All Turtles Message Board

sesame · Level 1 Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 11

for some reason there's an oily film on the surface of the water in my RES's tank. i even tried doing a complete water change and cleaning the whole tank with really dilute bleach and rinsing it really really well then also changing the filter cartridge. my turt still is happy and eating and moving about, so it doesn't seem to be harmful to him. but has anyone encountered this? i don't want it to become a problem! thanks!

Debby and Sesame

therea · Level 3 Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 131 Location: England

Don't forget tho, turtles are naturally very dirty creatures!
Do you feed them in a seperate tank or the one they live in? That could have something to do with it.
Also, please do not use bleach to clean the tank out! It may harm your turts. Just use regular hot soapy water.
x x
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sesame · Level 1 Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 11

i feed him in a separate tank and his tank is surprisingly clean for a turtle, probably because i have a really good filter in there. i've read that you can use bleach as long as it's very very dilute (i use a splash for a whole bucket of water) and as long as everything is rinsed very well. actually, i've heard that soap is the worst thing to use for turtles, and that that can harm them more!

i've learned from another site that this could possibly be due to a recent change in the amount of food i'm giving him, but i'm also going to go get my water levels tested to see if it's due to ammonia or nitrates or anything.

i'll keep this updated for anyone who's interested!

danger77 · Level 1 Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 20 Location: butler, pa

hi everyone, i just wanted to let you know, i have a day care center for children 6 weeks old to age 13. we have to attend a 8 hour class every 6 months for training. and what we are to use to sterilize the sinks and tolits after every child uses it is: 1 Table spoon of bleach to 1 gallon of water. you can put this mixture in a spray bottles and use it that way, and yes just make sure you rinse it very very well.

soap btw does not kill the germs it just moves them around.
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teri

sesame · Level 1 Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 11

if anyone's paying attention to this post, here's the conclusion i've reached on the filmy water problem.

the film on top of sesame's water is simply a compound that is part of his waste. the water in the tank tested normal for nitrates, ammonia, and pH. i feed him in a separate tank to keep waste in the tank down, and taking his diet down by a pellet for a week hasn't really helped the filmyness. agitation of the water surface, however, will mostly get rid of it (at least for a while). commercial turtle waste remover is only a temporary fix. while it's kinda ugly, on the bright side it is not harmful in any way to the turtle. my little guy is happy, healthy, and playful.

so the best bet here is probably a water agitator if your filter doesn't really push the water around well enough.

hope this helps someone out!

Debby and Sesame

therea · Level 3 Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 131 Location: England

Lovely! Thank you so much for passing that on!
I was wondering what it could have been!
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Have a nice day, and remember to smile and be nice to all!