New Musk Turtle Tank! Whats The Best Way To Keep It Clean?!

[richyb1984]

Hi,
I bought a new tank,approx 40 litre tank, and after 3 days already its cloudy! I have a PF2 interpet filter and have treated it accordingly,the filters seem clean yet my tank is already dirty! Is this normal?? Do you have any ideas what im doing wrong? Thanks alot for reading,please help me on this!!
Richy

 

[Nibog]

You tank is not cycled - - new filters do little more than move water and make bubbles - they are not actually filtering your tank.
Yet. It takes time for the bacteria colony that you need to develop.

The cloudiness is an algae / bacteria bloom. Normal. Water changes will help. What ever you do, do not attempt to "clean out" your filter media by rinsing it in tap water or replacing it. This will start your cycle all over and you will get cloudiness again and your water will stay unfiltered.

Filtering means you have a process for removing the ammonia (from waste and food) from the water. Ammonia is harmful. A healthy bacteria colony in your filter breaks ammonia and nitrite down into nitrate. Much less harmful.

If you test your water with a test kit - - any reading above 0ppm of ammonia or nitrite can be harmful and should be removed by a water change. Nitrates under 40ppm are just fine. If you seem them get up to 80ppm do a water change.

 

[creeker]

How big is your Musk Turtle? In that small of a tank, you might never get clear water with him in there. Turtles are quite messy, and require roomy tanks for their size. Be prepared to do lots of water changes.

 

[richyb1984]

Hi,
Thanks for the responses The turtles are hatchlings,so still really small.... how long will the filter take before it starts doin the job? Thanks again for your help!
Richy

 

[BigbruiserAl]

average of 30-60 days to be cycled

 

[Danchambers65]

Hi all
I'm Dan and like Richy I'm new to caring for musk turtles, I too have a cloudy tank after a few days and learning about the nitrogen cycle. am I correct in thinking that once the cycle is complete the water will return to being crystal clear?

Thanks