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Hello. I am preparing to set up an outdoor enclosure for my two turtles, Brutus & Skee-Lo. The setup will be inside a cement planter box which is 8 feet long and 2 feet wide, and about 2-3 feet deep (I haven't emptied it yet). Each inch would be 10 gallons, so I'm thinking about 8" to give 80 gallons. Here are some pictures of the box & my babies:





Brutus (left) (YBS or Red Bellied Cooter, not sure) and Skee-Lo (right, YBS)




My question is regarding filtering for this enclosure. Because this will be outside with both exposure to rain and a lack of storage space, I am unsure of whether a canister filter is appropriate, and thought that a submersible, internal filter would be more suited to this setup. However, I figured that I would probably need 2 filters in that case.

Does anyone have any suggestions of whether I should use a canister filter (404 vs. XP3) or multiple internal filters (4+ vs. Eheim Aquaball vs. Eheim Powerline vs. Rio IPF or something else..)? Would a pond filter be appropriate (Pondmaster 190, maybe)?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

-Matt

Cute turts. I think a pond filter would be the best choice for what you plan to do. Pondmasters are supposed to be good, though I'm not familiar with the specs on the 190.

Matt,

Take a look at azponds.com They have a a great selection of pond filters and pumps that are built for outside use and the prices are very competitive. We have a pondmaster submersible pump and an external filter. I picked the external filter for easier cleaning but you will see the filter ( or hide it with rocks or plants etc.).

Welcome and cute turtles.

How do you plan to address shade, basking, predator, escape issues? I've also read that cement is not the best material to use in a turtle environment.

steve wrote:How do you plan to address shade, basking, predator, escape issues? I've also read that cement is not the best material to use in a turtle environment.

As the sun moves throughout the day, there is always a portion that is brightly lit and another section that is shaded from the wall next to it. I plan to slope the substrate (haven't decided on what yet) out of the water on side so they can walk up & bask. Also, I might get a piece of driftwood and keep it in the middle, and/or I might move the turtle dock outside. In any case, I want there to be a few different areas to bask on, which is probably necessary anyway as the sun moves. The box itself is 2 or 3 feet deep, so with less than a foot of water, they would be too far down to crawl out. As far as predators go, this is on the second floor, with the only access to it being from my balcony or the roof, so I'm not too worried about raccoons or opossums and the like. I do have some mesh-like metal I was thinking about covering the top with to keep the birds away. I've also read that cement isn't great for turtles, but the box is already lined with some plastic/vinyl-like material that is riveted into place (you can see it in the above picture). Hopefully it's water-tight, but if not, any idea what I should line it with (visqueen maybe)?

You could use a pond liner. Since your turts are small, protecting them from predators in the air would definitely be good.

Have you thought of doing a mini-skippy? A lot of people swear by the skippy filter.

reptilegrrl wrote:Have you thought of doing a mini-skippy? A lot of people swear by the skippy filter.

Looks like the skippy (and even the mini skippy) are too big. The planter box is only 2 feet wide, so even a mini-mini-skippy would probably take up more room than is worth it.

Since I'm doing this as a school project, I think I'll just see what kind of resouces are at my disposal in our Marine Bio complex (either existing filters or money for equipment) and play it by ear from there.

On a semi-related note, does anyone know if you can connect tubing to the output of a Fluval internal filter and use it to drive a small waterfall?

I would set the mini-skippy (the one that is not made with a stock tank, but with a barrel liner) on the deck area that is next to the planter, and have a waterfall falling into the planter box. You could also use something like a big planter, to make an even smaller but effective skippy. The skippy plan is very versatile.

mattfelsen wrote:On a semi-related note, does anyone know if you can connect tubing to the output of a Fluval internal filter and use it to drive a small waterfall?

It might but the biggest internal I have doesnt put out a whole lot of water. But they make very small pump that would be more than adequate. A fluval 404 wuld probably work though

Mattfelsen, (just got through replying to your post about XP3s and Fluval 4+s) the Fluval 4+ isn't powerful enough to do this (don't know about the canister 404). Why don't you just buy a small pond pump, like a Mag 2 or 3?

Also, have you looked at this post:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... 4466#24466

Something like that might be good for your needs.