General Care Discussion :: Need Help with Filter, Water Changes

[Honu23]

Hello. I have recently moved and am finally doing a proper aquarium set-up for the RES I adopted from a friend a few months ago.

Problem: filter won't work. I bought it on Craigslist, along with the tank and stand, from a guy who used the set-up for fish.

The filter is an Emperor 400, and from another post here I understand that my problem is not unique: extension tube isn't airtight enough to suck water up into the unit. Plus, it makes an irritating racket that scares the heck out of my turtle.

So, two questions:

(1) do you recommend I just put my next chunk of extra change into something like the Fluval 305? (This looks like a little more filter than I need, since the tank isn't full, but I'd rather have gear my turtle can grow into.)

and, more importantly in the meantime,

(2) Can you explain to me the mechanics of water changes? Yes an embarrassing newbie question:

So far I am scooping out water with a container, which is slow and does not get the gunky stuff on the bottom. The seller also gave me a long tube attached to a vacuum attachment -- he said I could suck on the other end of the tube to siphon out water -- GROSS, I am not interested in drinking turtle water!!! (I did actually try it once, after cleaning the tube with a bleach solution and rinsing like crazy, but was not successful. Some tank "spray" came more than comfortably close to my mouth before gravity had taken over the suction/siphon action. eww. No experience copping gas as a kid I guess.)

Can I buy some kind of cheap mechanical pump? Will they sell it at hardware store? Can you explain this to a non-mechanically-inclined newbie please??? what to buy, how to use it? Unfortunately the emphasis here is cheap, no more money for the turtle until my new job starts giving me checks...

THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR! You guys are great.

[Kemul]

(1) Good filter = good water. Filter that can circulate the water in the tank 5x
an hour is good enough to keep the water clear. Just make sure the waterflow
doesn't make the turtle tumble all over. If you want cheaper solution, build your
own filter. There are informations on how to do this online.

(2) The fastest way is to use a hose. If you don't want to suck using your mouth,
you can fill the hose with water first. Close both ends of the hose with your thumbs. Then, secure one end into the tank, put it at the bottom. Lastly, bring the
other end to where you want to throw out the tank water and release.
Another way is to use a plastic mechanical pump, probably on sale at a grocery
store. Just make sure how the water flows through the pump and attach the hose
accordingly. The pump will suck out water from the tank. Pump several times
quickly until syphon action takes over.

[mikee]

Ho-23 - How large is your tank and how large is your turtle? Your tank should be at least 10 gallons per inch of turtle. Your filter should pump "at least" 5 times the volume of you tank. Turtles are not cheap to keep. All but two of my turtles were given to me and I have a ton of money in thier up keep. One lesson I learned early is to spend your money on a good and properly sized filter. If you don't you will be working yourself silly trying to get the water cleared up.

[Honu23]

Ho-23 - How large is your tank and how large is your turtle? Your tank should be at least 10 gallons per inch of turtle. Your filter should pump "at least" 5 times the volume of you tank. Turtles are not cheap to keep. All but two of my turtles were given to me and I have a ton of money in thier up keep. One lesson I learned early is to spend your money on a good and properly sized filter. If you don't you will be working yourself silly trying to get the water cleared up.

I read everything on this site before adopting this turtle, understand the financial commitment, and will be able to get a proper filter soon. The tank I bought came with a filter, and I finally gave up on it working yesterday when I posted here.

The tank is 45 gallons, the turtle is 4". You can search this board for my name if you want to know how this turtle was living before I adopted it a few months ago. He's been in a temporary set-up in the interim. I moved cross-country a few weeks ago, and I'm doing his final set-up now.

To the prior poster: thanks for answering my question about the hose!