General Care Discussion :: Drydocking, So worried.

[ScrewZoo]

I just added sand to my tank, And it is really murky, so i took zoo's advice to drydock the turts for the night, I put a dry towel in a shoebox and put them in there and closed the box with holes in the top, They are digging around alot, and its worrying me if their gonna be up all night doing this..

[jawsspeedymrt]

Nah, eventually they'll fall asleep for the night. There like little kids that don't want to go to bed.

[mikee]

Drydocking them in box is ok if you keep them warm. 75 to 78 degrees. They may scratch around trying to get out. I will not hurt them. It is just natural to try and get out. I have three in a large card board box now and they do it in sperts. Yours may get tired and go to sleep and they may not. Other than the noise, don't loose any sleep over it. m.

[blackforces get you]

i never dry docked my turts for the night. as for me,i just dont use sand just chunks of earth called rocks. try it, it wont hurt and its less messy

[ScrewZoo]

I paid 3 bucks for like 90 lb of sand. so far im not liking it because its taking forever to settle.

[Kool]

For the sand it will take a while for it to settle, mine sets in like 4-5 hours when ever i change the water, but it also depends on how well you washed it before you put it in.

[untsmurf]

Did you wash it or just toss it in? What kind of sand was it?

[zoologist]

yeah, those rocks may be less messy to put in, but wait a couple of months until all that yucky turtle poop gets stuck at the bottom of the tank, and when you move a couple of rocks around clouds of black shoot up. not so much fun then, eh?

Screw, if you didn't wash the sand out well enough it will take forever. by now though you should be able to turn on your filter to help speed things along.

[briannashea]

yeah it may not look as cool but I just have no substrate in my tank with a few big rocks on the bottom - there's more room for water and swimming, it's LOT easier to clean, no worries about millie eating rocks or sand, and he LOVES pushing around the few stones I put in there, he makes fancy little patterns (I think he's a genius and is somehow trying to communicate with me through rock messages )

[mikee]

Screw-Z & Brian-she -- Sand can be a problem as it sometimes hard to settle out. I suggest that you go to a garden or landscaping shop and get some river rocks that are about 1" to 1 1/2 inches in diameter for the bottom. They can't eat them and they are easy to clean. I use a modified under gravel and canister arrangement. The waist goes to and through the grate on the bottom and then into the canister filter. It takes a little plumbing but works great. I suggest that you brush of and sanitize the rocks before you start out. You don't want to transport something into you tank that you are not aware of. Good Luck m.

[imderanged]

I used the river rock ad thought I was so smart. My tank LOOKS cean, but Zoologist is right, alot of gunk built upunder neath them. I'm very interested to know how this "modified undergravel and canister arrangment" works Mikee! I have a 75 gallon tank and an FX5 canister , what would I have to do?

PS. I cleaned the rocks by soaking them in vinagar and then rinsing them really well. It worked out pretty well.

[mikee]

I wish I had taken some pictures of my 55gal tank. I just cleaned it out and removed the rocks and it would have explained it a little better. I use an under gravel filter grate that covers the entire bottom that comes in two sections. Since I have a up tube (suction) I had to connect the two sections. I cut out the end of each half and connected them with two pieces of cpvc pipe. The most difficult part is to plumb the suction to the canisters which in not too hard. The suction up tube on the under gravel filter is thin and on the canister is thicker and is of a different size. I use a rubber O-ring that fills the difference and works great. The discharge hose is just put in the tank so not to disturb the turtles or the rocks in the bottom. By doing this you use the rocks as additional bacteria filtration. I have been doing this for over 26 years and it has proven to work great. Opps! Isn't there something about a picture and a thousand words?? m.

[AerianaEve]

I use river rocks too, and actually prefer the gunk staying under the rocks. I just use a gravel cleaner, (no python, no super filter because can't afford the $$$) and go through the rocks row by row. (Speedy always flattens them out so they cover the tank bottom in a single layer.) Partial water changes now only take me 20 minutes, and it's fun to clean it up. Seriously. I find it fun.