A pet store can help you choose one as turtles are messy and need the extra filtration.
What can i use to keep my turtle tank clean.
Cloudy and smelly water in a turtle tank is a common problem but even water that looks clean can harbor waste products such as ammonia and nitrites that can build up to harmful levels.
Use an adequate sized tank.
Wipe any sludge free with a paper towel to clean the glass.
Here are the most important things to do to keep the tank clean.
When you start cleaning your turtle tank first remove everything from inside.
Also aquatic turtles like to swim and a too small tank won t give them enough swimming room to get enough exercise to stay healthy.
These small translucent scavengers are sold inexpensively in the aquarium sections of pet shops as feeders or tank cleaners and they do a good job of it.
Take a soft pumice stone dip it in water and rub lightly against the stain.
They re crustaceans specifically palaemonetes paludosus commonly known as the ghost shrimp or glass shrimp.
Turtles poop a lot and if their tank is too small it will get dirty a lot faster.
Maintaining good water quality is an important aspect of keeping turtles healthy.
Finding the right filter.
To clean a turtle tank gently pick up the turtle and set it in a bucket or bowl filled with enough water for swimming and some peat or rocks for the turtle to climb on.
If your turtle s tank is too small it will be much harder to keep clean.
As far as placement of the tank goes to avoid putting it in a place with radical temperature shifts.
As a rule of thumb each adult turtle requires about 50 to 75 gallons of space.
Place the turtles in another tank and remove all water and material from the tank before cleaning.
Using ghost shrimp to keep a turtle tank clean.
How to clean a turtle tank.
Spot cleanings are very simple and quick but they can go a really long way in maintaining the cleanliness of your tank.
Just as placing too many fish in an aquarium can compromise the quality of the tank s water keeping too many turtles in a tank can make it difficult to keep the water clean.
One of my favorite working fish to keep in a turtle tank aren t really fish at all.
Do not use chemicals to clean the stains as they may harm the turtles.
Unplug and remove the tank s filters and heaters then remove large objects like rocks plants or pieces of wood.
Feeding the turtle in a separate container can also help reduce the amount of waste in the water that can lead to algae growth.
How to keep a turtle tank clean.
Finding a very powerful filter is the next step preferably a canister type filter rated for a tank three to four times the size of your actual turtle tank.
You should also keep the tank away from the kitchen as turtles can carry salmonella bacteria which can spread to your food hess said.