Ammonia B-gone!

stojanovski92113

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Yeah....when you first get your pets...we listen to those"educated" people...because they work at PetSmart! They know their stuff & their educated....WRONG!

I hope your turtles stay clean for ya :) for a bit longer!

When are you getting your new pet? Skink was it?
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I know, it's just like vets... :( Thank you! I hope, don't wan to do that again for A WHILE.
Yep, blue tongue skink! Hopefully sometime this winter, December-Febuary, it'll be slightly less chaotic with constant yard grooming for bad plants, more cleaning outside (poops and such :D ) all the yard maintenance that will come along with unleashing the beast back into the yard (my sulcata haha)
 

stojanovski92113

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I know, it's just like vets... :( Thank you! I hope, don't wan to do that again for A WHILE.
Yep, blue tongue skink! Hopefully sometime this winter, December-Febuary, it'll be slightly less chaotic with constant yard grooming for bad plants, more cleaning outside (poops and such :D ) all the yard maintenance that will come along with unleashing the beast back into the yard (my sulcata haha)
LOL the beast!! That's awesome! That made me smile! Gotta love 'em :rolleyes:
 

wellington

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The only thing, if it doesn't fit your faucet. It doesn't fit every one, but there is adapters you can buy. Most common faucets it does fit.
Like Heather, have used it for many years, OMG, over 20. Wouldn't live without it having an aquarium.
 

CourtneyG

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The python I have for my fish tank is a simple one that connects to no faucet, just suck on one end till the water comes flowing. Having a second filter helps as well, gives another surface for the bacteria to grow on, also plants and sand as a medium are good as well for keeping the water clean. Crushed coral put in a stocking helps maintains tank ph stability and give even more surface area for the bacteria to grow. For products that work the best Seachem is amazing, have had no fish deaths or anything using their products, and they have an ammonia one that removes it from the water.
 

ascott

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I use a 30+foot clear vinyl tubing....it is coiled up for storage...I slowly sink it into the tank until the entire thing is submerged and then I use a clamp to hold the hose to the side of the tank and I walk the other end (with my thumb on it of course to assure no air gets in and no water seeps out on the trip to the front door...I then run that hose out to the front where the water is used on the plants around the porch...it is good here in the High Desert to not waste a drop of precious water....I do however do it in an area that no food for the torts are taken from...weirds me out to cross contaminate....:p
 

ascott

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Also, here in our area we are on individual septic systems...so not only am I watering the trees around the porch...I am also not dumping gallons and gallons into our septic system wasting usable space...
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I use a 30+foot clear vinyl tubing....it is coiled up for storage...I slowly sink it into the tank until the entire thing is submerged and then I use a clamp to hold the hose to the side of the tank and I walk the other end (with my thumb on it of course to assure no air gets in and no water seeps out on the trip to the front door...I then run that hose out to the front where the water is used on the plants around the porch...it is good here in the High Desert to not waste a drop of precious water....I do however do it in an area that no food for the torts are taken from...weirds me out to cross contaminate....:p[/QUOT
I did use that type of siphon for a while, but I found it very difficult to get both ends to be plugged when I ran to bathroom??
 

Yellow Turtle01

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The only thing, if it doesn't fit your faucet. It doesn't fit every one, but there is adapters you can buy. Most common faucets it does fit.
Like Heather, have used it for many years, OMG, over 20. Wouldn't live without it having an aquarium.
Wow, that's a while! Hopefully it will work as well for me :D
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I got Cheerio from a guy off craiglist, in June, and she was 14'' long... I don't know hold old she is, but I'm guessing she was stunted because she has since grown to 18''! So she weighs a substantial bit now, and still has a lot of growing to do!
I lover her so much, I might get another :p o_O she has a nice yard to roam in with lots of weeds and a big watering hole she soaks in daily... plus that ENORMOUS burrow she constructed all be herself :p
She make me laugh a little ever day! You should get one ;):p:eek:
 

CourtneyG

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I use a 30+foot clear vinyl tubing....it is coiled up for storage...I slowly sink it into the tank until the entire thing is submerged and then I use a clamp to hold the hose to the side of the tank and I walk the other end (with my thumb on it of course to assure no air gets in and no water seeps out on the trip to the front door...I then run that hose out to the front where the water is used on the plants around the porch...it is good here in the High Desert to not waste a drop of precious water....I do however do it in an area that no food for the torts are taken from...weirds me out to cross contaminate....:p

Aquaponics is very popular(my cousins does this), and the plants that grow from the water that comes from fish are healthier and richer in nutrients, your torts will have a better diet from those plants.

Yellow Turtle you can look into doing something like this, growing plants above or below your tank that is connected to the turtle tank, the plants naturally filter and clean the water for you, and you have a healthy garden of plants to eat from or feed to someone.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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That's a really good idea! Then I can have fresh plants for my torts too! How many would I need to make that work??
 

StarSapphire22

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I haven't kept aquatic turtles, but from my fish experience, Seachem Prime is pretty much the best water conditioner out there. It actually neutralizes ammonia and is safe to use up to 4x the normal dose if needed...plus all the normal dechlorinating, etc. It's also pretty concentrated...one cap for 50 gallons, so you run out less.

As far as filters, if you're doing the hang on back style, Aquaclears are the way to go. Canisters are great too.

I actually modified an aquaclear filter to be a little HOB garden...it worked fantastic for nitrites and nitrates.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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I have a Seachem product for stabilizing water, like PH levels... Wow, that would last forever! I didn't notice it at the store, but I'll have to look! I do have a hang on back filter, but it's a little smaller than I think were talking about here :D
 

CourtneyG

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I am sure there are websites out there that can help figure out how many plants you need, and forums for aquaponics, we have a lot of tanks at a research facility we have, but we use them to filter out 1000 gal tanks with tilapia in them, and we still also have another big biofilter for them,so I am really only familiar with huge projects.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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That's a lot of water :eek: Thank you for the idea! I'll have to look up how many I should go with! I'll see if my filter could be big enough for some :D
 

ZEROPILOT

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Yellow Turtle01, Part of my home zoo is a collection of very large tropical fish. Cichlids known as FLOWERHORNS. I can tell you from my experience that their water gets changed at 40% weekly and it is a minimal amount. An aquatic turtle would produce waste at an even higher rate and your NITRATE, NITRITE and ammonia levels will be continuously out of control without constantly vacuuming or netting up any debris daily and changing a good amount of tank water weekly, or at least as often as you can. Also, have you checked your PH levels? The water will be very acidic. The ammonia removing chips are a band aid at best. If you can control the NITRATE and NITRITE , they will in turn help to biologically regulate your ammonia. It's all very confusing at first and I recommend you research regulating ammonia. Soon you'll be a pro.
 
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