theartbook35 wrote:
That's not always the case. Turtles urinate in that water. Unless you get an Eheim or another super expensive filter, it's hard to lower the pH. Driftwood is a nice temporary solution, but, the effects wear off over time.
The conditioner I got is by Zoomed, it's called Reptisafe. I'm not using it in my turtle tanks because I don't have to, but it seems to be helping Sophie's drinking water. It smells fresher and cleaner and not like hard tap water.
And logically, lets look at it like this: Reptisafe was a few dollars. That little bottle is going to go a long way. It won't hurt the turtle, so, why discourage it?
Also, another point, if I had a map turtle, I would definitely be using a water conditioner, given how sensitive they are to water conditions.
This is completely wrong.
Yes turtles urinate in the water, your bio filter will convert the ammonia in the urine to nitiries and eventually nitrates. As for PH, your regular water changes will regulate the PH of the water AND remove the nitrates. Regular water changes are a must for that reason.
As for filtration, you don't need an expensive eheim (although they are very nice). You DO need a properly sized filter of any brand with proper filtration media. It doesn't have to be expensive. $220 buys you a FX5, full of bio media and purigen. That's very cheap. The FX5 will handle any tank up to around 150 gallons.
Any chemical you add to the water is a chemical is a chemical you force your turtle to live in.
Water conditioner is completely unnecessary. Learn to take proper care of your water and you won't need any chemicals.
Find me one study that shows the long term effects of water conditioning chemicals on your turtle, and something that isn't provided by the manufacturer of said chemical. .....right, they don't exist.
Since we don't know for sure what these chemicals do to your beloved pets long term, let's not use them.
Reptisafe claims ... Reptisafe instantly removes chlorine, chloramines, and ammonia and reduces pH
Chlorine - will evaporate out of your water on it's own. Very few water municipals actually use chlorine anymore for that very reason
Chloramine - The carbon or Purigen in your filter will grab this and remove it from the water.
Ammonia - Your biological filtration will convert this as mentioned above.
Reduce PH - Your regular biweekly 10% water change replaces higher PH water with clean water that has a PH of very close to 7.
Notice no chemicals are needed to do what your properly setup environment will do for you.