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Home › Forums › Diamondback Terrapins › Freshwater or salt?
Hi Everyone- It’s been a long time since I have visited the group, but I need some help. I recently moved into an apartment and as such I had to move the aquarium as well. In the past I kept the water around 16ppm in salinity. Today I placed the turtles in freshwater. Does anyone keep their terrapins in freshwater, and if so how have they responded? Thanks for the help! -Joe Chronowski
I keep my terrapins in fresh water and they are fine. No illments at all shell is beautiful and healthy. Just make sure u keep the water clean and change often. Maryann
Many of us keep cbs in fresh water and they have done fine. Some dbts do have to adjust going from brackish to fresh water. Occcasionally one will seem to “bloat” or puff up when the salinity is switched suddenly, but usually there is no reaction. If your terps have not had skin or shell problems, fresh water should be fine. If they are wcs or have had skin or shell problems, though, brackish may be needed to keep them problem free. Let us know more about your situation if you have more concerns. ToddJoe
Hi Joe, Todd hit the nail on the head. To salt or not to salt has been a long running debate. The easiest way to explain it is. Most captive born dbts will be fine in very clean fresh water. Most wild caught adult dbts will need to be kept in brackish water. Also if you have had problems with skin and/or shell rot with a CB or a WC they should be kept in brackish water. These are general rules and there have been a lot of exceptions to these rules. Overall I would say salt is the safer way to go. Good Luck Jonathan http://www.diamondbackterrapin.com — Joe