Terrapin Tank Water Going Green Quickly

[Kingcol]

I have had a special Terrapin Tank with 4 Map Turtles which has been fine for over 1 year.
Recently the water has been going green very quickly.
I always change the complete tank of water weekly, use a Tetratec ex700 Filter system and have 2 42" Neon Tubes above the tank, 1 10.0 UVB and 1 daylight Bulb.
Any ideas why the water would suddenly start going green after 3 to 4 days ??

 

[Davo86]

Its a probable indicator that you have poor water conditions, 4 Map Turtles would require a big tank and much more filtration than what you currently have, especially if you have females which will reach 12" in diameter

Too much light could also be a factor, but if i were you I would check the water stats and up the filtration, and if the tank is under 250-300Litres then I would start thinking of an upgrade

 

[Kingcol]

Its a probable indicator that you have poor water conditions, 4 Map Turtles would require a big tank and much more filtration than what you currently have, especially if you have females which will reach 12" in diameter

Too much light could also be a factor, but if i were you I would check the water stats and up the filtration, and if the tank is under 250-300Litres then I would start thinking of an upgrade

 

[drobbyb]

Ammonia + Light = green water. Too small of a filter, like Davo86 said, will leave you with ammonia in your water even if the filter is working correctly.

 

[simonfabris]

I had a similar problem with my tank a few months ago, even after upgrading all filtration and checking stats this was still occurring! I now have 3 filters running in my terrapin tank, (i have 2 map turtles) Basically the best way I found to over come the green water problem (I found my problems to be too much light) is to invest in an internal UV filter, this helps to destroy the ammonia that causes the green water.

 

[drobbyb]

...this helps to destroy the ammonia that causes the green water.

Actually, the UV sterilizer does not destroy ammonia. The sterilizer kills the free floating algae as it passes through it.

Not trying to pick on you, just trying to give you a better understanding.

 

[Kingcol]

Thanks for the advice - I will upgrade my Filter to a Tetratec Ex1200.
For info, my Tank is 48" long x 18" wide and water depth of 14".
I have attached some photos which show the set-up and one of my 2 males on the edge of the Basking area. My other 2 Maps are Female, 1 is about 9" long and the other is new and still smaller than my 2 males.
The "green" question came about because I have had the set-up for about 16 months but the water issue has only arisen in the past month.

 

[Davo86]

Very nice setup i must admit, is that dock floating or is it fixed there?

The position of the tank near to the window may be another factor, we've had a few bright days in the past few weeks and this could well have caused the algae bloom.

As said above investing in a uv will help with this problem but turtles are seriously messy so there is nearly always going to be some toxins for the algae to feed off, may be worth testing the water to see what the parameters are sitting at,

With regard to filtration aim for a true turnover of at least 5-6 times per hour, generally filters are tested when empty so whilst the Tetratec EX1200 filters 1200 Litres per hour when empty, it does nearly half that figure when full of filter media.