Can i use some of the things in my turtle tank? I have a RES livng in a 20L tank that i never cycled although i have had it for over a year. Can i use this tank to take media or since i never cycled it will it not work? I also have a 4 inch meduca pleco about 10 feeder fish and a large shubunkin living with the turtle.
For Cycleing
- Thread starter salamance
- Start date
You don't have to intentionally cycle a tank . . . if you have a filter and you don't clean it out in tap water all the time, it will cycle eventually. It's a natural process.
I'm pretty worried about your stock though =/ do you test your water? How bis if your turtle and goldfish? And what are you planning on doing with the turtle and shubunkin when they outgrow the tank? They can both reach a foot long. Are you providing dry spaces out of water such as basking rocks for the turtle? UVB lighting? Are you heating the tank? In a 20 gallon long with reduced water level and basking areas you'd be lucky if you had 15 gallons of swimming water which is definitely not sufficient for a growing turtle and all those fish! Plus goldfish are not a tropical species and should not be kept in the heated environment RES turtles need. Not to mention the fact that turtles, plecs and goldfish are exceptionally high waste producers and need exceptional filtration and large water changes - what is your filtration and water change schedule like?
Feeder fish may be intended for consumption by the turtle but they still need good care to prevent the suffering. Just because something is destined to die isn't an excuse to cram them into a too-small space.
Please, take a look at your pets and do some research into their needs. A 12 inch turtle needs a 120 gallons of swimming space (and your turtle will get big). A 12 inch goldfish needs a pond or a 6 foot long tank. Feeder goldfish are no different.
I'm pretty worried about your stock though =/ do you test your water? How bis if your turtle and goldfish? And what are you planning on doing with the turtle and shubunkin when they outgrow the tank? They can both reach a foot long. Are you providing dry spaces out of water such as basking rocks for the turtle? UVB lighting? Are you heating the tank? In a 20 gallon long with reduced water level and basking areas you'd be lucky if you had 15 gallons of swimming water which is definitely not sufficient for a growing turtle and all those fish! Plus goldfish are not a tropical species and should not be kept in the heated environment RES turtles need. Not to mention the fact that turtles, plecs and goldfish are exceptionally high waste producers and need exceptional filtration and large water changes - what is your filtration and water change schedule like?
Feeder fish may be intended for consumption by the turtle but they still need good care to prevent the suffering. Just because something is destined to die isn't an excuse to cram them into a too-small space.
Please, take a look at your pets and do some research into their needs. A 12 inch turtle needs a 120 gallons of swimming space (and your turtle will get big). A 12 inch goldfish needs a pond or a 6 foot long tank. Feeder goldfish are no different.
My tank has two light fixtures over a floating basking rock. One light has a UVB (i checked it is UVB not just UVA) and one from rona for heat. It has a submersable filter designed for a 40 gallon tank. The temp i keep with a heater at about 75 or lower. The basking rock is about 85. I have some live plants and i feed him about 7 reptomin pellets every other day and fresh veggies. He doesnt eat lettus kale or any leafy greens but he loves broccoli tomatoes cucumber and zuccini. The water i keep a little deeper then normal at abotu 5 inches from the top. It has a fake hollow log large enough so he can stand on it and be at the surface opposite the basking rock in case he gets tired. I have never checked the chemical levels so i wouldnt know them. If i get on the honor role in june my perants are going to buy me a 100 gallon tank for him. if i dont get on the honor role i finaly get permission to buy it myself (i wanted to get it 6 months ago) it has no gravel.
I went on turtleforum a week after i rescued him from being neglected so i knew what to do. What i need to know is if i can get media from the tank and what it is exactly so i can get it out.
I do a 50% change every 2 weeks. The turtle is 5 inches and the shubunkin and pleco are all the same sise. The goldfish get eaten within a week (exept for Bear Grylls who has lasted 6 months and is 2 inches) and the ones that arent eaten by that time i catch with a net and hand feed him them about one a week.
he also has a piramided shell and some some scars.
I went on turtleforum a week after i rescued him from being neglected so i knew what to do. What i need to know is if i can get media from the tank and what it is exactly so i can get it out.
I do a 50% change every 2 weeks. The turtle is 5 inches and the shubunkin and pleco are all the same sise. The goldfish get eaten within a week (exept for Bear Grylls who has lasted 6 months and is 2 inches) and the ones that arent eaten by that time i catch with a net and hand feed him them about one a week.
he also has a piramided shell and some some scars.
Fantastic that you have a game plan for him. At 5 inches he should really be in a 40-50 gallon by now but if you can get a 100 gallon soon, that's great.
