Equipment Review and Discussion

The kit sounds good.

Check out the thread on filters:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

The 406 is listed there.

I'd ultimately look to ditch the bio balls and replace with additional ceramic media. The bio balls can only grow bacteria on the surface. The ceramic media is porous. You get a much larger surface area, and thus more bacteria for biological filtration.

If you don't need the filter right away, setup a price alert here: http://camelcamelcamel.com/Fluval-A217- ... B005QRDCWA

I agree about getting rid of the bio balls. You'd still need to get carbon to replace monthly. For any heat bulb, use one with a ceramic or porcelain socket.

thanks for the filter thread, def going to be useful!

the substrate i ordered came in today and it isn't what i expected... i thought it was essentially black sand but it's more of a gravel which i know isn't good for turtles. however, it looks smaller than the typical fish tank gravel (not sure if that's better or worse) but it's def not sand... should i just try to return it and find sand or is it ok to use if i put a layer of large river rocks on top of it?

I think adding a layer of rock over sand will trap a lot of waste. River rocks look great but only when used sparingly IMO. If you paid a lot for the sand, I would return it.

Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking. I ordered it through amazon and they have free returns so I'm going to send it back and I ordered 50 lbs of caribsea super natural aquarium and from Petco

I'm not familiar with that. We often suggest pool filter sand - it's cheap, easy to clean, easy to maintain and looks good.

Can you provide a link to the sand you bought from petco? I think that is live saltwater sand. If it is do not put it in your tank! You want play sand, pool filter sand or freshwater aquarium sand.

this is the sand that i ordered

http://www.petco.com/product/121755/Car ... Redirect=1

in the question section someone asked if it was ok for fresh water tanks and someone else responded yes but if you say it's no good/not safe i'll def be taking your word for it over theirs.

I'm pretty sure its safe. Call the manufacturer to make sure its for use in freshwater. 1-888-461-1113

Kansasslider wrote:I'm pretty sure its safe. Call the manufacturer to make sure its for use in freshwater. 1-888-461-1113

Thanks. just gave them a call and they said it's perfectly fine to use in a turtle tank. now I just need my order to get here so I can set it up and get my turtle already!

Thats great! Don't forget to post pictures :-)

after all that the sand from petco is backordered with no eta. because I'm impatient I'm canceling that order and going to home depot after work and getting this

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-50- ... /100318476

it says it's washed and screened already but do I still need to clean it before I put it in the tank?

It will still be very dusty and needs a lot of rinsing. If you have polishing pads, this would be the time to use it. Or... go for pool filter sand.

That sand is fine but if you want colored sand I would wait. I like white sand some people like black and others like natural. You should rinse all sand. Put it in a five gallon bucket. Run a water hose to it without a spray nozzle and let the crud water come to the top and pour it out intil its clean. There are vids on youtube that show how to clean sand.

Equipment Review and Discussion :: Lots of Equipment Questions for a Newbie

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