# Friends turtle tank!



## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

So I have been asked to scape a friends turtle tank, 

It is a 150L cube,  it gets low light, and I have a limited choice of plants. Mainly amazon swords, hornwort, java fern, java moss and Anubis’s purely because the turtle will eat everything else! 

My question is; how do I make this look good?!? Any ideas on hardscape, emergent plants?! I want to try and build the back up a bit! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 

This is the poor sods current tank! Can you see why I offered to help them?!? 










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## zozo (27 Mar 2019)

Turtles do not eat Anubias?.. Good to know..

Lots of drift wood partialy emersed for the turtle to sit on.. Anubias is an epiphyte, it likes it on the wood submersed..  Could be quite a quest to find the correct shaped wood to make it look natural..

Something shaped like this with the trunk partialy emersed.


 

Some swords grow large and emersed from the substrate up.. e.g. Echinodorus cordifolius.


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## Edvet (27 Mar 2019)

Turtles are VERY dirty, youre friend will need a large filter and lot's of waterchanges.
I would aim for cheap fast growing pondplants as largest mass, and add swords and anubias if all is growing well
https://www.myturtlecam.com/plants.php


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

Edvet said:


> Turtles are VERY dirty, youre friend will need a large filter and lot's of waterchanges.
> I would aim for cheap fast growing pondplants as largest mass, and add swords and anubias if all is growing well
> https://www.myturtlecam.com/plants.php



Thanks Edvet, 

Yeah I know they are! I’ve been in that site! That’s where I learnt what plants I can have! 

I’ve bought them a new filter, which turns the tank over 8 times an hour, not the beat but I’m on a budget! 

I’ve also got them a water change kit as the poor lad isn’t kept in the best conditions so I’m trying to improve that! 




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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

they don't eat most plants on your list but they keep trying them I think in hope it may taste different the next day..


Edvet said:


> Turtles are VERY dirty, youre friend will need a large filter and lot's of waterchanges.
> I would aim for cheap fast growing pondplants as largest mass, and add swords and anubias if all is growing well
> https://www.myturtlecam.com/plants.php


 anything too small when they push around and play.. you have a floating plant tank which they love by the way.. poking there head out of the uprooted plants.. it's all possible but you have to weight everything or tie plants as well..
in the end I just planted swords and pond grass in terrocota pots with big black river stones on top which were too big for them to move.. if I needed to cut them or treat for elgea I could move the stones and take the pot out.. also dirty buggers.. the big river stones trap allot of crud but it's really easy to remove the turtles and the stones to clean..


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

obsessed said:


> they don't eat most plants on your list but they keep trying them I think in hope it may taste different the next day..
> 
> anything too small when they push around and play.. you have a floating plant tank which they love by the way.. poking there head out of the uprooted plants.. it's all possible but you have to weight everything or tie plants as well..
> in the end I just planted swords and pond grass in terrocota pots with big black river stones on top which were too big for them to move.. if I needed to cut them or treat for elgea I could move the stones and take the pot out.. also dirty buggers.. the big river stones trap allot of crud but it's really easy to remove the turtles and the stones to clean..



I wanted to put sand in... mistake? 




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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

big grain maybe almost gravel .. well I never tried it.. I no longer have them.. they retired in spain they live in my mates pond now


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

they are very mischievous.. mine we're.. proper diggers
They sit above water most of the day it's at night..


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

obsessed said:


> they are very mischievous.. mine we're.. proper diggers
> They sit above water most of the day it's at night..



My plan was to use the existing pebbles and make a shelf/band using some of the wife’s old tights, then bank sand/gravel up. 

Throw a couple chunks of wood in with 30 java ferns and some anbius’ tide to the lower branch’s! I’ll maybe fasten the wood to slate under the sand/gravel so they can disturb them too much!  

Think it’ll work?! 


