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We have a red eared slider in a 20 gal. turtle tank. The filter says it can be used for tanks up to 25 gallons. We change the filter cartridges weekly, yet the water becomes cloudy after only 5 days. Any suggestions on how to keep the water clean longer?

there is absolutly NO need to change the filters that often. and actually that may be whats causing the water to become cloudy, its called new tank syndrome and will clear up in 1-2 weeks. leave it be! the way you can keep it clean is by taking 25% of the old water out and putting 25% new water in once a week. you can also get a calcium waste emliminator stone... they are shaped like turtles and help the water out. the cartridges should be changed aboout 1-3 months. id say keep it at three. you just throw off the water chemistry when you change it that much.

2007-02-22 11:22:22 by cass

Potters for Peace is a non-profit with a long track record setting up small factories to produce point-of-use water filters right where they are ...

30 Gallon Tank
Rena SmartFilter 30

Ammonia - 4-8ppm

I am trying to re - cycle my tank after the cycle crashed for some unknown reason. I have been using Cycle to help the process. I have been doing water changes daily (10-20%) with minimal rock vacuuming. My filter cartridges are in need of replacement - will this hinder the cycling process??

I am not sure if changing them will remove too much of the "good" bacteria.

Please help - desperate to get the cycle back in place.
This is an established tank (almost two years since I moved and re-filled it)

I have a pleco (8-9in) and an assortment (4) of tetras. Unfortunately I recently lost the pride of my tank (11in) Black Ghost Knife - due tot he increase in ammonia I think.

DO NOT change the cartridge, that will remove most of the bacteria you are desperatly trying to culture.

If the ammonoa levels are high, do larger water changes, 50% is fine if you need to. It may slow down the cycles recovery a little, but it will keep your fish alive in the short term.

If the water flow through the filter is slowing down then rinse out the media in old tank water and stuff it back in. You can keep doing this untill the cartridge literally falls apart. If the water flow is still good, then leave the filter alone completely.

I suspect the large fish you have in the tank have simply overwhelmed the filter, especially if you change the cartridges constantly. Each change effectively forces the tank back into the cycling process, and with large fish like you have / had that can be fatal.

The Ghost knife really needed a 55gal+ tank and the pleco is getting pretty big for that size tank too.

Replaceable media for filters is one of the worst ideas ever thought up. People assume they are doing their fish a favour by giving them nice clean filters, when in fact they are constantly messing with the cycle bacteria and creating more problems.

Good Luck

Ian

2009-02-10 18:36:41 by Shaun C

Price: $11.99 $8.43

Filter life up to 12 months or 1000 gallons
NSF Certified with a 2 year warranty
Granular activated carbon cartridge

im setting up a tank right now and it has a 20-40 gallon filter and its a 29 gallon tank.

i want to know if i can take the old filter media out of a smaller 5-15 gallon filter on my established 10 gallon tank and just put in it even though it wont take up the entire inside of the cartrige holder inside the filter?
will this hurt my filter or make it like overfill and make water go everywhere, or will it help me get bacteria in my new tank?

thanks

Sure you can. In fact as you must be thinking it's a great way to get the good bacteria you need into your new tank more quickly. Better though would be to cut a few small peices of your old cartridge and place them inside the new cartridge, assuming you can open the cartridges or course. This will seed your new tank very quickly and really reduce ammonia and nitrite build up while also seeding your new filter media.

MM

2007-03-28 18:19:25 by John A

Price: $11.49 $7.66

Cartridge life 4 months or 16,000 gallons
Medium-fine (20-micron) sediment filtration: sand, silt, dirt, rust particles and scale particles.
Not recommended for use with non-treated well water supplies

I have a small aquatic turtle, (he looks like a RES, but without the red marks, not sure what he is.) about a 5 inch shell measurement.

Even keeping up with frequent water and filter cartridge changes, I'm still getting a large buildup of algae, mostly on the edges of his basking rock, and on the turtle's shell.

I use filtered tap water, and the only chemicals I add are one to remove chlorine, and one to help with waste breakdown. My filter is a regular aquarium filter, rated for 60 gallons. (the tank is a 20 gallon long) I've read that the algae destroyers you would use in a regular aquarium could be harmful to turtles, so I'm hesitant to try that. I've put a few plants in the tank, but he tends to uproot them and eat them.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to slow the growth of algae in the tank?

Really, your best bet is to add live plants. Algea is oportunistic and will grow in excess if there is no competition in the tank. Anacharis works wonders. It eats the turtle feces, is an oxygenizer, the turtle can eat it, it looks kinda pretty, and it helps keep algea down. You can also add Exo-Terra's Biotize but really, having the size of filter you do, your best bet is live plants, even if they get dug up if they're aquatic plants they'll do ok.

2007-06-02 21:52:12 by Emmy

in this particular case im asking about a 20 gal aquarium filter cartridge. If i rinse the cartridge w/ water does it renew the activated carbon?

I know that the activated coal is good filtering of smells and colors at the water.

2006-12-16 17:17:08 by nick s1234