Habitat - Indoor :: New Parent of 5 RES's Need someone to diagnose my setup.

[lvshak1]

So here is what I have.
5 Baby RESs. About 1.5" each
1 Pleco Fish

30 gallon tank "The Natuary" By All Glass Aquarium.

Filter : Aqua Clear 30

Heater: 200 Watt Heater by All Glass Aquarium set to 80 degrees F

A Reptisun light by ZOO-MED UVB 5.0 (I guess it's called a vitalight or something.)

Being that the first filter they sold me was apparently not strong enough. I have doubts on their actual knowledge. I have a feeling that I might not have the right set up for these little guys. Could anyone give me some pointers and let me know what I might need or what I'm doing wrong. I have big lava rocks and a plastic rock formation that they can bask on. I had one of those island things but they never used it and it was massive.

Picture of Tank Layout.
http://l670.myspace.com/00115/07/66/115366670_l.jpg


So any ideas will help. Also they don't seem to want to eat pellet food or guppies. Will eat crickets and shrimp though.

Thanks,
Rich

[soopermum62]

Read the stickys above for more information.

Tank looks beautiful for 2 RES of the size you have.. Do you have a heat lamp? I could not tell from the picture. Their platform needs to be about 88-90 degrees with water temps of 80.. You can drop water temp a bit if you want to 76-78 degrees. The rule for Habitat is 10 gallons of tank (not water) per each inch of turtle shell length not counting the shell curve. You are going to need to upgrade VERY SOON! Right now you need at the very minimum a 75 gallon tank. RES get to be 7-9 inches for males and up to 12 inches for females. For Filtration you need to go 3 to 4 times the rated filter tank capacity. Say you have a 100 gallon tank. You would need a filter rated for a 300-400 gallon tank. Alot of people run 2 and 3 filters on their tanks.... I use pond filters on my tanks. Your gravel is very pretty, make sure the rocks are larger than the turtles head so they don't swallow them.
Shrimp and guppies are okay as treats, but keep trying with the pellets and don't give in they will figure it out.


BTW your pleco may come up missing... all things edible (and some not so edible) will find their way into your RES' Mouths.

Soopermum

[lvshak1]

So your saying that my 30 gal tank isn't enough for 5 RESs. Or that I need to get a bigger filter or both?

[STRAYKINGFISHER]

The rule is 10 gallons for every inch of shell, so you are looking at 50 gallons right now, but turtles will grow anywhere from 12 to 14 inches, so eventually you will have to upgrade to a much bigger tank or maybe a pond.

[marisa]

Bigger tank, therefore bigger filter. Get the biggest container you can; as you can see by the guideline that was given, what they're in is really too small for them already. A guideline for a filter is to get one that's rated for at least 3X the size of the tank (turtles are messier than fish, which is what filters were really made for). Give them a varied diet--don't get them fixated on crickets and guppies.

You picture is pretty. Can they easily bask on that wood?

[lvshak1]

Actually it's a big Rock that has a cavern in it. The other two are lava rocks.

[lvshak1]

Can I just get a big --- filter or is it a they need the space thing.?

[soopermum62]

You need both the space and the filter!

[lvshak1]

Is my light enough for them to bask in?

[pkneeyahx]

as of right now, you need a 70+ gallon tank.

That Pleco will be eaten very soon. If you love your pleco, you'll remove it. That's like putting a case of beer in front of a bunch of drunks. Tasty.

200W Heater in a 30g tank? Overkill, but It'll work just fine.. I hope you've got a heater guard for it. with 5 turtles in such a small enclosure, they'll be banging into everything.. and often!

I would get rid of all that pretty stuff in your tank. the gravel.. the lava rocks.. everything. buy one of them suction cup docks for a basking platform for now.

Or better yet, take back 4 of your five turtles.. take the time to do the research and get yourself all set up.. and then decide if you want 4 more.

Something tells me that you'll find out soon enough that the care for one turtle is fairly demanding and you'll opt to stick with one.

[BigCT]

That Pleco will be eaten very soon. If you love your pleco, you'll remove it. That's like putting a case of beer in front of a bunch of drunks. Tasty.

I like the analogy. How about... It's like putting a case of beer up a tree in a park full of thirsty drunks. Once they figure out it's there and how to get to it...

lvshak1 You'll want to get a bigger tank and bigger filter once you do so. Since budget is probably a concern and finding a tank larger than 55 gallons hard to do and expensive. I would highly recommend a large Rubbermaid container or better yet a larger feeding trough (sp?) you know the big aluminum tubs for feeding horses and live stock.

I was afraid it wouldn't be as fun to watch them if they are not under water but I've come to the conclusion that it is more fun to pretend I have a larger indoor pond and am able to watch them from a more natural perspective.

Since they are only 1.5 in you will be ok for a week or two while try to get the stuff you need. Each one of the those Turts will be about the size of a dinner plate in about a year. In that tank they would have to crawl all over each other to eat and move. you will also need room for them all to bask at the same time, it would tank up more than half of the tank.

That's my $0.02
-Chris

Oh yeah... Your tank looks very cool, you could easily most of that stuff in the larger container.