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

good to go.. but big stones is best(I think)


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## alto (27 Mar 2019)

Tucker90 said:


> My plan was to use the existing pebbles and make a shelf/band using some of the wife’s old tights, then bank sand/gravel up.


be careful of anything that reduces water volume - back to those “dirty” turtles 

I’d just go with floating plants & epiphyte plants (eheim suction cups work very well for years, just crew into the bogwood and attach plants to glass, this will put plants nearer the light and create shaded areas for turtle)
checkout Tropica’s bankwood for inspiration 
https://tropica.com/en/plants/aquadecor/bankwood/

Substrate - consider a smaller grain natural gravel (not any of the coated gravels as they tend not to support beneficial bacteria) BUT check for turtle swallowing hazard (species dependent I think)


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

funny..
I wedge my driftwood in I was always worried about the silicone failing so bolted it to slate in the end
the floating platform will shade.. but they need allot of light.. uv and heat lamp.. not an easy project.. to add..  if the gravel can fit in there mouth its to small..


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

obsessed said:


> funny..
> I wedge my driftwood in I was always worried about the silicone failing so bolted it to slate in the end
> the floating platform will shade.. but they need allot of light.. uv and heat lamp.. not an easy project.. to add..  if the gravel can fit in there mouth its to small..



The light/heat lamp and platform are already in position! The shadey area isn’t an issue hence the Anubis’s and java ferns lack of light demand! 


I’ve read so many conflicting views on substrate! Some say sand is fine, others say gravel! Then there’s loads of “bare bottomers) 

The last thing I want to do is kill the poor sod! 

Might have to consider...  slate bottom tank... 


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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

you can have sand but they will kick it up.. maybe into your filter..it's messy.. the turtles are messy.. allot of cleaning.. to be safe I used ping pong ball sized river stones.. added..you have to cover the slate it's too sharp..


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

obsessed said:


> you can have sand but they will kick it up.. maybe into your filter..it's messy.. the turtles are messy.. allot of cleaning.. to be safe I used ping pong ball sized river stones.. added..you have to cover the slate it's too sharp..



FFS why would anyone buy a bloody turtle! 

Basically there’s one safe option... horrible disgusting pebbles! 




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## obsessed (27 Mar 2019)

that was my problem..
I hated all the choices until my local garden centre ordered me black river stones.. mad thing they cost more than the tank. but they are nice.. for stones.


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## sparkyweasel (27 Mar 2019)

Tucker90 said:


> I’ve read so many conflicting views on substrate! Some say sand is fine, others say gravel! Then there’s loads of “bare bottomers)



Maybe because  there's different kinds of 'turtles'. Do you know what species it is?


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## Tucker90 (27 Mar 2019)

sparkyweasel said:


> Maybe because  there's different kinds of 'turtles'. Do you know what species it is?



Yeah, it’s a red eared slider! 

I’ve done nothing but research them for the past 2 days.


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## zozo (28 Mar 2019)

Regarding lots of water changes, let friend read this.. 
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048151.htm

Or not, because it might be its last day in his home...


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## foxfish (28 Mar 2019)

Don’t they grow big really quickly?


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## zozo (28 Mar 2019)

foxfish said:


> Don’t they grow big really quickly?



Well Yes, but not so realy quickly, i've seen escapies in the local ponds at about 25cm.. Captive they also see your fingers as food.
A friend of mine had 4 of them, the biggest was about 20cm, takes quite some years to get that size.

Official sites still do not acknowledge that they breed in hour regions in the wild.. But they definitively do, i've seen it and i'm not alone.


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## Tucker90 (28 Mar 2019)

zozo said:


> Well Yes, but not so realy quickly, i've seen escapies in the local ponds at about 25cm.. Captive they also see your fingers as food.
> A friend of mine had 4 of them, the biggest was about 20cm, takes quite some years to get that size.



She’ll length of this one is around 15cm, he’s supposedly around 15 years old! 


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## zozo (28 Mar 2019)

Tucker90 said:


> She’ll length of this one is around 15cm, he’s supposedly around 15 years old!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Maximum size for a male is 20cm, female can reach 30cm.. 

I have a few waters near my home where they live in the wild.


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## obsessed (28 Mar 2019)

in tanks they stay around 20 25 cm..
 in natural environment they can exceed 30 cm..
 mine would try to escape but it's all about water level as the floating platform will aid in there escape. red ears are prohibited were I am.. only yellow bellys allowed.. females are much bigger maybe 5 to 10 cm..


