new turtle owners!
Hi there! Brand new to this page & I’m seeking turtle aquarium maintenance & diet advice!
If anything I’m asking is against the rules I’m sorry🥲 pls remove
This is the worst the tank has ever gotten since we got the turtle from my sister :( we haven’t had any issues until now. And THE HEALTH OF THE ANIMALS ARE OUR BIGGEST CONCERNS NOT ASTHETICS
My sister & Nephew had a (legally on the East Coast) wild caught musk turtle. She ended up moving closer to her son and his dad & she left my state. She’s had this turtle for around 2 years. We wanna guess the turtle is 3/4 years old
That being said she only had so much room in her car & her dog she took with her & couldn’t also transport an aquatic animal safely. My boyfriend’s favorite animal is turtles and was very excited to take on the turtle!
However.. we both have never cared for aquatic animals. My mom has beautiful aquariums with numerous species & my sister & nephew took care of many aquatic animals throughout their lives.
I’ve gotten so much random information on what to do for his tank, I just have no idea the best route to take and how to apply the information. Same with my boyfriend.
He gets fed once a day & has a basking area with light for 8-12 hours daily! There are also two Danios friends in the tank.
Obviously turtles are high waste producing animals & messy eaters.
My sister had giant rocks in the bottom of the tank and no gravel (to my knowledge) so that the turtle wouldn’t mistake rocks or gravel with food.
Now- this is where I need guidance and correction-
I have just learned you’re supposed to rake the gravel to loosen any sludge and build up.
We haven’t been doing that..
We replaced the turtles filter last night and also used a bio ball from Zilla. I know that the bio balls are for maintenance and to reduce the build up of waste not to just magically make the waste disappear.
My mom advised to NOT do anything with the gravel today since we just replaced the filter last night . She said it would crash the ‘cycle’? I am assuming she means the ecosystem?
My sister also told me to replace 1/3 of the water at least every 3-4 weeks. And she gave us a ‘extracting tube’ is what I’m going to call it because I don’t know the technical term🤣 she mentioned this was a good tool for going between the gravel and sucking up the large debris when you do a water change.
Where should we go from here?
I was also given another chemical from my moms freshwater tanks(I’m at work and don’t have a picture but can post them later) & I was told to get Purigen as well.
Our only concern is that both the fish and turtle are HAPPY AND HEALTHY. Aesthetics are not the biggest concern.
His basking area is also on driftwood. This is also growing algae. Google said it wasn’t the toxic to turtles blue algae. BUT PICS WILL BE POSTED SO YOU GUYS CAN TELL ME.
I really just want to do a good scrub of the tank because I don’t want the turtle or fish getting sick ?? Or any reassurance would be appreciated😭
We’ve been told so many things that we just don’t know the best steps to take and order of operations lmao
Please help 😬