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

 

[Zawiha]

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

firstly you never explained to us exactly what seemd to be the probloem you wanted us to address.
if its the fact there are alot of nitrates in your water. Turtles are very messy animals, more than likely your filter is not being able to cope with
the strain these animals are putting on it.

Can you specify what filter you have,
tank size,
and the amount of turtles in that tank.

The amount you feed would also help.

 

[Buslady]

Buy a large canister filter, XP3 is a good choice. it can help get the gunk out keep the conditions nice and the water clean

 

[three-fingers]

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

firstly you never explained to us exactly what seemd to be the probloem you wanted us to address.
if its the fact there are alot of nitrates in your water. Turtles are very messy animals, more than likely your filter is not being able to cope with
the strain these animals are putting on it.

Can you specify what filter you have,
tank size,
and the amount of turtles in that tank.

The amount you feed would also help.

Just to clarify it's the nitrites (NO2) that are the main problem here, you have 3ppm, when you want 0ppm. This indicates one of 3 things, that the bacteria in your filter have not established themselves enough to cover the waste your turtle is producing, that you are maintaining your filter wrong (when you clean it do not wash the sponges in tap water, this kills the bacteria) or thirdly - as mentioned - that your filter is not large enough.

Give it a few weeks to a month (and do double amounts of water changes), and if the nitrite level doesn't drop to 0, then you need a bigger filter.

The rest of the stats aren't that bad, I wouldn't worry about the nitrate (NO3) until you've got rid of that nitrite, and even then as long as there's no nitrite or ammonia (which is really the most important, it's curious they never tested for that) and you are doing frequent water changes, I wouldent worry about nitrate levels that much.