Habitat - Indoor :: My setup help please

[joeybsmooth]

I this is my setup for right now , tell be if it is ok.



The light is right over the pot.

[Take-One]

Get rid of the blue gravel. There have been killed turtles becuse of that. Get something else. But other than that good.

[joeybsmooth]

You mean another colour rocks?

[Amg81083]

The colored rocks need to go, turtles can eat them and they can cause lots of problems. You'll hear this from probably everyone on this forum.

Questions: Is the flower pot the turtles basking spot? Can the turtles shell get completly dry??
Do you have a UVB bulb along with a regular bulb to heat the area? If you do that's great, I just can't see them in the photo.

[joeybsmooth]

The pot is the basking spot. I don't have an UV light yet and they can get dry up there. But i have not seen them go on it yet, its new. So I am trying to pick on them to see if they go.

I had know clue coloured rock were bad. Heck before yesterday I did not even know it was a community of turtle people on line.


white out coloured rocks what an i do to pretty up my tank?

[Nettle]

Actually the colored part doesn't matter. Gravel in general is a bad idea. Turtles will almost always eat it, which would lead to impaction and eventual death.

Here's a thread about gravel:
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12532

As for making the tank pretty, a good variety of fake plants and decorations can do the job fine. Not having gravel also helps with keeping the tank cleaner.

[SpotsMama]

Ditto on the gravel.

I can see from the photo that the top of that flower pot is wet. Turtles have to be able to dry off completely - top and bottom - every day or their shells will get infections.

Can you describe your filter and lighting setup?

[grey goose]

As a temporary setup it will do I suppose but that little turt is going to have a tough time getting on top of that pot. Get one of those basking ramps with the suction cups.
The heater (on the right, behind the pot?) looks like its too far above the waterline, and may not be working at all. The under-gravel filter is completely inadequate and should be upgraded as well, along with a larger tank eventually......
Many of us started out in the same situation. Some, like me, have had turts dropped on them (surprise!) and had to scramble around and try to piece together a setup as best they could. The main site has tons of information on setups and care.

[Chrisbarnett]

What is your water temp?

If that is the same 2-3" long heater I think it is... That heater is for betta bowls and small goldfish tanks up to 2 gallons. In no way is that going to get your tank water up to 76-78F where it needs to be to keep your turtles metabolism up.

Agree w/ Spotsmama, The top of the pot is wet. The turtle cannot get completely dry.