fluval trouble

[nightcrawler]

i have a fluval 3 plus for my turtle tank, and i have been having problems keeping it clean. i shouldent say clean its more like keeping the flow rate high. my turtles make a lot of poop and the fluval has areas for the bac to grow in, and thos always get massive. water doesnt flow threw it like it should and i have to mess with it atleast once a week. i want the bac to be there because its better for my water, but i was wondering if there was anything i could do? i need it to put bubbles in my water also for my fish. anyone use these or have the same problems?

 

[Cally95]

Unfortunatly I dont have a solution for you, but I can say I have never had any luck with the fluvals in turtle/salamander tanks. For me, the fluvals just arent powerful enough to do the job. I am sure you know turtles poop so much and are messy eaters that the fluval filtration cant keep up. And like you said, you have to keep cleaning it and that defeats the purpose of establishing benefical bacteria. Sorry i dont have better info. I am not sure how you have it set up, but I found doing a 25 to 50% purified water change every other day worked better and was less time consuming in the long run. You can keep the fluval in there for water flow, but I wouldnt rely on it for filtration.

HTH

Dell

 

[nightcrawler]

sorry i didnt thank you a while ago but i forgot i posted this. thanks for your reply, and i think that i will have to do lots of water changes. i hate it because i have to walk up the stairs with 4 milk jugs like 6 times, and i hate it because my arms are so ripped now that i cant fit in any of my shirts. i guess for the turtles sake ill get more ripped.

 

[Fidel]

Turtle tanks are alot of work, there's no way around it. You could put a fluval 100 with a hemi on it and the tutles would still foul the water in a week. I make mine as simple and as easy to drain as possible. I recently gave up on glass aquariums for turtles and started using pre-formed ponds from lowes. Easy to drain and bring outside to hose out, and you can put them outside during the warm months.

 

[Julirs]

I keep 2 red eared sliders in one of those large/long clear plastic totes that you can buy at Walmart. They are a bit easier to drag and dump the water out of. I am sure this one is in the 75 gallon ball park. I fill it up 1/2 way with water and use the Fluval 3. It needs cleaned once a week, no way around that, but I only have to do an entire water dump every other month. The Fluval has worked for me better than any other filter, and certainly cheaper since I just power wash the filters that are in there and replace the carbon pad. Turtles are just dirty!

 

[Jordan]

I take my turtle out to feed in a different container. I leave him in there tell I see see some poo. Almost all turtles will poop shortly after eating. While I do catch him illegally dumping in the water it is fewer and further between. I just have to change the water every other week, not including two or three top offs in between because of evaporation. I keep snails, fish and a couple plants with my turtle.

 

[nightcrawler]

yea i know there is nothing that you can do. i was just wondering. i have two outdoor ponds that has a nice water fall but i can not protect them from preditors. i might get a huge tub for something but im still thinking of what to do. i might just get a large water tank, fill it up all the way, and have an area that is outside the tank where they can bask. like a underground swimming pool. i have to clean my tank out today, infact. boo.

 

[Will Hayward]

I'd highly suggest a cannister filter for turtle tanks. Submersible Fluval Filters cannot easily handle the bio-load that turtles, let alone fish, put on them. Also, I would suggest filtering for at least twice the water volume, so if you have a 75 gallon tank that is only half full, filter for 75 gallons. Or if you have a 100 gallon tank that has 60 gallons of water, filter for 120 gallons. It's a rough guideline, but will give better results in the end. Most turtle tanks are kept much more clean and bare than fishtanks for ease of maitenance and cleansliness- which means that the filter has more strain on it to keep healthy bacteria cultures.

That healthy invisible bacteria in the filter is what in the long run, keeps the tank water clean and healthy- which in turns means, clear and without stench. By taking your submerible fluval foam pads and washing them you are killing much of the bacteria off, making for an instable bacteria culture. In the long run, this means that the water will not be as clean, and that amonia spikes will be more liekly to happen.

Weekly waterchanges of no more than half the water, with adequate filtration would be the best route.

Plants can go a long way to keeping the tank healthy and clean too. Some that I would recomend are Egeria, elodea, anacharis, and if you have a fair amount of lighting; cambomba or sessiliflora.

Turtles like and benefit from having variety in their diet. However a lot of pellet food types/brands dissolve and sink very quickly which is a waste of food, and taxing on the filter and tank's health. My preferred choice of food is Tetra's ReptoMin Turtle sticks. The turtles love them, they float, dissolve slow, digest well, and when they are dissolved, they usually still float.

 

[nightcrawler]

i used to have a bunch of plants in there but they usually eat them in no time. i do use the reptomin, but i never let them dissolve. i cleaned it out today, and it wasnt too dirty. i usually do 50-80% water changes a week. i think ill do two changes a week instead of one. thank you will.