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Is it ok to have a rockless bottom? You know, just the aquarium bottom with nothing on it. Would the tank be much easier to clean and would it stay cleaner? Please list pros and cons of this.

Oh yeah, is it common for a turtle to snack on a turd every now and then?...lol... seriously, my turtle eats one ever now and then. YUK!

Yes, I have a rockless bottom, you can see when it gets dirty, no poo gets trapped in the rocks, there is no danger of the turtles accidentally eating one, or getting hurt on one. I can't think of any cons except you may not think it is as pretty. I have 3 large (larger than my turtles) river rocks in the bottom, and other than that it's bare.

Yes, it's very common, and totally normal

A bare bottom tank is much easier to clean and there's no chance of the turtle eating gravel or rocks. The only downside is that some people don't like the look but if you add some decorations and plastic plants I think it looks good.

And yes turtles do eat their poop sometimes. I guess they're just trying to get the most out of their meals.

I second what everyone has said. Rockless is the way to go.

If you think that's gross... most rodents as well as rabbits have to eat their poop. It's called cecotrophy, and they produce two different kinds of poo. One is the hard dark raisins you usually see, the other is lighter, almost white and very soft, and they must eat it to get some nutrients that are produced by fermentation in their intestines. You never see these types of poo in cages because they eat them automatically, I've seen my rat bent over eating them as they come out. If that's not the most disgusting thing you've ever heard... ughh
Anyways, if you don't believe me, here's a site on it: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... cleid=2932

Wow, I think that's fascinating! It's disgusting too, but fascinating none-the-less. I know that in my saltwater reef tank (and in the ocean's reefs too) there are smaller animals that feed on the fish feces in order to extract whatever undigested nutrients that may have passed through the fish. And then there are even smaller animals that feed on their waste. Then there is the bacteria and some algae that grow on the sand that feed off of their waste and finally the sea cucumber who crawls around the sand bottom at night eating the sand like a vacuum cleaner, digesting the algae and bacteria and leftover waste, and pooping out clean sand in the end. It's a complete cycle!

Wow, you probably barely need to clean the tank.. sounds like a good system.

Yup, I rarely have to feed it or clean it or do water changes. I only feed the larger predators (snowflake eel and angler frogfish) which each have their own separate tanks but they are all tied together using the same filtration/sump system in the basement. I use Metal Halide lighting in the main display tank and full spectrum lights in the other tanks so there is always algae growing and feeding off the fish waste. Then there are tiny crustaceans and worms that feed on the algae and fish waste. And the fish feed on the algae and crustaceans and worms. The corals also utilize the nutrients in the water from the fish waste too so it's almost a completely closed system.

The biggest maintenance task is cleaning the algae off the glass a couple of times a week, and cleaning out the protein skimmer filter (which is a bubble foam producing tube that removes excess organic matter from the water and prevents the algae from getting out of control) once or twice a month. I do a 30gal water change maybe once or twice a year and that's it. It's taken years to get the system to where it is now, but several corals regularly produce offspring which I take to the pet store for trade.

I want to see PICS!!!!

haha of the poo eating? or David's awesome sounding reef tank?? (I want to see pics too...)

Sounds gross but very cool. I think I am going to get rid of my river rocks. Thanks!

You can keep a few for your turtle to push around. They like doing that.

Yea I'll post pics of my reef system soon. I really need to scrape the coraline algae off the front glass first though. It's a nice pink encrusting algae that looks great on the rocks but it's calcium based and really hard to scrape off the glass (it's actually acrylic so even harder to clean without scratching). But I do have some pics I can put up in the photo gallery.

Bare bottom is definitely the easiest/cleanest way to go.

It is normal for them to eat their own poo (unfortunately, LOL!).

If it's any consolation, sometimes they outgrow the poo eating phase.