I would very, very strongly suggest you get a liquid test kit to measure the chemical pollutants in the tank. These are chemicals that are caused by animals' wee and poo as well as any uneaten food and can be very dangerous to both fish and other aquatic or amphiborous animals. The damage caused can take weeks or months to show - sometimes years - but it is often very bad when the animals do start showing signs. The chemicals you need to be testing for are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
I would also up the temperature to 78F with the heater. This needs to be done slowly but low temperatures can cause long term health problems for the turtle. The goldfish should not be kept at these temperatures so I would stongly suggest rehoming any that are not destined to be eaten. The 20 gallon would make a good temporary home for the shubunkin when you move the turtle but ultimately the shubunkin (if it is a single-tailed variety) will need a pond. Depending on the dimensions, even the 100 gallon might not be big enough as it will only be 380 litres or so and that generally means a 4 foot tank. The goldfish should reach 12 inches or more.
Did you mean a medusa plec? With the bristles on its nose? Assuming it doesn't get damaged by the turtle it will be OK for now but there is a good chance the turtle will hurt it as the turtle gets bigger.
Goldfish are also generally considered awful feeders due to potential for parasitic infestations and low nutritional content. They are better if you can isolate them for a few weeks before feeding and treat with a wormer, though. If fed straight from the shop, it's a disaster waiting to happen.
Anyway.
Yes, you can use some media. Obviously don't take all of it and without a decent set of water tests we can't really say whether your tank is actually cycled (although I suspect it is). If you take 1/4 of the media and replace with new, the tank shouldn't be adversely affected too much. The media needs to be kept wet at all times and must be "fed" within 24 hours (either with pure ammonia or with fish waste) to stop the bacteria dying. So basically, move from your tank to wherever it needs to go very fast and make sure it gets exposed to a fishless cycle (using an ammonia source) or a stocked tank ASAP.
Is media the dirty filter cartrige or what? I dont know exactly what to move...
Also is there a way to reduce pyramiding in turtles if you know it? and what are some other things i can feed the things in this tank.
The goldfish are going to stop being fed as well. The new tank is for breeding guppies and they will be fed to him instead of the goldfish. I usualy get my supplys at Big Al's aquarium places and so far it had been very good.
Also is there a way to reduce pyramiding in turtles if you know it? and what are some other things i can feed the things in this tank.
The goldfish are going to stop being fed as well. The new tank is for breeding guppies and they will be fed to him instead of the goldfish. I usualy get my supplys at Big Al's aquarium places and so far it had been very good.
The dirty filter cartridge is indeed the media. You can rinse off the worst of the dirt in used tank water without harming anything. The layer of dirt is not where the bacteria live, they live on the media surfaces.
Not sure about the pyramiding, tbh. You'd be best going back to your turtle forum for that.
The media is whatever is in the filter that the bacteria live on - it could be sponges, a chemical cartridge (although these are the worst as they run out after a while and should be regularly replaced anyway), ceramic balls/hoops/chips, plastic balls. Whatever is inside the filter, basically.
Get you tell us the make of your filter or get a photo? Will be easier to guide you on what to take out and what to keep.
Do you mean what you should feed your turtle tank on or your guppy tank?
With the turtle your diet sounds pretty good. Live food is OK but I personally probably wouldn't feed it if I could get a good nutritent balance elsewhere. That's another question for the turtle forum.
The fish should be fed a species specific diet to keep them in good shape, even the feeders. Plec will want sinking pellets, some bogwood avaliable to him (as they like to munch on wood), some greens every so often (cucumber, zuchini) and some live/frozen food such as bloodworms, brineshrimp and daphnia. Goldfish need a good quality sinking goldfish pellet ideally but can have a floating pellet or good quality flake. They'll appreciate some soft plants to eat (such as elodea) and some frozen food. The guppies will do best on some frozen food with a good quality tropical mini-pellet as a staple. All kinds of fish like some cooked, chopped, de-shelled peas from time to time. Good for their digestive systems and very tasty.
The feeders were originaly to help him learn to swim because when we first got him he couldnt. He then likes chasing them so much we kept buying them. I have the tank that the guppies are going in set up and i knew enough about cycleing to know that i needed to do it but i didnt know if i could take media from a turtle aquarium and put it in a fish one. It is a normal 20 gallon with black gravel and several live plants like java moss and other stuff. I am doing a fish in cycle and have had 9 gold pristella tetras in it for about 7 weeks.
