Reptile & Amphibian Forums

been away for two weeks and the pond has gone bright red in my absence. it was looking rusty brown with algae before i went. terrapins are still in there and i think the fish are. any ideas what causes it and how to cure it? Is it poisonous. I'm trying to catch the terrapins at the moment>

Your pond might be anoxic- a lot of red-pigmented microorganisms grow in water with inadequate oxygen to support green and brown algae. It probably won't hurt your turtles, but it would kill fish or other water-breathers (the anoxia, not the red stuff). An aerator or waterfall should prevent it; so would submerged plants, if they could survive your turtles!