Aquarium turtle advice please!

[Nomadu571]

Hey yeah, the UVB thing, as far as I'm aware any sort of plastic or glass cuts the UVB benefit completely. And having an open top promotes good air circulation, stoping humidity building up and causing problems.

Common aliments are;

Shell rot; from humid tanks; the shell looks soft and unusual compared to hard and shiny.

Impaction; no physical signs other than loss of appetite and being lethargic. Look this up as there are many types.

Eye conditions; look for puffy eyes or closed gammy eyes, caused by lighting strength.

That's off my head but there are more like fungus and other diseases so do a google search or look for turtle/reptile forums with good stickies.

 

[Nomadu571]

If its an aquarium designed fixture it should be ok mine have never had a problem.

 

[Fishy Aston]

Plecos are cool

 

[jkdubs2]

Hey yeah, the UVB thing, as far as I'm aware any sort of plastic or glass cuts the UVB benefit completely. And having an open top promotes good air circulation, stoping humidity building up and causing problems.

Common aliments are;

Shell rot; from humid tanks; the shell looks soft and unusual compared to hard and shiny.

Impaction; no physical signs other than loss of appetite and being lethargic. Look this up as there are many types.

Eye conditions; look for puffy eyes or closed gammy eyes, caused by lighting strength.

That's off my head but there are more like fungus and other diseases so do a google search or look for turtle/reptile forums with good stickies.

Ok ya I just said screw it really and ripped the plastic out and put in the UVB. the basking platform forms a lid on the one side but the other side I put a glass lid on is left open so the air in the tank doesn't get too humid. I might also lower the temp of water a few degrees as it has room to spare at 80*F. The turts are doin well so far so good. And they aren't chasing any fish. I might go buy some earthworms for em today.

 

[jkdubs2]

Oh and thanks for the info on common ailments.

 

[Nomadu571]

No problem. They will love the earth worms!

 

[jkdubs2]

No problem. They will love the earth worms!

Hope so! And imma try and post some high quality pics of them soon too so all my pics don't look like crud from an iPhone lol.

 

[perentie]

Under gravel filters will never be enough for turtles nor will they enable plants to grow. I stick to plants that can be tied or stuck to driftwood and rocks like mosses and java ferns. By the way, superglue really does work for sticking anubias or java ferns to things and none of my fish or shrimp have suffered from it. Do not put the basking lamps, especially the uv ones over glass as the uv's won't get through. A screen over at laest the basking part of the tank is the way to go. All turtles eat fish and it is always a risk to mix the two. Make sure you get rid of every bit of solid waste and uneaten food regularly and do frequent water changes.

 

[jkdubs2]

Under gravel filters will never be enough for turtles nor will they enable plants to grow. I stick to plants that can be tied or stuck to driftwood and rocks like mosses and java ferns. By the way, superglue really does work for sticking anubias or java ferns to things and none of my fish or shrimp have suffered from it. Do not put the basking lamps, especially the uv ones over glass as the uv's won't get through. A screen over at laest the basking part of the tank is the way to go. All turtles eat fish and it is always a risk to mix the two. Make sure you get rid of every bit of solid waste and uneaten food regularly and do frequent water changes.

Thank you for all the info

 

[jkdubs2]

ok so i finally got a good camera and have new pics of the turtles! check em out!

 

[Nomadu571]

Yeah much clearer the quality is very good. Turtles look great, love the feeding shot too, reminiscent of another photo I believe, . They look happy and settled in. Like the swimming shot.