I dont know the type of filter but it is one that has a bag. When you told me what media was i did a water change on my tank and rinsed the bag with the syphoned water. I then cut it open and took out the carbon. I put the bag in the tank. When i can convince my mom to take me to the pet store again I will buy a test kit to try it. When i first started the tank 50% of it was the water i took out of my turtle tank.
So when i test it what should i look out for?
Also my art teacher had a shubunkin in her pond that recently died and before school ends i am planning on giving it to her, as a "you were a great teacher" present.
I dont know the type of filter but it is one that has a bag. When you told me what media was i did a water change on my tank and rinsed the bag with the syphoned water. I then cut it open and took out the carbon. I put the bag in the tank. When i can convince my mom to take me to the pet store again I will buy a test kit to try it. When i first started the tank 50% of it was the water i took out of my turtle tank.
So when i test it what should i look out for?
Also my art teacher had a shubunkin in her pond that recently died and before school ends i am planning on giving it to her, as a "you were a great teacher" present.
Also don't worry about me removing all the bacteria from my turtle tank it is the type of filter with 2 parts a bag and a synthetic wire thing that is sor of like a sponge i only took out the bag so the sponge iwll still have bactiria on it.
If you are doing a fish-in cycle you need to be doing very regular large water changes. Without water tests, you need to assume the worst and should be doing around 75% a day.
When testing, you need to test for ammonia and nitrite as a minimum. These are the really toxic chemicals you would see in a cycling tank or a tank that is having problems. If they are above zero (even 0.25 or 0.5) they are dangerous. This is why large water changes are needed in fish-in cycles, as the fish are producing the waste that is becoming these chemicals and there are not enough bacteria.
The best test kits are the liquid ones that use test tubes and dropper bottles. I use the API kits but Sera, Nutrafin and Salifert all make excellent test kits.
To have a comprehensive set of tests I would advise getting a master kit that contains ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. KH/GH (hardness) tests are also very useful.
When testing, you need to test for ammonia and nitrite as a minimum. These are the really toxic chemicals you would see in a cycling tank or a tank that is having problems. If they are above zero (even 0.25 or 0.5) they are dangerous. This is why large water changes are needed in fish-in cycles, as the fish are producing the waste that is becoming these chemicals and there are not enough bacteria.
The best test kits are the liquid ones that use test tubes and dropper bottles. I use the API kits but Sera, Nutrafin and Salifert all make excellent test kits.
To have a comprehensive set of tests I would advise getting a master kit that contains ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. KH/GH (hardness) tests are also very useful.
Ok i got the tests. My turtle tank has 0 nitrites, 80 nitrates (i shoud do a water change), ph 6.0, carbonate hardness 0, general hardness 120. My new tank that i just put the media in 0 nitrites, 40 nitrates, PH 6.0, Carbonate hardness 0, general hardness 120.
How are these and can i put fish in my new aquarium? How and how many guppies?
How are these and can i put fish in my new aquarium? How and how many guppies?
Crucially, what is the ammonia reading? That is the most important one, along with nitrites. Without that we can't tell if your tank is safe for fish yet. As you have tetras in there and don't know the ammonia, aim to change about 50%-75% of the water a day until you can find out the ammonia level. It might be OK but for the sake of the fish you should anticipate the worst.
80 nirates isn't a disaster but it's good to keep it as low as possible. I have 5 nitrates in my tap water so I do a water change if nitrates get to 40, preferably keeping them below 20. 40 in the new tank is safe but I'd aim for a water change anyway as you don't know the ammonia.
If your ammonia and nitrites are zero, your tank is safe for fish. Your pH is on the low side for guppies but I'm sure they'll be fine. It's generally safer to keep the pH a little too high or low than it is to try to change it.
80 nirates isn't a disaster but it's good to keep it as low as possible. I have 5 nitrates in my tap water so I do a water change if nitrates get to 40, preferably keeping them below 20. 40 in the new tank is safe but I'd aim for a water change anyway as you don't know the ammonia.
If your ammonia and nitrites are zero, your tank is safe for fish. Your pH is on the low side for guppies but I'm sure they'll be fine. It's generally safer to keep the pH a little too high or low than it is to try to change it.
The strip kits are like that - they are generally inaccurate and the "master" kits tend to miss out ammonia. It's just a way of getting more money out of you =(
Just a warning - the strips are MUCH more expensive per-test, although they are cheaper per pack. In the long run, they are not worth it because they are not really accurate enough and you end up paying more in the end.
If the ammonia is zero, though, that's great. Move the fish a few at a time in when you are ready and just keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite readings for the next few weeks.
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