Habitat - Indoor :: Water temp..

[chrisinva]

Are water warmers imperative?? I am a real newb and I have fears I am not prepared...

[Daniel3507]

water temp is important especially for a hatchling. too warm causes excess growth and shedding and too cold of water can eventually kill them. do you have a thermometer for your water?

[chrisinva]

I just went out and got a Tetra water warmer and on the side of tank stick on thermometer because the water was almost chilly to my hands...I hope this helps....I don't have a real Pet store close by and have to rely on WalMart...I really want to be a responsible new owner

[Daniel3507]

what kind of set up do you have?

[BullDog]

Even at the optimal temp for hatchlings, the water will still feel cool to you. Optimal temp for a hatchling is about 78 F. It is important you monitor the water temp. Stick ons are a good quick reference, but sometimes are too accurate. You'll want to look into either a digital thermometer (starting at $5) or even better, an infrared thermometer (starting at $25).

[chrisinva]

what kind of set up do you have?

I have a 10 gallon tank (for now) with a rock basking area with heat lamp..Small tank filter system....I have the small tank heater in the water...The stick on thermo reads 80 F....I have the tank in an inclosed sunroom that gets plenty of sunlight during the day....As of now thats all the UVA they get...Is that enough sun for themtoremain healthy??

[sm02]

I know you know the tank is way too small. If you're having trouble affording something bigger, go buy one of those pond inserts you get at a garden center. I know I sound like a broken record, but I truely believe this is the best option to give your turt a lot of room for just a little bit of money if you happen to be pressed for cash.

Now about the lighting. The windows won't be enough because the sun is filtered by the glass. On top of that, the turtle needs to have the option to bask in direct UV light all day. The basking area needs to be about 10 degrees warmer than the water, and without a lamp directly over the basking spot, he won't get as warm and dry as he needs.

But it's not all that expensive to do it right, honestly. I wish you the best of luck Everyone here is willing to give great advice if you need

[Daniel3507]

be sure and read over the main site a few times. its a big help

[untsmurf]

Keeping the tank in direct sunlight like that will make the tanks temperature change drastically throughout the day which can be deadly for your turtle. It will also result in an excess of algae growth.

If you have a rock basking area, that means that your tank isn't filled too much. If you buy a basking dock, you can get rid of the rocks and fill the tank up more. The rocks take up swim space and can trap a lot of waste which will drive up your nitrite/nitrate levels. That is also deadly for your little guy.

You need to stabalize the temps in your water. To do that, you need to get it out of the sun room and put a water heater in it. That will keep the water temps up when it gets chilly (which it is about to do).

[Daniel3507]

i cant wait till it gets cold out. im really more of a frozen tundra person rather than a tropical person

[JimmyJam]

I was about to make a new thread but I don't like to spam with a bunch of threads so here goes...

My new idea is this heater I've never seen before, I like it because as you can see from the pictures it connects to the output line from your canister filter and doesn't require "X" amount of watts since it just heats the water as it goes through the line. What do you think?

HYDOR INLINE HEATER
http://www.turtlesale [not reputable].com/home/index.php?page=heaters

[JimmyJam]

Anyone check the heaters out or what? I'm interested to know how they do, and for the record I'd be using it on a XP3.

[Daniel3507]

alot of people here including myself use a visi-therm stealth heater they are alot cheaper and do a great job. i dont know anyone who has used one of those.

and for the record that site is one of the worst to buy from. the condition they keep turtles in is terrible so nobody here likes to support them which is why the name is always removed

[untsmurf]

Daniel is right on both points. I have to stealth heaters and that site is horrendous.

[JimmyJam]

I know it's not a good site, I'm just curious about the Hydor heaters. I want to know if they work well with a XP3