green tint in turtle tank

[finfayce]

i have a 55 gallon tank for my 7 year old red eared slider, filled 90% so she can bask without being too close to basking light. despite 2 water changes and new charcoal in filter in filter cartridge, in a week , the water has a green transparent hue. Petco said it probably is algae bloom. i use API turtle sludge remover but i need a way to clear the water. i have API Accuclear water clarifier for fish aquariums. can i use that in the turtle tank?
what else can i do?
thanks

 

[Byron]

The green cloudiness is what we commonly term (not surprisingly) green water. It is caused by unicellular algae in the presence of light and nutrients. Controlling both will bring the problem under control.

Turtles are extremely "messy" as I know from when I had some many years ago. Water changes should be substantive. Having a substrate (not a bare tank floor) helps because it provides a bed for various bacteria which a bare tank floor cannot do [just mentioning this as I have no idea what your tank has for a substrate] and pea gravel is quite useful for this.

Dealing with the cause is better than using any additives because they only hide the problem. And while they are not as harmful to turtles as they would be to fish that "breathe" through their gills, it is still best to keep additives minimal. Some of these can harm the eyes and skin.

 

[finfayce]

The green cloudiness is what we commonly term (not surprisingly) green water. It is caused by unicellular algae in the presence of light and nutrients. Controlling both will bring the problem under control.

Turtles are extremely "messy" as I know from when I had some many years ago. Water changes should be substantive. Having a substrate (not a bare tank floor) helps because it provides a bed for various bacteria which a bare tank floor cannot do [just mentioning this as I have no idea what your tank has for a substrate] and pea gravel is quite useful for this.

Dealing with the cause is better than using any additives because they only hide the problem. And while they are not as harmful to turtles as they would be to fish that "breathe" through their gills, it is still best to keep additives minimal. Some of these can harm the eyes and skin.

thank you Byron. the last water change was substantive and i'll continue that way.
how deep should the pea gravel be?
also my turtle has had live mealworms and she isn't eating dry mealworms or pellet food now.
i always cave in to her begging
how many live mealworms should i give her a day?

 

[Byron]

I raised mealworms for my turtles, and amphibians (frogs and newts) and larger fish (African Butterfly). But they are not a good nutritional food, and must be fed sparingly. I would not feed more than one a week to any of these animals. The beetles are also good for food; one dropped on the water might entice the turtle to eat it.

I can understand the dry food problem, but I never feed these either. The best foods are frozen. I used squid, shrimp, and plankton. I believe these are still available frozen. Bloodworms (frozen) would be another but again only once a week as they too are not that wholesome. Turtles must be in the water in order to swallow, so dropping a small chunk of one of these frozen foods, thawed obviously, onto the surface and then moving it around a bit using something like a piece of broom or thin stick will usually entice the turtle.

 

[finfayce]

I raised mealworms for my turtles, and amphibians (frogs and newts) and larger fish (African Butterfly). But they are not a good nutritional food, and must be fed sparingly. I would not feed more than one a week to any of these animals. The beetles are also good for food; one dropped on the water might entice the turtle to eat it.

I can understand the dry food problem, but I never feed these either. The best foods are frozen. I used squid, shrimp, and plankton. I believe these are still available frozen. Bloodworms (frozen) would be another but again only once a week as they too are not that wholesome. Turtles must be in the water in order to swallow, so dropping a small chunk of one of these frozen foods, thawed obviously, onto the surface and then moving it around a bit using something like a piece of broom or thin stick will usually entice the turtle.

thanks Byron
i have frozen bloodworms and will try to offer those again. hopefully she will eat them eventually. i have cut down on the uva/uvb lighting time. i have a red night time bulb so turtle has basking heat when the day bulb is not on. i've spent money on 3 cheap siphon tubes that could have bought one good siphon pump. i hate getting turtle water in my mouth obviously and the way our house is i have to carry clean water buckets from one one of the house to the other. i'm trying to keep the tank clean and maybe save myself some heavy cleaning tasks. thanks for your help.