I've had a RES for about a year now and recently I inherited another from a friend. I isulated the turtle for and week and soaked her in Sulfa Deep. I have now placed her in the tank with my other turltle (they get along fine) but NOW my water is always CLOUDY and turns GREEN by the next morning. I have tried everything short of buying a new filter. PLEASE HELP.
Answers:
Everything really depends on the tank parameters and how often you clean the water. Since I don't know the age of your turtle, I'm assuming you got it when it was a baby. So, the water temp should be around 78 degrees, the basking spot should be about 90 degrees, and you should have a UVB lamp so they can process vitamin D3 and absorb calcium for growth. I don't know how good of a turtle keeper you are but it sounds like your doing ok since they're still alive after a year but you could be doing better. Cloudy water is usually indicative of an uncycled tank - meaning that there is not enough beneficial bacteria available to process the bioload (of waste). If you are doing complete water changes that could be a reason. You only need to change 25% of the water once a week. You should also have a big tank for a couple turtles who are over 1 year - minimum a 55 gallon. As far as green water, do you have a filter system working? Algae builds up if there is too much light and/or water temps too high. Do you have the lights on timers, etc. There is an awesome website for turtle facts and a great forum to help answer all your questions: http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload/. and here's the care sheet for a RES: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/care/ca.
It may be your water, it may be algae if you have your tank near the sun.. try Turtle Clean by BioCare. And add calcium if you don't already. It should come in a small "block" that you add for a bit when you change the water. It helps with their absorbtion of nutrients in their food. Also, I try to exchange some of the old water for new water every so often between cleanings. If that doesn't work, try changing the filter. I have a RES and I love him dearly! The "cloudy" water has happened to me too! Was this new turtle from a store? Or was it living outside when you got him? Just keep an eye out for disease and correct it quickly or you'll lose both of them!
Unfortunatly what you probably need to do is get a lager tank and a larger filter. Sorry to give bad news.
Get some cloud remover. You may also need to get a bigger tank. I also have 2 red eared sliders. I keep them in a kiddie pool with an island in the center, heat lamp hanging which works great. The water rarely gets cloudy. And usually only after a water change.
My RES is still alive mainly because of the great advice I've received from this website: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/index..
Ask your question there and you will get the best advice!
