I've been thinking of a way to protect the live plants and some of the fish in my turtles tank. Right now I have a basking platform w/ ramp that's made out of pvc pipe legs hot glued to a piece of eggcrate. I already tried attaching some pothos plants to the eggcrate using plastic trash bag ties and letting the roots dangle in the water. Well the turtles didn't bother the plant's leaves but they've completely trimmed the roots that were in the water.
Sooo...I'm thinking I could hot glue some more eggcrate material to the pvc legs to form a protected area under the basking platform. Then the plant's roots could grow undisturbed in this protected "cage within a cage". I was also thinking that now I could add some aquatic plants to the cage where they could grow unhindered, absorbing the nutrients from the turtle's waste (I always like to try to replicate natural ecosystems). Plus, it would provide a safe area for any fish in the tank, even giving them a place to breed (of course most of the fish may eventually get eaten, but at least the smart ones will have a better chance).
A cage like this could be constructed for any turtle enclosure by just glueing 6 eggcrate panels together, perhaps leaving one panel unglued for access and using plastic ties to keep it secure. You could even attach some fake plants or decoration to the eggcrate to hide it from view.
Just thought I'd share this with anyone who would also like to keep live plants and fish with their turtles.
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) inside the "cage" and some plastic plants glued to the outside to hide some of the plastic. I also picked up a crayfish at Petco for free 
and a dozen Rosy Red Minnows. It was hilarious watching the turtles trying to catch the minnows! I think they may have caught a couple, but the smart ones have hidden in the "cage".
