Cycling new tank with turtle?

[M3AN ONE]

So I set up a 240 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump with a k1 movable bed and a ultima 2 1000 for additional filtration. I looked online and the consensus is there is no issue adding a turtle to a un cycled tank. Mind you I would view my tank as having a partial cycle since I used aged media from my current 700 gallon system. My question is will one 5 inch turtle produce enough ammonia to finalize the cycle? I know fish excrete ammonium through respiration but I assume the turtle will only produce ammonia when he poops. Is it better to just leave excess food in tank to help speed up cycle or should I add fish safe ammonia to make sure the nitrites and nitrates do not starve from a lack of adequate food supply.

 

[suckerfish]

what kind of turtle? and they do pee out of that hole as well! frt, i dont know, that’s alot $ to gamble. almost any other, IME you're safe. ever hear the saying dirty turtle? they're pretty tough

 

[suckerfish]

oh wait, are you using the turtle to cycle the tank for fish?

 

[jjohnwm]

A 5-inch turtle will cycle the filter to a level sufficient to consume the ammonia produced by that bioload...and no more. The bacterial population will not expand past the level that can be nourished by that turtle's ammonia output. Once the cycle is complete, it doesn't matter whether you wait a week or a year; when you then add a large bioload in the form of a large number of large fish, you will still need to wait while the filter's bacterial population "catches up" with the new ammonia level. You're looking at a few days, not a few weeks as you would in the case of a brand new tank, but you can still experience a considerable ammonia spike in that short time.

As long as you gradually increase the bioload when you start adding fish, you'll be fine.

 

[M3AN ONE]

oh wait, are you using the turtle to cycle the tank for fish?

Turtle will live in there too

 

[Guppy Goliath]

My turtle was quite destructive to my fish nipping at the tails and fins. It would chase much larger fish and pester them.

 

[M3AN ONE]

My turtle was quite destructive to my fish nipping at the tails and fins. It would chase much larger fish and pester them.

so far so good still a baby FRT 5inches max and I have 5 tanks so he can be moved around as needed

 

[Guppy Goliath]

Sounds good. I had a 4 inch terrapin in a saltwater/ brackish with 10 inch lockdowns and I was shocked to see him bite them. Love turtles though. They add so much to a tank.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Sounds good. I had a 4 inch terrapin in a saltwater/ brackish with 10 inch lockdowns and I was shocked to see him bite them. Love turtles though. They add so much to a tank.

That sounds awesome, got a vid or pics?
Lookdowns are my main bucket list fish