck seasons greetings ^^
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My "babies" :
1.0.0 Indo BTS (Tiliqua gigas gigas)
0.0.1 Rainbow skinks (Mabuya multifasciata)
1.0.2 RES (Trachemys scripta elegans)
0.0.3 Amboina box turtles (Cuora amboinensis)
1.0.0 Chinese softshell (Trionyx sinensis)
1.0.0 Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
1.0.0 Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)
And still growing...

i have a baby map and a baby yellowbelly.. i put aquarium pharmecuticals salt in whenever i do water changes.. i usually just put the same amount recommended for fish tanks (rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons).. the yellowbelly had some fungus when i got him and the salt cleared it up within a week.. never had any adverse effects, although i suggest dissolving the salt in a cup of water before putting it in the tank lest the turtles try to eat it.. what did you want to know about the turtle filter?
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my pets: clown treefrogs, reed frogs, big eyed treefrogs, tiger leg monkey frogs, gray treefrogs, milk frogs, cuban treefrogs, whites tree frog, green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, blue webbed gliding treefrog, red eye treefrogs, chameleon treefrogs?, mossy treefrogs, dusky salamanders, tiger salamander, veiled chameleon, box turtles, mud turtle, map turtle, yellowbelly slider, florida softshell, two saltwater tanks, four cats, two chinchillas, and a boyfriend.

Hi thanks for the help is TONIC salt ok though? I have a strong internal filter at the moment but been looking at external filter and the zoo med 501 is saying its made for turtles and looks the part just want to know if anyone had used or got one?
I have a sicce shark 800 in a 4ft tank which is half full so it is ok but the external filters look like they do a better job!

>>Hi thanks for the help is TONIC salt ok though? I have a strong internal filter at the moment but been looking at external filter and the zoo med 501 is saying its made for turtles and looks the part just want to know if anyone had used or got one?
>>I have a sicce shark 800 in a 4ft tank which is half full so it is ok but the external filters look like they do a better job!

I don't use salt in my water but because our water is very hard we must use a water softner which makes the tap water a little salty anyway. No comment on adding salt other than I think it sort of depends on what your water quality is like in the first place.
About the filters, I have a 501 canister filter which works great for my shallow mud turtle tank but I don't think it's large enough to handle map turtles.
I have a 55 gallon tank half filled with water for my painted turtle & there is no way that little 501 would keep his water clean.
I use a Magnum 350 on the larger tank today, & so far it's the best filter I've ever used for his tank.
When he was in a 30 gallon tank I used a Fluval 201 which was the old style that they don't even make anymore & it was ok, not fabulous but better than a power filter. When he moved to a larger tank I had to upgrade the filter so I got the next larger size of the newer style of Fluval, 304 I think it was and it was wonderful for a year or but then it fell apart. My 11 year old Fluval 201 still works, I keep it around for emergencies.
I then tried this Magnum I love it, it's much easier to take apart for cleaning & it keeps his water very clean.
I would say look at larger filters than the 501 for maps.

If your a bargain hunter like I am I'll tell you this too.
I bought all of these filters from www.thatpetplace.com, they run these things on sale pretty often. When they don't run them on sale the prices are still lower than my local pet stores, even with paying the shipping charges. My local pet store's price on the Magnum 350 is $165.00, through mail order I got it for $89.00 plus about $7 for shipping. Big difference!
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PHRatz

put 1 tsp of un iodized table salt per 5 gallons water . All of the mineral salts are just table salt... without iodine. If you add iodized you will kill everything... your welcome... Jon

Turtles do just fine without it? Shouldn't the goal of water properties be to mimic what the turtle wants most, as opposed to fighting problems that havn't, or arn't? Just a thought anyways, ... the amounts discussed are probably dilute enough where there isn't much of a difference.

Ian