Sorry for the big block of text, just trying to convey as much information as possible.
So I'm a lucky owner of a Macleay river turtle. I truly feel that the quality of my life has improved after adopting this little fella (who I'm now quite sure is not a fella at all)
I purchased Pat (the turtle) In February 2021, I have kept pythons & freshwater fish previously, so I figured why not combine my love of reptiles with my love of fish tanks. It was all going well until June last year when my tank (which was given to me by a friend) ruptured and started squirting water out the side. Fortunately I was home when this happened. So I was able to clamp the tank, save my filter media, plants, rainbow fish & my two treasured long clawed yabbies. I rushed out, bought a new tank and spent a very tiring weekend getting it set up and getting all my inhabitants transferred to the new tank. One of the rainbows was very distressed and took about 2 months to recover and settle in. During this time my 2 long clawed yabbies disappeared. They were the most sensitive creature in my tank & I think the change in parameters and the stress of a big move did a number on them. I then had quite a large outbreak of algae. On my old tank I had a external uv filter that no longer worked with the new setup, I also had a very robust population of trumpet snails (I used setting up the new tank as a way to get rid of them). I assume these 2 factors played heavily into my tanks ability to deal with algae. I have been having a slow war with the algae ever since. The algae started to aggressively grow on Pats shell, she used to get a little bit but it would come off easy when I took her outside for her bi weekly sunning and gave her a little scrub with the toothbrush. This new algae seems to stick to her shell much more aggressively. There was also a period of approximately 3 weeks where I had no proper heat lamp for Pats basking area. As my old setup no longer worked with the new tank. I used this time to build a basking dock with a MVB. (that to my knowledge has still not been used) I still have her old dock under the t8 10uv tube which I have caught her jumping off a few times, so I know she gets dry but probably not hot enough. The tank finally started to establish, the algae died down a little & the plants began to reestablish themselves. I thought I was looking good so I bought 10 small fly specked hardy heads. There was a little fin nipping from the rainbow fish but that soon subsided and the hardy heads seemed to settle in and start enjoying themselves. I love these little guys as they would school up and pick at any detritus & algae patches in the tank. 2 months on I heard about a native Australian snail, the Waterhouse snail. They seemed to be large enough to escape the fishes mouth and smart enough to withdraw in the shell when curious little gudgeons started nipping them. They immediately went to work filtering the water and gobbling up algae. About 3 weeks after introducing the snails some of the hardy heads started to look quite sad. Red inflamed gills and losing weight. They have been dropping off 1 by 1 and I am now down to 4 one of which looks very unwell (while the other 3 seem quite healthy). Today I got home from work and saw what looked like intestines coming out of one of my rainbow fish. He also seems to have lost weight and is gulping, he does not look well. So I am assuming my tank now has parasites, either from the hardy heads or more likely from the snails. I also believe that Pat (my macleay) would of been the primary eater of the hardy heads corpses as scavenging is what she does best. I have also noticed Pat now has a tiny patch of green algae on her head which had never happened before even during the most aggressive of the algae outbreak.
So my Major questions are.
Is it likely my turtle has parasites now?
If so what is my best course of action?
Are there treatments that are safe for both fish and turtles?
Is there anything I can do to make this tank a better place for my turtle, while maintaining a fish population?
Is it likely that the snails introduced this problem?
Is it possible that Pat now has a weakened immune system which is making the algae more aggressive?
I test my water weekly and have never seen any ammonia, nitrate or nitrite. My water sits at about 24 degrees and a ph between 7.2-7.6 I add salt and and show a reading of between .2 currently as I did a 60% water change last week, usually try to keep it around .4. I run two eheim classic 600's as a filtration. I run a constant water circulator to break the surface tension and keep the water oxygenated. My new basking spot sits at 39 degrees at the back but is ramped so there is a gradient in temperature. My substrate is a mix of river sand & calgrit. With decorative driftwood & a few large river rocks. Elodea, Java moss & wisteria seem to grow well while my other plants are struggling. Ambulia used to grow like a weed but now just melts. I feed the fish primarily spirulina flakes while pat gets a mix of woodies & exo terra's turtle food, with the occasional cricket or dried shrimp.
Here are some photos showing what I believe to be evidence of parasite infection with the red rainbow. My tank setup and some attempted photos of Pats algae patch on head & the rest of the aggressive algae on her shell (she was scrubbed with a toothbrush only 4 days ago, though I didn't get every skerrick as some appears to be starting to grow under her scutes . Of course as I write this Pat is refusing to come to my hand to get her out for a better photo and some sun time.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know this isn't strictly about reptiles but it is about a very important reptiles home.
All advice will be taken and considered as I do really love this little turtle and want to give her the best life.
Really hoping the OG Flaviemys purvisi can weigh in and give me some advice!