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## obsessed (28 Mar 2019)

the red ones are the aggressive and they grow too big for the normal home size tank.. so they get let free into the wild and destroy the local habitat..
realistically in my tank I had to push all greenery to the back wall and like I said I big piece of driftwood bolted to slate and rivere stones.. you cannot have anything above water line they climb on and run for it.. I don't know how 1 morning I checked as I normally do.. I female missing.. I found her under my settee chilling..
note.. my water line was 25cm from the top.. I clocked on to how she escaped.. because she was slightly bigger she climb on his shoulders and grabbed the black plastic frame..


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## zozo (28 Mar 2019)

Red Ear Import is prohibited in the complete EU.. Already a long time, it probably still goes around from hand to hand privately.. Or caught in the wild and kept captive.

As said officialy the eggs alledgedly do not hatch in our climate. But that's not correct.. I see them in several ponds stacked up sunbading on a rock like the Bremen Town Musician in all sizes. If the eggs don't hatch than it must be at least 2 dozens escapped in one small pond. That seams very unlikey to me..


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## obsessed (28 Mar 2019)

zozo said:


> I see them in several ponds stacked up sunbading on a rock like the Bremen Town Musician in all sizes


haha.. it used to be that way here but they had to cull in large numbers.. no natural predators and they upset and destroy local environments.. rebels


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## foxfish (28 Mar 2019)

I will post some pictures of my friends sliders next week as I am doing some maintenance on his tank.
I built the tank last year, it is around 5’ x 2’ x2’ with an elevated dry area .
I would say his are around 10” long and probably about 3lb in weight each.
He now wants an open top, outdoor area so they can bask in natural sun light.


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## Tucker90 (12 Apr 2019)

So did the tank yesterday! 

Used a mixture of 40mm and some huge river cobbles, banked up and built over a bit of red root! 

Plugged just over 30 java fern and tied a load of moss to the wood! 

Couldn’t get a picture without reflection but an over tank shot will do! 

He seems happy with it! Not interested in eating the plants, knocked a few loose plants out within 24 hours but that was to be expected! His owner found him snoozing in the plants as well! 

We’re gonna add some amazon swords and probably some Anubias later if he settles and doesn’t destroy it! 





Will get a decent shot next time I’m round! 


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## alto (13 Apr 2019)

If he’s going to eat the plants it will likely be the yummy new shoots 

Salmonella becomes an issue as turtles are often kept in too small containers with inadequate filters and water changes

It’s not intrinsic to wild living red ear slider turtles ... where they get v.e.r.y big (local laggoon is well populated with released “pet” turtles - which are no longer legal for sale for several years now (& local parks with any water ways had to be severely culled  - one Ornamental Koi pond was drained and thousands of turtles euthanized)


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## Tucker90 (13 Apr 2019)

alto said:


> If he’s going to eat the plants it will likely be the yummy new shoots
> 
> Salmonella becomes an issue as turtles are often kept in too small containers with inadequate filters and water changes
> 
> It’s not intrinsic to wild living red ear slider turtles ... where they get v.e.r.y big (local laggoon is well populated with released “pet” turtles - which are no longer legal for sale for several years now (& local parks with any water ways had to be severely culled  - one Ornamental Koi pond was drained and thousands of turtles euthanized)



So sad! But needs must a I guess! No different to me culling deer or rabbits on the farm! 

Yeah I read about the salmonella! Literally bleached my hands when I was done! Had it before... never again! 

He’s in this 150L cube at the moment but I have told the owner he needs a bigger tank, But money is tight for them so he’ll have to wait for a while! They have set up a “rufus savings fund” so maybe in the not so distant future he’ll be in a much bigger tank! 



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## Tucker90 (13 Apr 2019)

Picture from the owner! 








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## Steve Buce (14 Apr 2019)

Big improvement, is he smiling?


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## Tucker90 (14 Apr 2019)

Steve Buce said:


> Big improvement, is he smiling?



Not by the looks of it! 





But now his owners doing regular 50% water changes every 3 days and has an algae scraper and substrate hoover he will be happier! 

Classic case of getting a pet and not doing your research 


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## obsessed (16 Apr 2019)

Well done. Looks good


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## Edvet (17 Apr 2019)

Only thing i would be afraid of is dirt collecting between the rockpile, make sure the owner flushes it out if possible when cleaning.


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