Algae growth is a common phenomenon in most turtle tanks and aquariums. When algae grow in abundance, it will transform your turtle tank walls into the green. Although algae development in tanks isn’t particularly harmful to your turtle, it isn’t healthy either. Plus, the greenish look of the tank walls looks dirty and reduces its aesthetics.
Thus, it is important to know how to keep algae out of turtle tanks. Luckily, you can opt for different ways to keep algae away from the turtle tank. The techniques include the use of aquarium salt, maintaining optimal crowding in the tank, etc.
In the following discussion, we will elaborate on these techniques and tips to remove existing algae from the turtle tank.
Aren’t you excited to know the ways to maintain an algae-free turtle tank?
How to Keep Algae Out of Turtle Tank?
Algae are potentially harmless for all turtle species, although you will see algae development on turtle shells. It reduces the look of your beautiful turtle. Hence, you have to find ways to keep the tank algae-free to not sit on a turtle’s shell.
Ideally, algae are a type of weed in wet conditions. If there is enough sunlight and the surface is wet, algae will find a way of growing anyway. Thus, all the ways to keep algae away from an aquarium or turtle tank focus on keeping the surface dry.
Also, algae spread faster than most people imagine. They will only need a few days to fill up 150 gallons of tank walls once they start growing. Thus, the key is to prevent algae growth inside the turtle tank.
But how do algae grow? You have to understand it first.
Algae will start growing when you do one of the following things-
- Keep the lights in the turtle tank on for more than the required times. When your turtle tank is exposed to lights for a longer period, it boosts algae growth.
- Many people keep their tanks under direct sunlight. It will also cause turtle tanks to boost algae growth. It happens particularly when your turtle tank walls are wet.
- If you don’t maintain hygiene in the turtle tank and don’t clean it regularly, the tank will become dirty. Thus, algae will find a perfect breeding ground for them.
So, you have to keep the light off when not necessary and stop putting the turtle tank under direct sunlight. Next, you have to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene of the tank cautiously. For this, you can follow these tips.
Use Aquarium Salt
The use of aquarium salt has long been an established technique to keep aquariums clean. It is nothing except Sodium Chloride (NaCl) but is different from regular edible table salts. The difference between aquarium salt and table salt is that the earlier one is free of any additives. It is collected from evaporated sea salt.
Although there are debates on the effects of aquarium salt on turtle health, there’s no concrete evidence that it impacts turtle health. So, its use is safe for turtle tanks.
Plus, you will only need to add a few pinches of aquarium salt in the tank water to get rid of the algae growth for a long period. Aquarium salt balances the electrolyte in the tank water and prevents algae growth for a long period.
Use Live Plants
Although algae are tiny plant, it needs adequate nutrient for growing just like any plant. Therefore, you can plan to starve the algae. Yes, it may seem absurd, but you can stop the nutrient source of algae and not find enough juice to grow.
You can consider setting up live plants inside the turtle tank for this purpose. Since live plants will soak the majority of nutrients from the tank, algae will simply starve to death due to the lack of sufficient nutrients.
Use Strong Filter
The best way to keep the turtle tank clean and free of algae is to use a strong aerator or filtration system. Turtles, particularly, aquatic turtles are extremely messy. Thus, they will make the turtle tank dirty soon, and yields the growth of algae.
Hence, you always have to use a strong turtle tank filter to keep the water clean. You can easily choose a canister filter to keep your turtle tank clean and hygienic. The canister filter uses both biological and mechanical filtration systems to clean the water. Also, the canister filter has various filters in its multiple trays, which will easily remove any leftovers and particles from the tank water. Thus, algae won’t get its required nutrients and messiness to grow in a turtle tank.
At times you may consider choosing a chemical filtration system consisting of ammonia and charcoal. It will also prevent ammonia growth besides stopping algae development.
Keep The Tank Clean
Turtles are infamous for their messiness. When you provide them with enough food, they will eat less and waste more. Therefore, the leftovers will son fill up the turtle tank. It is important because leftovers will quickly get rotten, and will ruin the tank’s water’s cleanliness.
Hence, you have to clean the leftovers regularly, possibly once a week, from the turtle tank to keep algae away from it. You can use a siphon net to collect and remove the leftovers from the turtle tank quickly. Also, make sure the filter is running successfully, and it is collecting the invisible particles from the tank water that the net can’t collect.
Regular Vacuum
If the turtle tank has a substrate, you have to vacuum wash it regularly, perhaps once every two weeks. You won’t have to purchase any expensive vacuum cleaner for it. A standard vacuum cleaner will easily remove debris from the turtle.
If you use a siphon vacuum cleaner, you must avoid using your mouth for it. Since turtles carry salmonella bacteria, it can cause stomach imbalance.
Conclusion
Keeping your turtle tank free from algae is easy. Although many people think it is difficult, the reality is far from it. You can easily use the techniques described in this discussion on how to keep algae out of turtle tanks to keep algae away.
However, if the turtle tank has developed algae anyway, you can also get rid of it. You can use a 5%-10% bleach solution to remove algae from the turtle tank quickly.