My yellow bellies are turning into green bellies!!!

[meelymouse]

OK so I have had two baby yellow belly sliders for a few months and they have everything they need

good filter
3ft tank
uV light
basking light
heater
a big fat rock
even a little boat they swim in and out of

I feed them shrimp, blood worm, they like tuna and prawns and tomato's

I started by cleaning them completey every week changing water etc and that was working fine .. then it got when I cleaned it out after 2 days the rock was going green so I cleaned it more regularly .. but now one of my terrapins belly has green on it .. is it mold or algae ??

how do I get rid of it .. i scrub it and it comes back!! should I get rid of the rock? what can I clean it with am scared of using bleach and harming them ?? is my baby terrapin going to be ok ?? please help x

[mariekni]

it algae by the sounds of it. a soft toothbrush will be best to scrub it off with.
is your tank near any direct sunlight as this would increase th rate of algae growth. i had this same problem and i now do a 20% water change every other day giving any rocks a good scrub and the sides of the tank.
you can get algae growth control treatments but read the labels as i'm not sure whether they would be turtle safe.
also if you ever see any uneaten food remove it straight away as this will make your water manky aswell.

[meelymouse]

No it's not in sunlight and they have a seperate tank I feed them in cos they are messy!!!

Thanks will look into some treatments ...

if it don't come off my terrapin when I scrub it what do I do then lol!!!

[mariekni]

it should come off with a good scrub i shouldnt worry about that.
but if not i'm sure the treatment in the water would get rid off it. but it would be best to get a soft toothbrush as i said kiddies ones are best and have a scrub at it.

[BigBaz]

wat water temp do you have them at aswel you cud try dropping the water temp algae loves warm water, i have a algae prblem till i dropped the temp a couple if degrees now its fine ad the turtle is still fine

[meelymouse]

okie dokie thankyou very much xxxxx

[meelymouse]

between 20 and 25 degrees it is usually will try dropping it a bit thankyou x

[mariekni]

a good treatment is
king british green algae control.

this worked for me. but DO NOT overdose it as it could be lethal

with any treatments its best to remove any carbon/charcoal filteration if you have any as the carbon/charcoal counteracts against the treatment

[meelymouse]

Nice one thanks a bunch hope my green bellied babies turn back to yellow bellys soon!!!!!

[mariekni]

post some pics once the little ones are yellow again