turtle water

Question
I have red eared slider turtle. ive had him  for 4 days. I have a 20 gallon tank. the water is really merky and i read its from the ammonia levels in the new tank, ive tried the tablets you put in the water but nothing is helping it, ive changed 20% of the water daily but nothing is working. is there anything elsei can do?

Answer
Hi Kristy, High ammonia levels are really unavoidable with new tanks. They will be cloudy for a few days until they start to develop the necessary bacteria for the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle operates through beneficial bacteria that break down ammonia into less toxic compounds. These bacteria will naturally establish in a tank with waste present but can take a few weeks to reach proper levels That's the reason it is not recommended to add fish to a newly set up aquarium. Fortunately, turtles are far more tolerant of ammonia then fish but the levels still must be controlled even for them . You didn't mention whether you have a filter set up on your tank. If not, then you really should. That will really help keep your water quality up and your work level down. The filter will help remove the droppings and old food that produce the ammonia. The beneficial bacteria will establish inside the mechanical filter and provide biological filtration. You can actually add these bacteria to your new tank and speed up the establishment of the required numbers. I use a product by Hagen called "Cycle", your local aquarium shop can advise you on a similar product.
Turtles are messy eaters, you can reduce the amount of old food in your tank by feeding your turtle is a separate enclosure like a plastic bin with just a few inches of water. Red ears also quickly learn to beg for food making it easy to over feed them and pollute the tank.

I've included a link that discusses turtle water quality and explains the nitrogen cycle.

http://redearslider.com/water_quality_issues.html