Habitat - Indoor :: New Tank Set up Process

[Ramla]

Hello,

So I have lurked on this site for a few months now, and have gotten some great help in improving my turtle's diet and such. But now I am on the mission to upgrade his tank. He currently resides in 20l (which I know is way too small, hence the upgrade) and will be getting a 55 gallon that I will be working on setting up in about 2 months here. Poor college student, so it will take a little time to acquire all the necessary things for the tank.

Since I am upgrading my tank and am a bit new to turtle tank set up, especially this size of a tank, I wanted to gather as much advice and information as I can before I just dive right into it. Below I'll list some questions that I would like to get more experienced information on.

Filter Information
What are good brands, any advice for the upkeep and minimizing any costs, and anything diy would be useful. This is my first time working with canister filters, and talking to some coworkers, fluval seems to be a good brand for ease of use and just overall quality; what do you guys think? Also since I have little experience with these, I only know a little bit about how they truly function. This will officially be the biggest tank I have ever owned and set up, so up until now I have not needed a canister filter.

Above Tank Basking Area
I am definitely going to be utilizing this idea, so that way I can take full advantage of the tank for swimming area. I was thinking of using plexiglass or something similar to fit within one half of the 55 gallon tank. I have a rough idea in my head, but I have no experience with this and am still working on designs. Any advice, tips, or fail-proof ideas you can send my way will be appreciated. Also within the basking area, decorations, things that add to the atmosphere and functionality of them and advice on that would be great.

Within Tank Decor
We all know that turtles don't live in a complete bare area of water usually, so I would like more information on what are good things to put within the tank. To both entertain the turtle and give him diversity, as well to make the tank look more appealing. Also is sand a good idea or not? I know turtles like to dig in it, but could it be an issue with it getting into the filter? And are river rocks a better idea? Are there any live plants that are good to have with turtles? I love using live plants in my tanks, since they look nice and are really useful at keeping the water clean, but I also know that turtles like to eat plants as well. Are there any hardy aquatic plants that anyone knows of that could survive a few chomps from a turtle and still grow?

I know I have a lot of questions, but I am hoping to get things bought and planned out, so when school is done and I have more free time I can just go right into preparing things for the new tank. So please if you have any tips, advice, or hints for anything I would greatly appreciate it and gladly listen. I am newer to turtle tanks like I said so am looking to get some friendly experienced advice.

And I plan on updating you guys along with this process, seeing the transformation will be fun for me too, and I can upload pictures of his current set up if people would like me to.

[steve]

The cheaper canisters I would go for are sold by aqua traders. Atba is great in theory, and many are easy to do. I'd head over to the sticky thread on that. For decorating, I think the sand + a few river rock +wood look great and do well with turtles. Sorry for being brief, I'm typing through my phone.

[Ramla]

Thanks for the tips, and no worries with it being brief.

I also do want to add that everything will have to be cat proof, generally she stays off the terrarium, but ya know she is a cat.

[Jeremiah]

Being a poor college student myself, I would just skip buying a commercial canister and make my own filter. Google "Wendy filter for turtle tanks"--you'll get lots of hits. I know many turtle keepers who use these filters, and the water chemistry comes out great.

ATBA's are a good idea, but some turtles don't take to them very well. The easiest/most economical thing to do for the basking spot is to purchase a large piece of cork bark (which, like ATBA's, can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15260 ).

In my opinion, no substrate is the best substrate. If you really want it, though, sand is okay, because turtle waste will sit on top of it until siphoned out. As long as your filter intake is a good ways above the sand, it shouldn't be a problem. Turtles that swallow sand usually pass it safely, too. Just avoid gravel!

Plants like anacharis, duckweed, frogbit, water lettuce, hornwort, and water fern are easy to grow. However, very few of them will survive long-term with a RES. Most people just grow the plants in a separate tank. Then, they have a constant supply to replace the ones that get destroyed by the turtle(s).

[Ramla]

My turtle is all about the basking so I'm really not too worried about him using it, but I also have a one of those zoomed floating turtle docks that I use now. I hope to put it in there, but if anything may remove it for a little while to get him to use the ATBA instead of his normal dock.

And I understand the benefit of the no substrate tank, but I'm a person that also likes making things as natural as can be to what they would have in the wild.

Thanks for the link to the diy filter, will definitely be checking that out.

[Kansasslider]

I'm a huge fan of sand substrate. Honestly wouldn't have a tank without it. I had a tank without sand for a while and all my turtles did was swim and bask. They almost never spent any time on the bottom. Probably because the couldn't get traction. My turtles spend a lot of time on the bottom of the tank walking around and sometimes running on the sand. Mopani wood is also nice in tanks but it can be a bit messy. It gets moved around a lot by my turtles. Fluval does make good filters or as far as cheap filters I would agree with Steve about Aquatraders. Not a fan of diy filters as some might work really well and some won't. I also like fake plants as long as your turtle doesn't eat them.
http://www.aquatraders.com/category-s/30.htm

[Ramla]

Thanks, yeah I am liking the option of sand, since I know most turtles enjoy the fun of digging in it. And I know mine likes to dig through the rocks that are in the bottom of the tank.

And I've heard both good and bad stories about the DIY filters, so I'm going to definitely consider it since it can be cost effective, but like my original post mentioned I've never dealt with cannister filters yet. So am a little ignorant in their functionality.

[Ramla]

Ok so I know this could be in its own thread but figured instead of just making another thread I would just ask you guys in here. But Eunice's shell is definitely in need of some TLC something that I a working on through a better diet and upgrading his current tank until I get his 55 gallon ready and set up. But I found a soft spot again the other day after I cleaned out his tank, so he's getting some one on one time with his basking lamp right now. But when he does get all dried out he has a lot of white spots on his shell, none of which are soft. The circle indicates where the soft spot actually is, and it is kind of just on the edges there of both of those scutes. Is this potentially just cause he has retained scutes, and they are just working on coming off or something else? Below is the picture I managed to snag while he was in the bucket with his light.



Also here is Eunice's current set up looking all fresh and clean, figured I'd through it up so you guys can see what I'm starting with and what he will be getting in a few months, but also for my own benefit

[steve]

The light is making it hard to see whats wrong on the shell. But it's either fungus or a bacterial infection. Both can go away after a shed or two, however fungus usually returns without treatment.