Hi Litefoot - Thank you SO Much! for your quick reply and advice, I can breath easier now. As it turns out, there are now 3 RES in the tank... my 11 year old was jealous of her 9 yr old sister's new set up and put hers in this morning after I left for work. Her's is a bit smaller and came from a 10gal with perfect testing water. So 3 RES in what think is a new 45 gal, maybe 55 gal but it is 36" long x 12" front to back and 24" tall. Do you think the 3 will overwhelm the cycling process? I transferred the 10 gal tetra filter over too..so now running a brand new (4 days) Fluval 406, with an established tetra 20 gal and with an established tetra 10 gal filter - all on the new tank. Do you think this is a good idea? Will the established small filters prevent the new Fluval from growing enough good bacteria. My thought is it might help keep things balanced during the cycling...once things seem balanced I will remove the 2 smaller ones at different times so that the Fluval can catch up if needed. Anyway, the 3 turtles seem happy - no bullying and looks like enough room for now. Going to try to post a pic. I also built an above tank basking platform today out of PVC lumber and slate...running zoomed mini lights with 50W halogen for heat and 10 UVB above it...also a second double dome over the tanks with 2 UVB 10 bulbs. Is that overkill on the UVB? Is Too much UVB Bad?
You asked about the balance of the starting water...using a API Master Test Kit
Sunday PM filled tank, I'm in Boston and we have great tap water...it actually still runs partly through old wooden aqua-ducts! So, not much chlorine but added a dechlorinator, ran new filter and water heater overnight
day 1 - Monday Morning - Added 2 RES Turtles. Pre-Turtles Water tested at PH - 8 (highest on the chart), Ammonia .25. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. water temp 79-80 degrees, low of 76 at night.
day 2- Tuesday - only tested ammonia - .5 Added 2 small bunches of live floating plants from Petco
day 3- Wednesday - only tested ammonia - .5
day 4 - today - added 3rd RES early morning. Tested water late afternoon. ammonia .25, Nitrite .25, Nitrate 20-40 ppm but closer to 20ppm
water has consistently had a very slight haze that is only noticeable if you look down the 36" length of the tank...looks clear front to back
So things seem to be going in the right direction but awfully quick...nitrites and nitrates are showing up after only a few days....is this unusual? should I expect a crash?
I'm trying hard not to give them too much food but all 3 are such the beggars, it's cute but kinda heartbreaking at the same time
Again, I really appreciate your input as I only recently made the real commitment to the little guys. They were a handed-off from our teenage babysitter a year ago who got them in Chinatown- were about the size of a silver dollar when she gave them to us...3-4" now - they grow fast!
R