 

[jkdubs2]

Yeah much clearer the quality is very good. Turtles look great, love the feeding shot too, reminiscent of another photo I believe, . They look happy and settled in. Like the swimming shot.

haha ya it was, can ya blame me? i had to do it! and ya they are quite settled now. puck still doesnt bask to often but i catch him now and then.

so what do i do now? lol i have been at this for quite some time i feel like i should be doing something more than just water changes and feeding and cleaning lol any ideas? i was thinking of making the top of the basking area a sand pit and putting real plants on it...but idk yet

 

[Nomadu571]

haha ya it was, can ya blame me? i had to do it! and ya they are quite settled now. puck still doesnt bask to often but i catch him now and then.

so what do i do now? lol i have been at this for quite some time i feel like i should be doing something more than just water changes and feeding and cleaning lol any ideas? i was thinking of making the top of the basking area a sand pit and putting real plants on it...but idk yet

Lol nothing more than cleaning and feeding for now. I've often pondered creating an actual "lawn" with a small piece of turf for the basking area. Using a 'upwater' irrigation idea it wouldnt need watering if it was on a bed which held an ideal amount of water. Sand is another good idea, my concern with that was if a wet turtle were to go onto the sand then come back into the water it would bring a small amount of sand with it, which over time would all end up in my tank, if I had a sand bottom no problem but mines bare so it would notice. You could use proper compost if you were to do that, use a shallow tub for the soil, sand on top kinda thing, plants would do well.

 

[jkdubs2]

ill prolly wait a month or two before i do anything huge with it again i think. i cant just keep draining my wallet i have to move out soon! lol but yeah all those are good points and i like the upward irrigation idea but i think it would prolly be cheaper and easier to just take a cup of tank water and dump it on the pit lol buuut it would be way cooler to have the system! and sand wouldnt be a big deal to me as long as its the same color as the substrate. i thought you had a substrate in your turtle tank? or maybe i am thinking your 20g planted

 

[Nomadu571]

ill prolly wait a month or two before i do anything huge with it again i think. i cant just keep draining my wallet i have to move out soon! lol but yeah all those are good points and i like the upward irrigation idea but i think it would prolly be cheaper and easier to just take a cup of tank water and dump it on the pit lol buuut it would be way cooler to have the system! and sand wouldnt be a big deal to me as long as its the same color as the substrate. i thought you had a substrate in your turtle tank? or maybe i am thinking your 20g planted

No you would be right but I took the sand out as it was getting quite horrible quite quickly, and I have less time to do maintenance now since I started a more time consuming job, so I decided to go bare bottom and change the tanks around a bit. I'm not entirely happy with it yet it's just kind of a holding area for now while I make plans for the upgrade at the end of the summer. The planted is coming along nicely although I need to buy more ferts, the pinks are suffering ATM. .

 

[jkdubs2]

No you would be right but I took the sand out as it was getting quite horrible quite quickly, and I have less time to do maintenance now since I started a more time consuming job, so I decided to go bare bottom and change the tanks around a bit. I'm not entirely happy with it yet it's just kind of a holding area for now while I make plans for the upgrade at the end of the summer. The planted is coming along nicely although I need to buy more ferts, the pinks are suffering ATM. .

yeah the sand always shows more poop and is harded to keep plants in and gets stirred up more easiley with turtles being the homeowners. and ya i bet summer time is really busy for you with the work you do. as for the planted tank, are u using any co2 or anything? why are they dying?

 

[Nomadu571]

Yeah I use the small fluval co2 system I think it's pretty good, neat and compact. They are deffo suffering deficiency, I Diddnt order any fert and ran out so it's going to b a case of dosing bk up then pruning back. Did you buy any more plants for yours?

 

[jkdubs2]

Yeah I use the small fluval co2 system I think it's pretty good, neat and compact. They are deffo suffering deficiency, I Diddnt order any fert and ran out so it's going to b a case of dosing bk up then pruning back. Did you buy any more plants for yours?

I might have to buy one of those for my 20g I think I need some co2 in it! And the only new plants I remember buying recently were a type of ludwigia I can't remember exactly and some water wisteria. How you turtle doin?

 

[Nomadu571]

Just for you dubs;
Two photos, I caught them both looking for something in the corner, working as a team. Lol

 

[jkdubs2]

Haha those are some cool stinkpots(?) where did you find those little guys?