I have had two aquatic turtles (a map shell and a red eared) for about 4 months now and I am really enjyoing having them as pets.
I find that I have to clean them out once a week on average but sometimes I am not at home for over a week at a time and I am looking for a way to keep their aquarium cleaner for longer. I have someone to feed them when I am away but I cant ask them to clean them aswell.
help..

What's your current setup like? I have a 300L tank with a couple of 3" turts in. I have an external filter rated for 600L and find that I only have to top the tank up every other week, not alot in terms of actual cleaning.

maybe add some algae eating snails will heep keep the tank a bit cleaner too

Turts love algae eating snails, very tasty!

Have a read of the sticky at the top of this section, the bit about filtration, it should tell you everything you need to know. With adequate filtration you should hardly ever have to clean them out, I can hardly remember the last time I needed to do mine, sometime before Xmas!

__________________
2.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles
1.0.0 Florida Red Belly
2.1.1 Common Musks
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel
1.2.0 Brahma Chickens

Guys,
#
I've always thought great water quality is highly important to the health of a turtle. I also test Ph levels once in a while to keep them around 7.0. Ive also used Tetra Care Easy Balance for ph buffer & Aquasafe for water changes because I have hard water. I guess ph levels can be a bit of an issue with mixed tanks & outdoor ponds as well? Or am I getting paranoid?

Wadya think? (oops sorry for sort of hijacking this post Shellfather)

__________________
I care for:

1.0.0 Red Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)- 10/11 yrs old

0.0.2 Leopard-Spotted Catfish (Synodontis eupterus) -5/6 yrs old

0.0.1 Red Tailed Shark (Epalzeorhynchus bicolor) - 7 yrs old

2.1.0 Moggies - various ages

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured
by the way in which its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Ghandi

I don' know but what the fs'... a moggie

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

ph is just the hardness of your water i have fish my angel fish should he kept at 7.0 but are in 7.5 they r fine.i tested my tap water its just the same it depends on the area you live as for the hardness of ur water ,?
personally i wouldnt worrie about ph levels they aint toxic or anything

A cat.

An informal term for a domestic cat that doesn't belong to a recognised breed, aka a Heinz!

__________________
2.3.0 Southern Painted Turtles
1.0.0 Florida Red Belly
2.1.1 Common Musks
1.0.0 Classic Cornsnake
0.0.2 GALS + infinite babies
0.1.0 Tibetan Spaniel
1.2.0 Brahma Chickens

Thanks... learn something new every day.

Ed

__________________
Ed @ not allowed to post a link
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

No Im not on drugs! yet

FYI - Moggy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

__________________
I care for:

1.0.0 Red Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)- 10/11 yrs old

0.0.2 Leopard-Spotted Catfish (Synodontis eupterus) -5/6 yrs old

0.0.1 Red Tailed Shark (Epalzeorhynchus bicolor) - 7 yrs old

2.1.0 Moggies - various ages

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured
by the way in which its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Ghandi