High Nitrites

[benturner89]

Hey people, I hope we're all doing well! Another question for a friendly turtle lover to answer, involving water quality.

As you may know I've recently given my turtles a new 4foot tank, and they love the new space. Obviously this involved a lot of fun, and I put everything new into the tank, apart from the water from the previous 3 foot tank, plus more fresh to top it up. I also got a new filter, that is more than equipped to deal with the turtles mess!

Ive done a test today on the water, I'll be honest, I haven't checked in a while, since its been set up, and now I seem to have a high nitrite reading.

I'm assuming this is not only bad for my little turtles, but it could likely cause illness?? What illness issues could it cause, out of interest?

How can I get this down, if it is a bad issue.

Also, I don't generally change any water, as a lot evaporates during the week, so I must top it up with 10% fresh water every week. I assumed this would be as good as a water change?

Cheers guys,

[turtlegirl]

A nitrite (and ammonia) spike is probably due to either or both these causes
1. Do you add dechlorinator to tap water before putting it in tank? If not the chlorine and chloramine in tap water added by water supplier as a disinfectant to kill harmful bacteria will kill the good bacteria in the filter which process waste ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into harmless nitrate
2. New filter - this has not been cycled (takes about a month) and therefore has no waste processing bacteria. Until the new filter grows its own bacteria colony, run the old filter alongside the new one and "seed" the new filter with some dirty old sponge or other filter media from old filter to inoculate it with bacteria and speed up the filter cycling process(Google aquarium filter cycling for full details)

High nitrite levels of >0.5% are toxic to fish and 1% is fatal. Turtles are less susceptible but high waste levels can cause irritation. I would also recommend at least 30-50% water changes weekly, depending on size and number of turtles and whether fed in separate feeding tank. Water should be clear and not cloudy or smelly. Normally it is also a good idea to add methylene blue to tank as an antibacterial to prevent infection but as your new filter is still trying to establish a bacteria colony, omit this for the first 6 weeks as methylene blue can have an adverse effect on filter bacteria.

[benturner89]

So what should my guidelines be for turtle levels? And also I'm surprised only irritation, can it not cause infections or shell rot, or does that take a long period of time? Also my fish are fine and well in the tank with them, I will get a better testing set up in case my strip things are a bit shoddu

[benturner89]

Ok I've checked again, I was reading my strip wrong, I have high nitrates not nitrites. My test things are in mg/l, how would this be worked into a percentage. Is it as simple as say, 5mg/l is 0.5 percent? Also is high nitrates worse or better lol? Sorry for my confusion,

[turtlegirl]

Relax -everything is OK. Nitrates are not toxic to fish or turtles unless in excessively high levels. They are actually a good sign that the filter is working and turning toxic ammonia and nitrite into harmless nitrate. A simple 30% weekly water change should keep nitrates under control for both fish and turtles.
TESTING _ Strips as you say are not very reliable. The most accurate used by serious fishkeepers worldwide is the liquid API Test Kit.I use it myself. You only use a few drops so it lasts for years. Costs around £15 on Ebay -remember if you buy anything on Ebay via Easyfundraising, Turtle Rescue gets a small donation too!

DISEASES _Infections are caused by bacteria in water so it's best to keep turtle tanks as clean as possible, as you would with any pet's home. A few drops of methylene blue will reduce bacterial levels -warning it's a dye that stains fingers clothes and carpets permanently! Shell rot is caused by bacteria or fungus getting under partly shed scutes or infecting scratches and other shell injuries. Again cleanliness is vital in prevention. A contributory factor to shell rot is inability to bask properly and dry out the shell completely so make sure all maps, sliders and even musks have a proper warm basking area.

[benturner89]

Ahh, thankyou, my mind is at ease, although my nitrates are fairly high, at least the filter is doing a good job. I'll begin changing water rather than just topping up, plus I'll get a decent test kit and some meth blue. I was just worried as my painted has recently had a bad respiratory infection, she's been to the vets and is slowly getting better. The vet said it can be a fairly common thing, and is not necessarily the tank or conditions that has caused it. I just panicked when I checked and thought it was my bad keeping and lack of knowledge!

Thankyou, I will definitely start these three things, a good test, water changes, and some blue meth stuff,

Thanks again :-)

[turtlegirl]

Always a pleasure to help inexperienced turtle owners. That's what this Forum is for, so turtle keepers can share their experience with others for the good of both turtles and their owners.
Feel free to ask anything you want, no matter how trivial. No one will laugh or judge you - we were all beginners once. I used to phone Wayne all the time for help when I got my first turtles.

[benturner89]

Ok, here's a question, I know it should be in medical but it does relate to my previous comment. How long can it take a turtle to recover from a respiatory infection?

Also my nitrates are slowly coming down, I've done a huge water change today, if it doesn't come down, what could be the problem. I've tested my tap water and it's not too sad in terms of nitrates. I've cleaned filter, I've made sure not to over feed, but it still isn't coming down dramatically. What does a tank usually stay at in terms of nitrate ppm's?

Thankyou

[wayne020668]

hi Ben, water changes are very important as the waste these animals can produce is very high. we here at turtle rescue do a 30% water change every week and it is important to take water from the bottom of the tank as turtle waste breaks down and causes invisible nitrates that rise from the bottom upwards, many people take water from the top of the tank with a bucket etc.. and Ad's fresh clean water just tipping it in which just mixes with the nitrates... by using a hose to siphon from the bottom then adding fresh water will reduce your nitrates by 60% at each water change so sooner or later providing you keep changing the water the problem will go away leaving nitrates at a min..

hope this helps you,

regards Wayne..

[benturner89]

Thankyou, I've been using the bucket technique

[turtlegirl]

Wayne's absolutely right. You do need to use a siphon to get uneaten food, waste, turtle poo etc off the bottom as well as the water around this solid waste which tends to contain higher levels of unwanted substances like nitrites.
If you have a gravel bottom it;s imp to dig the siphon deep into the gravel to remove solid waste buried among gravel too. If you have a sand substrate then move siphon in circles abut 1cm above sand to disturb and suck up waste. It takes a bit of practice but you will get it right eventually.
As long as nitrite levels are low and nitrate decreasing , don't worry. You are on the right track

[benturner89]

What is an acceptable level of nitrates? I know preferably none, but what would be harmful?

[turtlegirl]

To be honest I rarely bother checking nitrate levels for either turtles or fish tanks even though I have the test kit. I regularly monitor ammonia and nitrites which kill fish quickly and will irritate turtle eyes and skin. Nitrates are harmless, don't worry about them. As long as you do 30% weekly water changes even delicate tropical fish won't be bothered by nitrate levels, let alone turtles.

[benturner89]

Ah that's a wicked answer, I thought in high levels they could be bad