Equipment Review and Discussion

Awesome, thanks. Just ordered a test kit that tests for all of that except for chlorine. I'm assuming if when I do the tests if the results aren't what they should be the water should be treated with something? Also is there a +/- tolerance for any of the readings where it's not preferred but acceptable?

There's a thread at the top of this topic describing how to build and use a tap water filter. You might find some useful information there: Water Change System with Integrated Tap Water Filter.

Testing for chlorine is not absolutely necessary unless you suspect there might be chloramine as well. You can contact your local municipal water utility and they will tell whether or not they add chloramine (actually they add ammonia to chlorinated water to produce chloramine). If they don't add chloramine, you can eliminate chlorine by simply letting it sit in an open container for 48 hours. Chlorine will evaporate. If you detect any ammonia in the source water, there is also chloramine whether or not your municipality adds it. It results from a chemical reaction between chlorine and ammonia. The easiest way to get chloramine out is filtering through activated charcoal. Just about any home water filter with an activated charcoal canister will take it out. I use a countertop unit that attaches to my faucet and did not require any plumbing alterations. The input/output connector simply screws onto the end of the spout.

The charcoal in the filter acts as a catalyst and is not exhausted removing the chloramine. The charcoal will eventually clog with debris, however, and lose its catalytic properties; that's the time to replace it. You can either test for chloramine or just replace the filter on a regular basis. Because I have fish as well as turtles, I have a LaMotte Chlorine/Chloramine test kit and I use it to test the water from my filter every week. The current charcoal filter has been in continuous use for about 12 months and probably 1500+ gallons of water has gone through it. The water coming out of it still tests 0.0 chlorine and chloramine. So the charcoal will last a long time.

There is an entire topic in the forum on general turtle care where you will find much useful information about what to do and not do for your turtles. There's another topic devoted to habitat. This entire forum is a veritable gold mine of useful and helpful information much of it from people who have cared for RES for many years. Take advantage of their generosity to share knowledge and experience!

While RES turtles are quite tolerant of less than perfect water, it's still a good idea to maintain the water as pristine as possible.

After you get your test kit and do the tests on your source water, please let us know the results. That will enable knowledgeable people to advise you what you do or don't need to do.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=33171

I think amwassil is talking about a carbon block filter lasting 12 months. How long carbon lasts depends on three things. How much is used. The quality of the carbon and your tanks bio load. Most high quality granulated carbon is exhausted in about 2 weeks to 3 months.. So its important to change the carbon in a canister filter on a regular basis. Most water treatment plants use Chloramine thanks to government regulations. The carbon you have in your filter will do a decent job of taking care of the low amount of chloramine that's added to the tank during water changes. The whole house filter also helps to remove it. There used to be some debate about carbon being used at all in fish tanks. The argument was carbon also removes good things out of the water but fish keepers have no choice now because chloramines kill fish. I prefilter the water and also use carbon in one filter. Maybe its overkill but my water is Crystal clear. Then there is catalytic carbon. I don't know much about it but here is a good read about it and chloramine removal.
http://www.wqpmag.com/catalytic-carbon- ... ne-removal
Edited: due to my slow phone! :-)

so essentially the turtle is like my wife and needs Brita water

I use a combination of Rainfresh undersink systems 1 & 2 that I mounted on the countertop rather than under the sink. A lot less hoses and plumbing that way. System 1 uses a silver impregnated ceramic filter:

http://www.rainfresh.ca/drinking_water_system_1.php

System 2 uses an activated carbon cartridge:

http://www.rainfresh.ca/drinking_water_system_2.php

I don't see it on their site, but I bought a counter top base for the system 2 housing and connected it inline with the ceramic cartridge filter. It connects to my faucet by a simple on/off valve screwed into the end of the faucet where it's threaded. I purchased my system components more than a decade ago and I see that now they combine a ceramic cartridge filter with a carbon block filter into their system 2 unit. When I bought mine, it was a single container for carbon blocks only.

I originally bought all this for our normal drinking water requirements to remove the chlorine/chloramine taste from the water. When I got into turtles and fish I continued to use it to filter aquarium water. Two or three years ago North Vancouver put a new filtration system online and they now use chlorine exclusively in addition to some UV sterilization that doesn't concern me. So there's no chloramine any more to deal with.

The instructions on the block activated carbon filters for this system, which can be purchased pretty much anywhere, says to replace the block every 600 gallons or 6 months, whichever comes first. But I later learned that the carbon does not get used up removing both chlorine and chloramine because it is only a catalyst, so I no longer abide by the 600/6 routine. Instead, as I mentioned previously, I test the output every week with a LaMotte Chlorine/Chloramine test kit. The carbon only loses its effectiveness due to clogging the pores with fine debris (micron size stuff). As long as no chlorine or chloramine is detectable in the output water, the carbon is still good. After using this one block for a year the output water still shows 0.0 free chlorine and 0.0 total chlorine (the difference between these two is chloramine.

I don't use carbon in my aquarium filtration systems. I have nothing against it, except it has to be changed regularly and frequently. It certainly will remove any non-desirable chemicals in the water.

By the way, chlorinated water will produce chloramine by reacting with any organics in the water. So chloramine can get into your source water even if the municipality does not actually add ammonia to produce it. That's why I bought the test kit to test for both.

Kansasslider: I should mention that the activated carbon blocks I purchase for my filter are designed specifically for chlorine/chloramine removal. So I'd guess they are the 'catalytic' type blocks talked about in the article you linked. There are other activated carbon blocks designed to remove odors, flavours, etc. I'd guess those are not. Thanks for the link, by the way. It explains pretty clearly how process the works.

My advice would be either pre filter or use it in your filter.. Some people use chlorine remover and never mess with carbon. Although, carbon will also help with tank smelling nasty. Water does become stagnant in a very short time. If there is enough circulation it won't become stagnant but still might develope a bad smell.I used to be so worried about chloramines I was going nuts reading every piece of literature I could get my hands on about carbon and its uses. So I'm pretty well educated on how carbon works and its uses. Carbon adsorbs Chemicals not absorbs them. It wil get filled up at some point. That all depends on what all your carbon is removing and the contact time. I no longer test my water because there is no need to.

just did the test on the water in the tank. nitrite nitrate and ammonia are all 0 which is good, ph looks to be about 7.8-8.

Sounds good.

how often should i clean/replace filter media? in the past 2 months I've done 2 or 3 water changes (not full, maybe like 5 gallons or so each time). today i also emptied the water from the filter and cleaned the sponges but wasn't sure what to do with the media (it didn't look dirty really) so i let it be. it's a fluval 406

I clean the filter once a month. I clean the sponges in tap water then soak them in tank water for about 5 min. Clean your media in tank water and relace carbon monthly. I think your supposed to clean your sponges in tank water also but the way I do it works for me.

ok thanks. what about the ceramic?

I sort of swish my ceramic in tank water.

I've read things implying it may get clogged, but I've got some ceramic biomedia that's been in use for more than 3 years and has moved form a Fluval 306 to a 406 and now an FX6. It seems to be still working.

Ceramic rings are media and should be cleaned in tank water and not allowed to dry out.

since the topic of sand was brought up, do you guys see anything wrong with this type? http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Bio-Activ-A ... words=sand
does all sand reduce nitrate and promote bacteria growth?

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