General Care Discussion :: bottom empty

[drpepper177]

couple weeks ago i cleaned out the tank and took out all the small pebbles. to make it easy i left the bottom empty. so i put both of my turtles back and bowser (male) did fine but koopa (female) paniced and almost drowned i think, she made huge bubbles and sank to the bottom. what is the probelem? i put river rocks on the bottom she is ok now.

[Bumby's Mom]

My babies used to do that when they wanted to go onto the bottom of the tank. I haven't seen them do that in a while though.

[drpepper177]

but its a real shallow tank 30 gal. i think

[industrial_girl_2000]

Don't worry about a bare bottom tank. My Sheba's tank has never had a bunch of rocks on the bottom of the tank & she's fine with it. It's also easier to keep clean when you have a BIG turtle like mine. Sometimes when she poops, the poop is the same size as a small dog's poop (!). That's pretty big & it can get the water very messy if the poop falls in between rocks in the tank. Sheba's health is my primary concern so I don't put a bunch of rocks in there for that reason.

[AnonymousJello]

Yeah, I've noticed at work, it's much easier to keep the tank clean sans gravel.