Other Turtle Discussion :: Filter not filtering?

[socialmonsters]

Perfect, thanks again!

I may as well keep asking my questions here to not make unnecessary new posts...how do you guys entice your turtle(s) to bask? Mine previously had direct sun for part of the day, so he would naturally gravitate towards that. In the new pond setup, he's still outside but under the overhang so no direct sun hits his pond at all (too hot out here in AZ). I have a UVB lamp about 12"-14" above the basking area but the natural light outside stays bright enough that he doesn't really notice the light, nor does he show interest in basking in this new setup. I tried putting red leaf lettuce up there but he wouldn't touch it. He spends a lot of his time swimming against the current (output) and will occasionally rest on the submerged platform, but won't go up where the basking light is.

Sorry if that was long-winded, I try to give as many details possible when asking questions so I don't have to ask as many!

[steve]

I've been lagging on filter cleaning (skeeters are intense here). My routine is almost the same as kansasslider. I rest the sponges on metal shelving or egg crate and hose it down. A quick rinse of the bio media and place in tank water. Add new carbon and recently regenerated Purigen.

Can you post a picture of your setup?

[Kansasslider]

Turtle basking questions come up on here in almost a daily basis. These are my observations only ! Some like to bask all the time some don't bask at all! I know, I have 4. I do make sure they get calcium! Ripti calcium + D3 is what I put on all my turtle pellets. My map will bask all day my res won't hardly bask at all. My Diamondbacks are young they know where the basking area is because I make them follow my hand with food up the ramp and then drop it on the dock for them to eat. They don't bask yet. They might they might not. A lot of people have problems with this. If they do great! If they don't? Don't worry. 3 out of 4 of my turtles don't bask now. My turtles are young the oldest is 2. I tried to teach all my turtles to bask. Didn't work. Some will some won't.

[socialmonsters]

Here's his new setup: 125 gallon preformed pond liner on two sets of wooden pallets and the ledges are supported by bricks. I added more height by cutting and zip tying a thick plastic yard liner to the top. There is no substrate and I have another powerhead just submerged on the opposite wall of the output. No direct sunlight ever hits the pond as it's way too hot in Arizona now for that. Not the prettiest setup yet but he seems to love the room and our idea is to get some nice plants to put around the outside and make it much more decorative.

Basking Area - so there's obviously no ramp but he is able to float onto the submerged saucer and easily climb onto the dry slate under the UV lamp.

I'm definitely open to suggestions, tips, etc.

[socialmonsters]

This is Lou! He's 23 years old, a little over 7" in length and weighs just over 3lbs.

He'll put his front legs on the submerged saucer but rarely fully climbs up there. You can see he has a few scutes to shed still.

He spends most of his day swimming under and against the current.

[Kansasslider]

Nice! I used a large limestone rock sitting on a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out.