new to theis scene!

[turtle granny]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the turtle family. I recently inherited a res. I have a 55gal. tank that housed oscars and a pleco. I gave the oscars to a friend in order to take my new res for my grandson. I need some info. quick!! my tank has a floating dock but its not big enough. My tank was setup for fish but I want to change it to suit my turtle.is it possible to modify the out take tube to make it longer? I have a magnum350 canister filter. what is better to create a dock and basking area, pvc pipes or just use rock,or slate rock or driftwood?? My desire is to create a basking dock like a bridge so that there is swim area underneath. I want to modify my filter to attach to an undergravel filter and have the out take tube lowered. Is that possible?HELP!

[TomStav]

Hi, If you are willing to buy a new tank for the turtles I would suggest going to glasscages.com, I got a turtle tank made there that had a glass basking area with ramp and it was awesome. I don't suggest under gravel filters, just my opinion, many people like them. You can modify the pipes on the canister. I would suggest getting the ehiem intake skimmer, you can just put it directly on you piping inlet for your canister filter. It is designed to take water in as normal but also skims the surface of the water, this is good for turtle tanks because their food creates a lot of scum on the surface. If you were to get a new tank I would suggest getting one that has a good width as they require a lot of space to turn around when they get big. You could build up slate for a basking area or get a floating log, usually you can find some basking platforms on eBay but the bigger they get the harder they are to find.

I'm no expert on turtles but have kept some in the past, hope this helps a bit.

Sent from my iPad using Aquarium

[Fishguy2727]

If you want it to swim under the basking area then use PVS pipe to make the frame and then put something on top of it. You can buy cork bark for the backs of terrariums and cut it to fit the platform. This will be perfect for the turtle.

How large is the turtle?
What are you feeding?
What lighting?

[turtle granny]

Glasscage?..I'll check it out. Thanks, fishguy. And timetable, I appreciate ur opinion...right now my poor turtle is hanging on to his mini dock.He really so s need better setup. Lighting I have a small incandescent light and a small uvb light- recommended by the pet store. I feed him pellets also recommended by the pet store. Occasionally I feed him fish and worms. But I can't seem to get him to eat veggies or fruit....

[Fishguy2727]

What pellets are you feeding?
Don't feed live food. They can bring in pathogens, are not nutritionally balanced or complete, and can increase aggression.

Which bulbs exactly? The best bulb is a mercury vapor bulb that has everything in one bulb and doesit better than separate bulbs. The basking area should be at least ten degrees warmer than the water, which should be at least 75F. The UVB should be at least 8.0.

Do what you can to get a dry basking area asap. Even if it means just stacking bricks in the tank.

I wouldn't use glasscages, I have heard too many horror stories from their tanks and the ones I have seen in person didn't help their reputation. Get a glass aquarium from Marineland/Perfecto or AGA/Aqueon.