Turtle Thursday: Miscalculation

Silent Bob Basking on his new floating log.

He is a Texas Dark Phased Diamondback Terrapin.

I recently set up a third tank for my herd of turtles. This tank is the playground for our littlest guy, Silent Bob. He's not a tiny hatchling anymore, but he's not big enough to go in with the turtles in the 125 gallon tank, and no one can tell how Roxy would welcome him. So to play it on the safe side I set up a more stable environment for him consisting of the following:

• A good sized plastic storage bin.
• Two light sources, one with a heat bulb, the other with a compact full spectrum bulb.
• Fluval 304 canister filter.
• Zoo Med floating turtle log, size XL.

For a one year old turtle, this is plenty. He has water about a foot deep to swim in. He has the floating log to play in, around, and bask upon. A filter capable of keeping a tank far larger clean. Plenty of light and warmth. Yep. Everyday is like a vacation for this little guy.

Ooops!

A major miscalculation. What happens when you have the water too warm and a lot of light? ALGAE! So now I'm battling algae, a water born mossy substance that's more of a nuisance than harmful. But if allowed to go crazy (like it did while we were away for a week on vacation) it loads the tank up with the plant life and makes the water cloudy and smell bad. After only a week away, the water went from pristine to swampy. Bob was fine, but now I have to think about keeping the water COOLER. this is going to be tough. I guess a smaller heat bulb will be in order.