So I'm a lucky owner of a Macleay river turtle. I truly feel that the quality of my life has improved after adopting this little fella (who I'm now quite sure is not a fella at all)
I purchased Pat (the turtle) In February 2021, I have kept pythons & freshwater fish previously, so I figured why not combine my love of reptiles with my love of fish tanks. It was all going well until June last year when my tank (which was given to me by a friend) ruptured and started squirting water out the side. Fortunately I was home when this happened. So I was able to clamp the tank, save my filter media, plants, rainbow fish & my two treasured long clawed yabbies. I rushed out, bought a new tank and spent a very tiring weekend getting it set up and getting all my inhabitants transferred to the new tank. One of the rainbows was very distressed and took about 2 months to recover and settle in. During this time my 2 long clawed yabbies disappeared. They were the most sensitive creature in my tank & I think the change in parameters and the stress of a big move did a number on them. I then had quite a large outbreak of algae. On my old tank I had a external uv filter that no longer worked with the new setup, I also had a very robust population of trumpet snails (I used setting up the new tank as a way to get rid of them). I assume these 2 factors played heavily into my tanks ability to deal with algae. I have been having a slow war with the algae ever since. The algae started to aggressively grow on Pats shell, she used to get a little bit but it would come off easy when I took her outside for her bi weekly sunning and gave her a little scrub with the toothbrush. This new algae seems to stick to her shell much more aggressively. There was also a period of approximately 3 weeks where I had no proper heat lamp for Pats basking area. As my old setup no longer worked with the new tank. I used this time to build a basking dock with a MVB. (that to my knowledge has still not been used) I still have her old dock under the t8 10uv tube which I have caught her jumping off a few times, so I know she gets dry but probably not hot enough. The tank finally started to establish, the algae died down a little & the plants began to reestablish themselves. I thought I was looking good so I bought 10 small fly specked hardy heads. There was a little fin nipping from the rainbow fish but that soon subsided and the hardy heads seemed to settle in and start enjoying themselves. I love these little guys as they would school up and pick at any detritus & algae patches in the tank. 2 months on I heard about a native Australian snail, the Waterhouse snail. They seemed to be large enough to escape the fishes mouth and smart enough to withdraw in the shell when curious little gudgeons started nipping them. They immediately went to work filtering the water and gobbling up algae. About 3 weeks after introducing the snails some of the hardy heads started to look quite sad. Red inflamed gills and losing weight. They have been dropping off 1 by 1 and I am now down to 4 one of which looks very unwell (while the other 3 seem quite healthy). Today I got home from work and saw what looked like intestines coming out of one of my rainbow fish. He also seems to have lost weight and is gulping, he does not look well. So I am assuming my tank now has parasites, either from the hardy heads or more likely from the snails. I also believe that Pat (my macleay) would of been the primary eater of the hardy heads corpses as scavenging is what she does best. I have also noticed Pat now has a tiny patch of green algae on her head which had never happened before even during the most aggressive of the algae outbreak.
So my Major questions are.
Is it likely my turtle has parasites now?
If so what is my best course of action?
Are there treatments that are safe for both fish and turtles?
Is there anything I can do to make this tank a better place for my turtle, while maintaining a fish population?
Is it likely that the snails introduced this problem?
Is it possible that Pat now has a weakened immune system which is making the algae more aggressive?
I test my water weekly and have never seen any ammonia, nitrate or nitrite. My water sits at about 24 degrees and a ph between 7.2-7.6 I add salt and and show a reading of between .2 currently as I did a 60% water change last week, usually try to keep it around .4. I run two eheim classic 600's as a filtration. I run a constant water circulator to break the surface tension and keep the water oxygenated. My new basking spot sits at 39 degrees at the back but is ramped so there is a gradient in temperature. My substrate is a mix of river sand & calgrit. With decorative driftwood & a few large river rocks. Elodea, Java moss & wisteria seem to grow well while my other plants are struggling. Ambulia used to grow like a weed but now just melts. I feed the fish primarily spirulina flakes while pat gets a mix of woodies & exo terra's turtle food, with the occasional cricket or dried shrimp.
Here are some photos showing what I believe to be evidence of parasite infection with the red rainbow. My tank setup and some attempted photos of Pats algae patch on head & the rest of the aggressive algae on her shell (she was scrubbed with a toothbrush only 4 days ago, though I didn't get every skerrick as some appears to be starting to grow under her scutes . Of course as I write this Pat is refusing to come to my hand to get her out for a better photo and some sun time.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know this isn't strictly about reptiles but it is about a very important reptiles home.
All advice will be taken and considered as I do really love this little turtle and want to give her the best life.
Really hoping the OG Flaviemys purvisi can weigh in and give me some advice!
