Shell Rare
Shell Rare
Turtle owners! What is wrong with my daughters baby turtle and how can I treat him?
Young turtle has scum forming on shell. He is a few months old and only about 2 inches big. She cleans his bowl a few times a week and uses a soft toothbrush on his shell. He is fed on turtle pets bought from breeder. This is a small bowl, should I get a warming lamp or what?
This is a rare Chinese Yellow Pond Turtle bought from a local private breeder. We have had him since the beginning of the school year.
He is fed on turtle pellets bought from breeder we purchased him from.
Should I call breeder and ask for advice?
Depends on what the scum looks like. It could be algae? But every semi-aquatic turtle needs water deep enough to swim around in, and also a nice piece of land to get out of the water and bask in. He definitely needs a heating lamp, especially because that's the secret to most reptiles being able to successfully digest their food. Also, definitely get him a nice reptile vitamin light if he's not getting natural sunlight because the nutrients that come from the sun really help with shell development. Also, you said it's a small bowl? Even for the smallest of turtles, it might be a good idea to have no less then a 10 gallon aquarium, which would provide adequate space for everything I've mentioned! I don't know if you have one yet, but go to your pet store and it would be a great idea to invest in an aquatic turtle book that'll help with many questions you might have in the future!
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Question and Answer About Ph and Kh Problems in an African Cichlid Aquarium
Question:
One of these days I'm going to write down the chemistry for pH, kH and GH and maybe I will remember it, eventually. But for now I new some advice. I got many good suggestions on my fairly new mbuna tank and thus far it has been going very well but something is amiss with my water. My tap water comes out at about 7.6 pH. I have about 30 pounds of holey rock in there currently. But, for some reason my pH seems to be dropping. Currently it is approaching 7.2
My gH is still pretty high 200 or so, but my kH has also started dropping from around 120 to currently just under 80. Nitrates are between 10 and 20. 0-0 on the bad stuff. I am doing 30-40% weekly water changes. I have 16 fishes in a 55 gal between 1 1/2 and 3". I may need yet another reminder about water chemistry or could it be my 'mystery' substrate. Along with some small tan gravel which I have used in many tanks with no apparent detriment, I also have maybe 15 # of stuff that was given to me a while back along with my first cichlids, a little tank etc. I have no idea what it is but she mentioned it was "supposed to be good for aquarium plants". It is approximately 1/3 each of black, brick red and tan stone. Though relatively small they are more like little chips than rounded pebbles - fairly jagged and rough on the edges. Then again it may not be this at all. Any ideas?
Thank you.
Answer:
There is probably something producing a heavier than normal amount of acid production. Nitrification will produce acids (nitric acid) and if you have a large amount of organic build up that can be part of your reason.
What are your filter(s)? Some filters such as large canister filters can produce a lot of acid if not cleaned (rinsed) regularly. If you have an Under Gravel filter, make sure you occasionally remove the lift tubes and siphon out the mulm that accumulates under the plate. With ALL filters it is still important to remove as much mulm and other organic debris as possible, an Aquarium Vacuum is the preferred way.
As for your KH & GH, I am a big proponent of keeping an adequate KH and Calcium level for many reasons, one of them is for the problem you are having, the other is that GH is simple way of knowing your calcium levels in FW, and calcium is very important to fish health. Crushed coral or aragonite can help, but in my experience (especially in High ph aquariums such as African Cichlid tanks), they are not always adequate as they do not dissolve fast enough to release the proper amounts of Bicarbonates, Magnesium, or Calcium for KH and GH.
In the closed environment that an aquarium is, I find that outside sources that dissolve or are manually added are often necessary. There are many products available from Sea Chem Marine Buffer which can be used in freshwater (especially for Rift Lake Cichlids) and is preferable to baking soda due to the balance of sodium bicarbonate/ magnesium and other minor elements; to the Wonder Shells that others here know I advocate a lot for.
At the risk of being too commercial, my aquariums are rarely without a Regular Wonder Shell for Calcium control and electrolytes.
As for the plant substrate you were given, this sounds like a product such as Eco Complete or Azoo Plant Grower Bed which will lower your pH.
I have an article about KH, Calcium and electrolytes: “CALCIUM, KH, AND MAGNESIUM IN AQUARIUMS; How to maintain a Proper KH, why calcium and electrolytes are important.”
My point in mentioning GH was that Calcium and Magnesium is part of GH and
both are necessary for proper osmotic processes in fish. If there are problems with KH, many times there are problems with GH (although in this case there does not seem to be a problem). The problem here indicates too much organic decomposition thus reducing the KH.. Again I would check filters for build up too. When I called on customers aquariums experiencing this problem, many times they had a filter with a thick layer of mulch on the bottom. Removing this, then adding a KH stabilizer (which I had better results with a
slow dissolving KH stabilizer), and the problem was solved.
For the article including pictures, please visit this link:
“pH and KH problems in African Cichlid Aquarium”
About the Author
By Carl Strohmeyer
http://aquarium-info.blogspot.com/