What can I do about algae in a turtle tank?

I have a small aquatic turtle, (he looks like a RES, but without the red marks, not sure what he is.) about a 5 inch shell measurement.



Even keeping up with frequent water and filter cartridge changes, I'm still getting a large buildup of algae, mostly on the edges of his basking rock, and on the turtle's shell.



I use filtered tap water, and the only chemicals I add are one to remove chlorine, and one to help with waste breakdown. My filter is a regular aquarium filter, rated for 60 gallons. (the tank is a 20 gallon long) I've read that the algae destroyers you would use in a regular aquarium could be harmful to turtles, so I'm hesitant to try that. I've put a few plants in the tank, but he tends to uproot them and eat them.



Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to slow the growth of algae in the tank?

What can I do about algae in a turtle tank?
Really, your best bet is to add live plants. Algea is oportunistic and will grow in excess if there is no competition in the tank. Anacharis works wonders. It eats the turtle feces, is an oxygenizer, the turtle can eat it, it looks kinda pretty, and it helps keep algea down. You can also add Exo-Terra's Biotize but really, having the size of filter you do, your best bet is live plants, even if they get dug up if they're aquatic plants they'll do ok.
Reply:maracyn is a fish antibiotic and it kills algae in one treatment. i have no idea what effect it has on turtles though. if you get a plant that grows quickly it will use all the nutrients in the water and not leave anything for the algae to live on.



Maracyn is a brand name for the generic erythromycin if you want to research it.
Reply:You can try a large algea eating fish... a plecostamus... plants wont help algea.... and check the labels on a few of the algea destroyers... I know theres one that isnt harmful to fish or turtles but cant remmeber it off the top of my head... too tired
Reply:live plants DO help with algea growth, but make sure you get ones that your tutle can eat because most likely, he'll eat them. also, you can find algea control formulas for TURTLES at petsmart - don't get the fish ones. and dont not buy the fish algea eats. that's a bad conbo from the start.