Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Recently aquired 3 baby yb sliders...I set them up in a 10 gal turtle tank with about 2in of water, a water heater, some fake plants, a mini dock, a compact 5.0 uvb bulb, a red heat light and a fish tank filter that hangs on the side of the tank like its supposed to with a turtle tank...well the water is pretty cloudy...its nice having the waterfall and all but i cannot stand the cloudy water! should i get a different filter? does the rest of the setup sound ok?

Any and all comments will be greatly appreciated...

Robert

Robert

Your first problem with cloudy water is probably due to "new tank syndrome". Assuming the filter is new and freshly set up there has not been enough time for the filter to "kick In". Meaning that the necessary bacteria needed to keep the water clean have not populated the filter so you have a bacterial bloom in the water. You also have very little water in the tank so it can easily become very dirty and overload the filter as well. A good rule of thumb when turtles are involved is to use a filter rated for a tank double the size of the tank you are using to be sure there is plenty of capacity. Turtles are very dirty and can easily foul the water quickly. For my turtles I am sold on the idea of feeding them in separate containers and waiting for them to "go" after eating before placing them back into their tank. They will quickly adjust and it will keep the main tank much cleaner. The cloudy water should not impact the the turtles but do complete regular water changes (with dechlorinated water) until the filter starts to work. I clean and perform complete water changes weekly on all my turtle tanks. I can tell you it works since none of my turtles have had health problems in the 10 years or I have had them. By "yb" I assume you mean yellow belly sliders. If so they are fully aquatic turtles and are easily able to swim in substantially more water. Fill the tank up as much as possible but not ebough so they can climb out. Add a "protected" submersible heater to the tank to keep the water around 75 degrees. By protected I mean having it encased in something so the turtles can't break the heater glass when they get larger. I have experienced broken heaters. The basking area should be large enough for them to completely dry off and bask and be able to camp out under the heat lamp and UVB bulb i.e. The heat lamp and UVB bulb should be over the basking area. I have found that with turtles kept primarily inside a great health benefit is to set up a temporary tub with basking area outside, when the weather is good and temps are moderate, so they can get natural sunlight. Mine enjoy there time outside. It makes a big difference. Be sure to monitor the water temps. in the tubs so it does not get too hot. Simply change the water if it does. Take them in at the end of the day. At some point they will outgrow your tank. Males can reach 8 or so inches and females around 12. So for three adult turtles that size a tank on the order of 150 gallons or so would be needed or you could house them separately in 55 gallon tanks. If you should have more than one male odds are they will start fighting when mature. The only fix is to house them separtely. Hope You find the info helpful. It has serve me well over the years.

Pete

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