Terrapin Water Conditions

[tomroc]

Right, I have just been to my local Pets at Home and bought myself a 5 in 1 aquarium testing kit which tests pH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Carbonate & General Hardness and have noted down the results. However, I have no idea what the optimum levels should be. And these are my results-
GH- 0-30
pH- 7-8
NO2- 3
NO3- 80

 

[Buslady]

Well, honestly, pond turtles aren't really sensitive to water like fish are.
Reptiles are completely different.
Amphibians yes, you'd want to check water.

With species like YBS, RES, Cooters, Chicken turtles, Pretty much most ponds turtles you don't need to test water. I never do, never had to. My turtles are all healthy happy little monsters.

 

[my fat fish]

what turtles do need just as good water as fish if ther kept in a tank!!!!!! they can get very ill and if they have bad water conditions they will be more likely to carry salmonalla

 

[Darkstar]

they will be more likely to carry salmonalla

As far as I am aware they carry salmonella anyway, regardless of water quality.

I agree with buslady. I never bothered filtering the water it's pointless with terrapins, just drain and replace frequently as they're messy buggers.

 

[spAcE mOnkEy]

crazy.gif what turtles do need just as good water as fish if ther kept in a tank!!!!!! they can get very ill and if they have bad water conditions they will be more likely to carry salmonalla wacko.gif

Wrong-o buddy. Do some research.

 

[Buslady]

hooold on folks

what i meant was that you dont need to check PH and all that. I didnt say dont filter the water.

YOU MUST FILTER WATER. Turtles are poopy, you have to filter their water with a canister rated at least 2x the size of the tank. Turtles MUST have clean water.

They carry salmonella either way, it's in their gut. with dirty water tho it's worse. So FILTER THE WATER!

 

[Darkstar]

YOU MUST FILTER WATER. Turtles are poopy, you have to filter their water with a canister rated at least 2x the size of the tank. Turtles MUST have clean water.

They carry salmonella either way, it's in their gut. with dirty water tho it's worse. So FILTER THE WATER!

I never filtered and never would, just replace the small amount of water they need each day.

 

[Mikaila31]

Well how bout we answer the OPs question.

You have NitrIte (NO2) Present. Which IMO is bad no matter what you are keeping. I'm guessing you also have ammonia too.

So, Did you cycle the tank?
Is the tank filtered?
How big is the tank?
What are you keep keeping in the tank?

Cheers,
Mikaila31

 

[Darkstar]

Well how bout we answer the OPs question.

we have.

You have NitrIte (NO2) Present. Which IMO is bad no matter what you are keeping. I'm guessing you also have ammonia too.

So, Did you cycle the tank?
Is the tank filtered?
How big is the tank?
What are you keep keeping in the tank?

Cheers,
Mikaila31

if you read the title, he/she is keeping terrapins. In which case, as far as I'm concerned, filtration isn't needed unless you prefer to have some mechanical filtration of some type, biological is pointless hence it doens't need cycling.

 

[Buslady]

Filtering is so important, yes mostly the mechanical and chemical cos they poo & pee alot, it never hurts to also have biological filtration either. Turtles require very clean water, even if it's looks clean it may not be; the only way is to filter it with a good canister rated 2x the volume of water; and to change the water monthly.

YOU MUST FILTER WATER. Turtles are poopy, you have to filter their water with a canister rated at least 2x the size of the tank. Turtles MUST have clean water.

They carry salmonella either way, it's in their gut. with dirty water tho it's worse. So FILTER THE WATER!

I never filtered and never would, just replace the small amount of water they need each day.

So if you don't bother to filter turtle water why bother with fish?

replacing a small amount only dirties clean water you add, it really does nothing.
Dirty water can lead to eye infections, ear infections and believe me you don't want an ear infection, it's painful and only the vet must lance it.

 

[three-fingers]

Darkstar, are you saying it's OK for turtles to live in water with high ammonia/nitrite levels, or are you simply saying that you personally are able to keep up with the water changes enough to keep the concentrations of these chemicals down enough?

Because a high ammonia concentration in the water (as suggested by the presence of nitrite in the OP's test results) IS bad for turtles, obviously ammonia at very high concentrations can irritate the eyes and other sensitive areas, but the main issue is the fact that water with high ammonia/nitrite levels is going to harbour a whole load more of potentially dangerous bacteria, due to the fact that these nitrogenous compounds are resultant of faecal matter and urine in the water not being broken down properly.
When there is no detectable ammonia in the water, this is because the urine and faecal matter are being broken down properly by bacteria in the filter, so the bacteria have nothing to live in/feed on.
I've seen in many cases how bad water conditions lead to shell rot, and especially with more sensitive species of turtles like soft-shells, infections resulting from poor water conditions are far more common and more often fatal.

It's true that turtles are nowhere near as sensitive to nitrogenous waste as fish are, but to say "biological filtration is pointless" is just wrong, and that a turtle tank "doesn't need cycling" is just a more risky way of going about things. Sliders are pretty hardy turtles, but I wouldn't recommend going without a filter and exposing them with bad water conditions just because they can often just cope with it.


And if your saying that you can do enough water changes to keep the ammonia concentration down I can only presume you have a young turtle, otherwise...well, that's no small claim - as we all know how messy these guys are . Although from your wording you could just even be saying that you merely top up for evaporation .

 

[Darkstar]

It's true that turtles are nowhere near as sensitive to nitrogenous waste as fish are, but to say "biological filtration is pointless" is just wrong, and that a turtle tank "doesn't need cycling" is just a more risky way of going about things

No what I'm essentially saying is because turtles, or more specifically red-eared sliders which were the ones I kept, crap so much it is imo best to just replace the water each day than bother trying to filter it. Quite a few boooks I read at the time suggested that practise also.

So if you don't bother to filter turtle water why bother with fish?

yes becuase they're obviously comparable....

 

[Buslady]

It's true that turtles are nowhere near as sensitive to nitrogenous waste as fish are, but to say "biological filtration is pointless" is just wrong, and that a turtle tank "doesn't need cycling" is just a more risky way of going about things

No what I'm essentially saying is because turtles, or more specifically red-eared sliders which were the ones I kept, crap so much it is imo best to just replace the water each day than bother trying to filter it. Quite a few boooks I read at the time suggested that practise also.

So if you don't bother to filter turtle water why bother with fish?

yes becuase they're obviously comparable....

how much water are you dumping? it's not an easy thing to dump out a big tank, what do you have them in?

 

[three-fingers]

No what I'm essentially saying is because turtles, or more specifically red-eared sliders which were the ones I kept, crap so much it is imo best to just replace the water each day than bother trying to filter it. Quite a few boooks I read at the time suggested that practise also.

I'm not sure I understand that logic...a large external filter achieves the same aim as replacing the water each day but drastically reduces the workload.
Doing big enough daily water changes to keep the water clean enough for an adult red eared slider is not really a realistic option for most people...

yes becuase they're obviously comparable....

Both aquatic creatures that require clean water conditions...