I am a Wisconsin Dentist and have set up a 175 gallon freshwater aquatic turtle tank in the lobby of my office. We have been here 4 years now and started with a yellow mud turtle, two painteds, and a red eared slider. We lost the yellow mud turtle,unknown reason for its death, and had to release a painted due to biting. I started with a Eheim cannister filter thru the first 2 1/2 years, no problems with turtle health although the machine was a chore to clean! The machine broke down and wasn't replaced. Now both the painted and red eared slider are developing a shiny, light colored- almost iridescent look to their shells, not the solid dark natural appearance they originally had. They both seem healthy, shells are hard. Does anyone know what this could be? Maybe I should get another filter going. I drain the tank every 2 weeks and clean the algae regularly.

I'm not a turtle person but welcome to Herpcenter Someone should be along to answer your question.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Hello,

Welcome to the HC Network. I myself have never owned turtles, but from what I have read from experienced users in the past, a water filtration system is needed to maintain optimal health.

Are you supplying UVB to these turtles? As far as I know, the RES requires it. If the painted also requires UVB exposure, it could explain the discoloration.

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Welcome to HC, both of the species you have need clean filtered water. ALso proper UV lighting

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

welcome to HC! glad you joined us. good luck with the turtles.

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It sounds like biological film. Basically, there's a layer of bacterial slime growing on their shells from a lack of clean water. Turtles produce a lot of waste and need a very powerful filter. Since filters are designed for fish, you'll need a filter designed for a larger tank than what you actually have to make up for the turtle's larger amounts of waste. The trick is to find a filter that's not too noisy or turbulent either, as the constant noise and current would bring your turtles great amounts of stress.

As also mentioned, if you don't have a UVB light, your turtles will die prematurely anyway from calcium-related issues. They can't metabolize the calcium in their diet without exposure to it. If you ask me, turtles are one of the more expensive and complicated herps to keep. Bullying by the other turtles, improper diet, lack of UVB, or a combination of the above could be responsible for the other turtle's death. Turtles require a varied diet to stay healthy and feeding them nothing but turtle pellets or goldfish will also lead to nutrition deficiencies, as well as bored turtles.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I second furryscaly's post and would recommend the Fluval Canister system as an alternative, they are much easier to maintain. Another thing I always recommend with aquatic turtles is to NOT feed anything alive to them, this just adds to the waste in the tanks. Reptomin stick is the food of choice here!

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Answers are great. But I prefer questions!

Visit me at www.jaysreptiles.com

I can't add much to what has been said as I am not a turtle keeper, but,
Welcome to Herpcenter!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

welcome. I hope everyone answered your questions!

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Welcome to HC Network....I owned turtles years ago and had a filtered tank for them....and UVB lights. Good luck with your turtles!!

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Warmest Regards from Lyn