Fluval 4 Plus Filter

Question
Chris,
I read a few of your responses about the Fluval internal filters and I'm wondering if maybe you could help me.  We have a 40 gallon tank set up with 4 baby turtles, a bunch of rocks and we filled it between 1/4 and 1/3 full of water.  Enough to lay the Fluval down in the tank.  

In one of your post you indicated that the person may need to watch out because of the suction the filter has and trying to keep the fish away from it.  

My problem is that the filter doesn't appear to be filtering anything out of the water and after two days I can see surface debris and the water appears to be getting cloudy.  

Is there something I should have done to the filter?  The directions basically said attach the blue spout, put it under water and plug it in.  The powerhead appears to be working properly because at high speed the turtles are being pushed around the tank.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Beth

Answer
Hi Beth;

Turtles are pretty messy little fellas so it may be that there is just not enough filter surface area. This is related to the actual flat areas that waste accumulates on the filter pads. Some filters have very little even if they have a powerful flow. You might consider adding a second one. What also helps is to turn off the filters during feeding time. Cut back on food if there are lefotvers after 5 minutes or so.

Turtle tanks also need to break-in biologically just like fish tanks. Beneficial bacteria needs to grow and colonize the filter pads. Replacing the filter pads too often causes this process to start over and cloudiness is often the result. If they get plugged, just rinse them out in tank-temperature water and put them back in. The bacteria will still mostly be in there and will continue growing. The break-in process takes about 6 weeks or so.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins