water parameters

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hali

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can anyone tell me what water parameters i should have for my musks?

thanks :D
 

Itort

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First of all good filtration (all turtles are "dirty"), good solid basking area, and as large a water volume as possible with large surface area. For water temp I try to recreate native habitat (alot areas will give water temp of lakes and rivers) with an air temp that is comfortable to you (they are temperate climate turtle, I have found them as far north as the 45th paralell in Michigan).
 

hali

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Thank you for your reply but i meant PH??? -and presume like fish Amonia nitrite and nitrates should be 0????? :D
 

Lou

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optimally the ammonia and nitrite should be 0, with nitrate being as low as possible. But aquatic turtles are not as sensitive to water conditions as fish, so its fine to have levels higher than the 0 mark.
 

Kristina

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Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate >20 ppm is ideal. pH is not important. Once they become adapted to your pH, the only thing that could harm them is sudden swings, such as occur by trying to mess with your pH using additives/buffers.

I don't agree that turtles aren't as sensitive, they might not have gills, but imagine ammonia in YOUR eyes ;)

Oh, and nitrItes should be 0, not nitrAtes. Nitrates up to 20 ppm are fine. I recommend using an API master kit for testing. Proper parameters are maintained by regular water changes, properly cycling and properly cleaning your media. NEVER rinse filter media in tap water. Siphon treated tank water and swirl it around in that to clean it. Throwing old media away and replacing it also causes your tank to cycle all over again. I also recommend Seachem Prime to neutralize ammonia, chlorine and chlormines, along with heavy metals.
 

Sigmar

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Lou said:
optimally the ammonia and nitrite should be 0, with nitrate being as low as possible. But aquatic turtles are not as sensitive to water conditions as fish, so its fine to have levels higher than the 0 mark.

I think your talking about if you have fish also. As dirty as turtles are theres no way you'll have those levels anywhere near zero unless your doing daily water changes or the habitat is heavily planted. I have a 5" red eared slider in a pool about 5' wide with some Mollys and Goldfish with a carpet of duckweed and do 90% water changes weekly.
 

Kristina

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Sigmar said:
As dirty as turtles are theres no way you'll have those levels anywhere near zero unless your doing daily water changes or the habitat is heavily planted.

Again, I have to disagree. I have a 54 gallon corner tank, at about 85% capacity, with two large Farlowella, two blue gouramis, a 6" synodontis, 6 Central mudminnows, 4 shiners, 5 Zebra danios, two Rosy Reds and Brook stickleback. Then there is Stinky, my 3" Common Musk. It is planted, but not heavily, and with root feeders not nutrient hogs, and my parameters are 0,0,5 with weekly 25% changes. The key is biological filtration. I use no chemical filtration whatsoever. Ever, lol.
 

Rhyno47

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I always did shallow water. Twice the shell length deep at the deepest point.
 

Yvonne G

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Rhyno47 said:
I always did shallow water. Twice the shell length deep at the deepest point.

I think this is very important with the mud/musk turtles. The can swim, but usually in real life they just walk along the bottom, walking up the sloping sides to get to the air. Swimming really isn't something they do much of.
 

Kristina

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I have a deeper tank, BUT, I have rocks piled in such a way that Stinky can "walk" to the surface. He has never once basked - he sticks his neck out as far as it goes until he can just barely stick his nose out of the water. He has a basking area, but doesn't use it.

The water for my babies is about 6" deep, but again, they have the ability to "walk" up to the top.
 

hali

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ok well ive tested water PH 8 nitries 0 nitrates 10 and amonia 0 temp at 74 degrees - thanks
 

Lou

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then you are good...as long as your filtration can keep it up.

I use to have Eheim canister filtration rated for 200+ gal for the 30 gal breeder tank that my razorbacks were in.

And with that kind of over filtration and making sure I remove the poop as soon as it appears, I was able to keep a constant ammonia and nitrite of 0, with nitrate of around 10ish.

and I agree with Rhyno, Yvonne and Kritina about the water depth, either have a shallow water setup, or use rock piles and driftwood so that the turtles can climb to the surface and rest near the surface.
 

hali

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i have an external filter so should be ok - also have rock piles and large driftwood as a bridge.

thanks again - good forum this one
 
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