Why is turtle tank water cloudy

The less water that you change, at least initially, the better. You need to give the bacteria time to build-up and flourish. This is why it is important to regularly check the pH level of your turtle tank. You can buy a digital pH tester that you can leave in your turtle tank. The digital tester is great because it also measures the temperature of the water. And as your turtle keeps producing waste, and you keep changing too much water before the bacteria culture can really grow, the problem recurs.

You can verify this by checking the ammonia and nitrite levels. Turtles are fairly hardy creatures and are able to endure quite a bit, but swimming and living in water with high levels of ammonia can burn their eyes and make them uncomfortable. If the level gets really high bad things can eventually start to happen. High ammonia levels are even worse for fish, which are far more sensitive. Whereas turtles may be irritated by it, fish will simply die.

Here are a few things you can do to speed up the bacteria cycle and keep your water looking pristine and clear. An aquarium vacuum is a great way to help keep your water clean.

A vacuum actually does 2 things at once; it vacuums up bits of waste on the bottom of the tank and does a partial water change every time you use it. Working fish are fish that eat algae and consume leftover bits of food and waste in your tank. Some catfish do this, as do plecos, otos, and ghost fish.

First, your water needs to be already fairly well-balanced prior to putting them in. Fish are much more sensitive to ammonia levels than turtles. These fish tend to be a bit more hardy than other types, but if your tank is very cloudy, it could lead to their early death. I would highly recommend only using one or two of these at a time, as the more creatures that swim and live in your tank, the more ammonia is produced.

An air pump is also a useful investment as aerating the water will mean there is more oxygen in it, which in turn will help beneficial bacteria to grow. Air pumps can be purchased from your nearest reptile store or online.

Amazon has an excellent choice. Click here to take a look opens in a new tab. As touched upon above, aquatic turtles are extremely messy. Since they both eat and poop in the water, it can look cloudy at times. In a good setup, the tank will have beneficial bacteria and a good pump that both help to keep it clean.

However, changing it more frequently than that could be the cause of continuous cloudy water. If you change the water too often, you will be getting rid of the beneficial bacteria.

If you continuously change the water, you are more likely to see the water go cloudy again after a couple of days. To help with this situation you should avoid changing the water so often. As well as this, when you first get the tank, you could probably leave the water change longer than a week to allow the necessary bacteria to flourish. Thereafter, a partial change of water is better than a full change. It is also worth checking the pH levels in the tank as they should ideally be between 6 and 9.

If the pH levels drop below 6, the amount of ammonia in the water will increase as it will not be metabolized properly. Working fish are a terrific addition to a turtle tank as they will eat bits of food and waste that your turtle expels. It is usually caused because the water is new and not yet settled. If you notice cloudy water in your turtle tank , you may be wondering what is causing it. While this mainly occurs in new tanks, water changes can cause this too.

This can occur in turtle and fish aquariums. When you add new water to your tank, it does not contain any bacteria. While the tap safe will take the hardness and chlorine out of the tanks, it does not add bacteria to the water. Bacteria are needed for the natural filtration process of the water to begin. While it is beneficial bacteria that you can add to the water to kickstart the process, the process only really begins when your turtle is placed in the aquarium.

When your turtle goes to the toilet, their waste is broken down by the bacteria that is slowly forming in your tank. These bacteria can be found in your filter. This is why it is important not to change your filter too often, as you are taking out both the good and bad bacteria. The natural nitrogen cycle of an aquarium is as follows. When the turtles produce waste, this causes the ammonia levels to rise in the water.

When the ammonia levels begin to drop, the nitrite levels then begin to rise. When the nitrite levels drop, the nitrate levels rise. Too much ammonia and nitrite in the tank can cause illness, disease and can be fatal for a turtle. This is why it is important to ensure that your filter is working properly and that you are carrying out regular water changes.

When you have a new aquarium, it must go through this process. This will help to build up the number of good bacteria in your aquarium. It is the good bacteria that help to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels down within the water, making it safe for your turtles to live in.

When you first place your turtle into the tank, while their waste does kickstart this cycle process, they do produce a lot of it. If they produce too much waste that the beneficial bacteria in the water can manage, this will cause the ammonia and nitrite levels to rise in the tank - thus causing cloudy water. The length of time cloudy water lasts can vary. It can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to clear. Fortunately, this problem does tend to rectify itself and you will not necessarily need to do anything to resolve it.

While it can feel tempting to change the water again, you are only adding to the cloud water problem rather than rectifying it.

You need to give the good bacteria enough chance to multiply and get to work. As mentioned above, tap safe is a very important additional purchase. Tap water typically contains small amounts of chlorine. Chlorine is responsible for killing bacteria. This is why it is important to use tap safe every time you carry out a water change, regardless of how big or small the water change is.

Chlorine can easily disrupt the natural cycle process, so you need to do all that you can to help prevent this. Tap safe is fairly inexpensive to purchase, and you will only need a small amount each time. When you are cleaning your filter, you must not run the filter pads inside the filter underneath running water. Following on from what we have discussed above, this is not beneficial for your turtle or its aquarium.