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okay, i have been researching the posts and have decided maybe sand will work much better than river rocks that i have been using.

before i decied to change the setup, i just have one question. if the turtles swallow graval, wont they also swallow sand? and if they swallow sand, wont it affect their health?

for now i am going to take out most of the river rocks and see how that changes the dynamics of the aquarium and then decide if i need to further the change and replace the rocks completely to sand.

You could also take into consideration not having a substrate. My tank, and several others on here, is bare-bottomed. It's much easier to clean, plus it gives more swimming space to your turts.

the grains of sand are very very fine, if anything they will just pass through without problem.

i think the one problem with have sand is find the correct filtration, but after that its pretty practical ive heard.


bare bottom is just as well too, probably the best to maintain but the least visual

With sand, if your turtle eats it, the grains are so small that they pass easily.

Gravel is bad because once they get big enough, the turtles will eat the gravel. One of the dangers is that it will get impacted (stuck) inside their bodies, causing several potential problems and even death. With sand, provided it has been properly cleaned or is a known safe aquarium sand, it will not harm the turtles by getting stuck and should just pass through their digestive system without any ill effects.

Just make sure you have a good scoop or net to clean the sand with, or are prepared to use a Python to vacuum the sand to keep it looking clean.

We have decided to go with river rocks rather than sand for Spike's new tank, partly because we prefer the look, but also because budget is an issue and I wanted to put what we had into a good aquarium, heater, & filters rather than the substrate. We bought a large bag of river rocks (labeled as gravel) from Lowes for $6. I already had a Python that was used for a previous 55 gallon fish tank and am confident that I can use that, along with a pleco, to keep the bottom clean as necessary.

i went with smaller river rocks because i wanted to give the turtles the enviornment that was closest to their natural surrounding. one major problem that has occured so far is that the temp of the the water is lot higher than it should be. i didnt even know that river rocks retained a lot of heat until i saw raphulk's reply in one of the thread. everyday, i have been using ice to lower the water temp but its becoming way too difficult and im at work most of the day so its not ideal. if i could lower the temp by 6degrees by removing most of the river rocks would be the most ideal thing i can do for the turtles. i then wanted to maybe use sand cuz once again, i wanted to create more of a natural surrounding for my turtle but i am now leaning more towards bare bottom with several rocks at the most.

thanx all for your imput.

I can understand that the rocks can retain heat, but they can not generate heat, unless there is some kind of chemical reaction taking place which may impact your water quality in other ways (pH, hardness). If the rocks are retaining heat then the result should just be that your heater has to work less often to maintain a constant temperature. I am actually counting on the moderating effects of the rocks to keep a more constant temp throughout the tank and to reduce the time that the heater needs to be on (thus some cost savings, even if they are minimal).

Is the ambient temperature in your home (where the turtle tank is located) higher than what a typical tank temperature would be (~80deg) ?

Is it possible that the rocks are keeping the water warmer where you are measuring the temp and that without the rocks, the water would be cooler because your heater isn't as effective in that part of the tank?

If you do decide to go with a bare bottom tank, I got this idea from another member on this site. We've always liked having fake plants in Mikey's tank, for play and for our visual appeal, but with a bare bottom tank, we didn't have anything to anchor it. But another user came up with this great idea, and we've been using it ever since. You get small tupperware tubs, drill (or carefully cut) holes in the bottom, then place river rocks and the fake plants inside. It's super easy to clean. We love it!

They could be absorbing the heat from the basking bulbs and retaining it.

What size is your tank?

my tank is in my room and its near the window but there is no direct sunlight that hits the aquarium. keep in mind that i also dont have much air flow in my room so my room gets pretty hot. as soon as i started up the aquarium, i noticed that that the water temp was hitting up to 84-86 degrees so i completely turned off the heater. i dont use a heater anymore and the water temp still is around 80-82 degrees, leaning more towards 80. i posted in the other thread that ive checked my water and ph, nitrite, nitrate and alk all came out fine. i also have 3 thermomoter, 1 on one side of the tank, 2nd one on the exact opposite side of the tank and one in the basking area. keep in mind that my tank is only 10 gallons and i am in a process of changing it up. 2 baby turtles were given to me as a surprise and i scrambled to set up a home for them without checking out this site. now im paying out of my [---] to fix all the mistakes that ive made but i couldnt be happier doing it for them.

untsmurf wrote:If you do decide to go with a bare bottom tank, I got this idea from another member on this site. We've always liked having fake plants in Mikey's tank, for play and for our visual appeal, but with a bare bottom tank, we didn't have anything to anchor it. But another user came up with this great idea, and we've been using it ever since. You get small tupperware tubs, drill (or carefully cut) holes in the bottom, then place river rocks and the fake plants inside. It's super easy to clean. We love it!

Still make sure those rocks are bigger than a half dollar. Grey Goose had this set up and his turt still swallowed three or four very large rocks - at least the size of nickel if not larger. If some of you new folks havent read that story, you have got to look it up. Search on grey goose as author and rocks.

I would say that the heat is coming from your room not having air flow, and being near the window. Unfortunately, that's one of the problems you can have with such a small tank, the temps fluctuate very easily. You might try spending $20 on a box fan or something to cool your room down. If your room can stay cooler, your tank will be cooler.

blind44 wrote: i also have 3 thermomoter, 1 on one side of the tank, 2nd one on the exact opposite side of the tank and one in the basking area.

What kind of thermometers are you using?

mat012 wrote:

blind44 wrote: i also have 3 thermomoter, 1 on one side of the tank, 2nd one on the exact opposite side of the tank and one in the basking area.

What kind of thermometers are you using?

i am using a combination of one of those sticky termomoter and the glass one with little balls and red ink looking thing. should i invest in digital termomoter?