General Care Discussion :: Hello Everyone! Newbie in need of tips!

[fish21]

sorry forgot to mention to fill up the 10 gallon. till the water level is about 3.5 inches from the top.

fish

[NewTurtleMommy]

Well I noticed that one of the things that the previous owner gave me is "Turtle Clean" and it says that it helps odors on it. So, I put that in there too. Between the new filter, reptisafe and turtle clean? We shall see I guess!

[NewTurtleMommy]

sorry forgot to mention to fill up the 10 gallon. till the water level is about 3.5 inches from the top.

fish

yeah but then I cant use the floating rock thingamabob... LOL

[fish21]

why not? ( sorry i dont fallow you.)

[fish21]

i looked at the pics you can rais the water level a few inches before the turtle float hits the top of the brackit. i have the exact same thing and mine sits all the way to the top.

[NewTurtleMommy]

i looked at the pics you can rais the water level a few inches before the turtle float hits the top of the brackit. i have the exact same thing and mine sits all the way to the top.

Oh, ok, I didnt think that it would be as stable...

[industrial_girl_2000]

What a sweet little boy! Looks like a healthy eater too, based on how tall his shell is.

I agree that gravel is a pain to clean. It looks great initially then after a while it just makes the water cloudy, no matter how much you try to clean it.

To keep the water quality good (and minimize disease issues), feed him outside the tank (in a separate bowl of water). Just get one of those laundry pans for a coupla bucks, fill it half way with lukewarm water, & feed him. Leave him in there for 1/2 hour after feeding & hopefully he will poop too. This saves a lot of wear n tear on your aquarium!

Partial water changes (done every 3-4 weeks) helps the water quality stay good too.

Have fun! Turtles are great pets. Looks like this one will grow up with your son!

[steve]

With a smaller tank (10-20 gallons), I'd recommend more frequent partial changes every week. I always say skip the gravel/pebbles and any unnecessary chemicals. If 'turtle clean' is made to jump start beneficial bacteria growth and you have no gravel or a filter with bio media, then I'd skip it as well.

[marisa]

With a 10-gallon, I'd skip partial water changes and do a weekly change/cleaning--I really think in small tanks cleaning and changing the water is more important. I have a 20-gallon that I used to completely clean every two weeks and do a 50% water change one week after it's had the cleaning--but the turtle in it was quite small.

[Jessica313]

i used gravel in my turtles tank for over a year .. i never suspected he was eating it. until a few weeks ago .. he was begging me for food and i was staying strong not go feed him as he had already been fed. i noticed it looked like he was eating something that was in the gravel until i took a closer look and noticed it was the gravel he was eating. i immediately took out all the gravel and replaced it with some river rocks the next day. im telling ya, although my turtle loved to dig in the gravel, its not worth his health to keep it in there, and aldo it keeps the water MUCH cleaner without it

[missibsu]

Keep a close eye on your tank, he might still pass some of the rocks that he ate. If you don't remove them, he could just eat them again.

[Jessica313]

ok thanks missibsu. ill be on the lookout for gravel reappearing !! i didnt think of that!