Habitat - Outdoor :: I Need Help ASAP Please!!!

[together28]

*** I just moved this to the Urgent Care section as a precaution. ***

I bought a MudVac Pond Vac and used it for the first time today. My pond is small (about 3 ft. wide x 5 ft. long x 5 inches deep. There was a lot of debris on the bottom of the pond and it was all black in color. You couldn't even see the aqua colored bottom.

Anyway, I am inexperienced at all of this and thought how nice it would be for my little 2 inch , Bubba, to have a clean pond. I placed him in a bucket with pond water and anacharis while I cleaned. I bought 10 small goldfish two weeks ago to eat bugs. While I was sucking up the muck, I was adding fresh water back in. I probably replaced 3/4 of the old water with new water. I cleaned it spotless.

The fish were fine at first and about 15 minutes later they started acting strange and now they are all dead. I feel so guilty for killing them and my husband got mad at me because he said the water was probably too cold and I shouldn't have removed ALL of the muck.

Bubba is back in the pond now for about 30 minutes and so far he seems to be doing fine but I'm SO afraid that this is a BIG mistake for him also. Is he going to get sick or should I take him out? I'm in New Orleans and it's been in the 90's lately. The water coming out of the hose is cool but it's not really cold. I would just die if something happened to Bubba just because I was trying to clean his pond for him. I don't want to harm him in any way.

Please let me know if I should do something right away for him.

Thanks,
Debra

[theartbook35]

Take Bubba out of the pond for now. Do you have a left over tank he can stay in for a short while?

I don't know what is causing the muck, but it doesn't sound normal to me at all.

Someone one with a great deal of experience on how to clean a pond properly will elaborate further.

[callmepotato83]

What kind of filtration are you running on your pond? That will help determine a lot of things. But to be on the safe side, keep your turtle out for a little while...

[SuNicDa]

Don't worry... you add tap water which has clorine in it... clorine kills fish, but doesn't really bother turtles... It would be like you swimming in a pool, it doesn't bother you that much (bothers eyes).... your turtle will be fine... Get water conditioner and add to the water.

Summer

[together28]

Thank you for all of the replies. Bubba seems to be doing fine, although he seems to feel more vulnerable without the muck on the bottom. When he would get scared, he'd burrow under the muck for a minute and then come back out. Lately he's been hiding under the water lettuce but does come out when I talk to him.

When I say muck I mean the dirt and leaves that have accumulated over winter and spring, along with any excrement that he and the frog have produced. It's nothing out of the ordinary. I just think I cleaned it WAY too thoroughly and will not do that ever again.

It is just a small pond that was built into the slate front porch of the house 50 years ago. 3' w x 5' l x5" d. It doesn't have any filtration. It has a faucet and we bought a small fountain to dress it up and also to oxygenate the water. We usually have aquatic plants in it but never intended to have any reptiles in there. Bubba just showed up one day and I felt like he showed up for a reason so we've adopted him and are trying to care for him the best we can while educating myself on sites like this.

What do you mean by water conditioner? That same day I did buy a bottle of chlorine remover and we added some. We also tested the water with strips and it was high on everything - nitrates, alkalines, Ph level.... I don't know what to use to counteract this. I bought a pond thermometer and the temp is about 81 degrees. Bubba says thanks for your help!!

[SuNicDa]

water conditioner is chlorine remover.... Did you add enough?

[together28]

My husband measured the pond and calculated based on the instructions on the bottle. I think he added 2 or 3 capfuls. I think our pond is about 56 gallons.

I was wondering if it only gets added that one time or if we should add more now, which is a week later. I noticed that some of the leaves on the water lettuce started turning yellow this week and it could be from the chlorine in the tap water before we conditioned it, but it's also been unbelievably hot, sunny and humid this week so it could be heat maybe. The pond is only in the sun in the evening when it's going down for about 1 1/2 hours. Otherwise it's shaded all day.

[craigal_31]

You turt needs access to sunlight so it can bask an access uv rays from the sun for its shell.. As far as the chlorine is concerned i wouldnt bother with any more water conditioner as it almost certainly evaporated now. It doesnt take long at all for chlorine to leave the water. I would certainly think about providing access to the sun though via a basking spot because this is very important to a turts health.. Good luck ...Oh not sure about chloramine though because im sure i heard that they water authorities use this as an alternative in the USA.

[together28]

I have another question related to the water. I'm nervous about adding any tap water right now. The water in the pond is evaporating and I want to add more water. I bought some distilled water today thinking it would be better to use than the tap water. I just wanted to check with the forum first so I don't do anything to screw it up. I bought 2 gallons (the pond is small).

Thanks!

[Maltliquor45]

i've always used tap water (i'm in the NYC area though) and never bothered with any water conditioner.. the turtles don't seem to be bothered by the tap water.