My Turtles Tank
My son Kevin had been after me for a long time to set up a turtle tank. "Nah," I kept telling him. "They're not very interesting. Just one more thing to take care of."
Well anyway he shows up one day with this 45g tank with a small pump and external filter someone had given him. "Okay," I thought, "Might just as well set it up. It will fit on a little unused desk in the corner of my office. Easier than him pestering {not really} me."
Filter - I didn't have much faith in that tiny filter AND I had some egg crate (a flourescent light diffuser) ($10 at Lowes) and some 1/4" plastic mesh laying around (You could use window screening, but get the widest mesh possible. Also get the heaviest grade possible. Not metal though.) and made an air driven undergravel filter for it. Pretty simple to do, really. Just cut the egg crate (easiest done using snub nosed wire cutters) to the shape of the tank bottom less 2" (example - if the tank is 18" wide and 36" long, cut it 16" by 34"). Fasten the mesh to the egg crate using plastic ties.
Then take a length of 1" pvc pipe and cut two pieces about 2/3" of the height of the tank ("risers"). (Note it pays to invest in a pvc pipe cutter - about $15 - It beats the socks off trying to cut it with a saw.)
Next cut two pieces ("bps") between 1/2 and 3/4 the width (back to front) of the tank. Join each riser to a bp using an elbow. At the other end of the bp fasten a tee. (Note no glue is necessary, just force the bp parts together tightly. The riser pipes should be snug but not forced. They may have to be removed later to be lowered - cut shorter) .) The tee and the elbow on the bps must be at right angles to each other. The tee is to hold the riser upright. Don't worry if you don't understand. It will become obvious why in a few minutes.
(Note if your tank is longer than 24" then add more risers, say 1 for each 12" of tank length. You probably won't need them but it's nothing to add extra now. Not possible later on without breaking the whole tank down.)
Next cut 3 lengths of pipe, 1 long enough to span the front of the tank and 1 to span each side of the tank (I needed 4 because of the shape of my tank).
Next cut several short pieces of pipe. (say 1-6" - any length is good, just not longer) (You may not need these but if you got the pipe ....)
Now lay the 3 pieces around the front and side edges of the tank about 1" or so from the sides and the riser pieces against the back (they can be anywhere along the back - centered, or one on each end, or spaced apart, or next to each other, or ... ). Make sure the risers are coming straight up (90 degrees from the bottom). Now lay out the short pieces in the empty spaces between the pipes. (The pipes are going to support the egg crate off the bottom with the weight of the gravel on top so space accordingly. Just place them so water will flow to all the tees on the bps.) Place the pipe spanning the front of the tank back a couple inches.
Now lay the the egg crate (mesh on top) on top of the pipes against the back up against the risers (you could even cut notches in the egg crate so it's up flush against the back of the tank.) so it's an inch (or more) from the front and sides. Okay, the hardest part is done. Fill the tank 1/2 - 3/4 full of tap water.
Got to (Home Depot, Lowes, ...) and get 1 or 2 bags of 1/4" - 3/8" grit gravel ($5 each). You need enough to have about 2" deep. Color isn't important nor is type really, just so it's inert, so get something you like. Dump the gravel on top of the egg crate and stir it around a little with your hand to wash the dust loose. Use enough gravel to get about 2" deep all around. Dig a hole in the gravel in the front of the tank down to the tank bottom. Now take a garden hose and siphon the dirty dusty water out of the tank as low as you can (from where you scraped the hole.) Level out the gravel and refill the tank to say 3" or 4" from the top. Don't fill it all the way as the turtles may be able to climb out.
The top of the risers should/must be below water level. A couple inches below is fine. If they aren't then you will have to scrape the gravel (well) away from the bottom where they join the bps at the elbows, remove them and trim off enough so they are below water level and put them back snugly, leveling out the gravel again.
Air pump - Almost any aquarium pump that has two outlets will do the job.(mine has only one and it works fine. Just an old one I had laying around.) Petco has a 2 outletter (house brand) complete with 2 air lines, air stones and check valves for about $15. Can't beat the price and convenience.
Just hook up and plug in. (Note if the air pump is above the water level - and it should be - the check valves are not necessary.) That's it. Filter done.
Lighting - I got a 24" two bulb flourescent fixture and 2 17 watt grow light bulbs (maybe $30 total at Lowes) and just set it on top of the tank resting right on the bulbs. My tank is only 22" wide so there is a couple inches overhanging the front. Oh well ...
Be sure to get the grow lights. They are much brighter than the "regular" flourescents. Trust me, I've tried them all on my big tank (150g - was salt water for about 15 years then a couple years ago I changed it over to fresh water.).
Next you will need a "sunning" lamp for the turtles. I just used one of those clamp type work lights with a 100 watt bulb.
See how the fluorescent lights straddle the tank and the sun lamp is clamped on the far side. The air pump (a single outletter) is sitting on top of the fluorescent on a folded face cloth to absorb any vibration.
You will want a timer for the lights. That Pet Place has a variety ($30 or $40) that can consolidate all the plugs - two for the lights on timers and 2 full time on for the pump and heater. Then you'll only use up 1 wall outlet.
Turtle Landing - Turtles need a place to get out of the water and just "lay back and heat up". Kevin had an extra one so I didn't have to buy or make one. They are available at pet stores, etc. I think around $40. They fasten to the side of the tank with suction cups so they don't float around. Actually I use the clamp of the sunning lamp to hold mine in place right under the lamp.
Or you could probably make one out of wood. Cedar would be good. Just bevel one side/end so they can crawl up easier. Maybe rough it up a little for easier "footholds".
This is the lander with the sun light just over it.
Tank Heater - You probably don't need one just for the turtles but it's a good idea to have one, especially if you are going to have fish ( and you need fish {grin}). No need to go nuts and get an oversize. Any small decent aquarium heater ($10-$20?) will do. You already have the heat of the sun lamp going in. The turtles (and fish) will be more active if the water is warm. I keep my tank in the low to mid 70's.
Getting Everything Started - Let the tank run for a couple days to "age" a little and dissipate any chemicals that may be in the tap water.
Go to the pet store and buy some cheap fish. I got a couple dozen rosy red minnows (feeder fish) and put them in. They will get the biological filter started and after a week or so you are ready for turtles. Kevin gave me one of his red eared sliders to get started. Probably 4" long (shell length).
Then I got 2 baby red eared sliders from Turtle Sales. (I'm sure there are other places to buy turtles but I lucked on them and they seem fine.) Just beware, whatever the turtles cost, there is an additional $40 shipping for overnight delivery on top. Kinda took me aback to pay $20 for the turtles and twice that for shipping. {sigh}. The little cuties were probably just over 1" long and came with a container of "baby" food. Tiny little round pellet balls about the thickness of a pencil lead. And a couple pages of very good instructions on turtle care.
One died after about 3 weeks. Dunno why but it did so I got another pair a month or so later. And one of those died too. At any rate we now have three and they are great. The grandkids named them Mikeala, Twins and Uncle Kevin. (Don't ask why. They're little kids.) Actually when we just had 2, the younger turtle had grown pretty quickly (in a couple months) to almost the size of the the one Kevin had given me so it was a little diffcult to tell them apart. The younger one developed little yellow bars on his back and my granddaughter (8 yro) said it was "jewelry", so it became "Mikeala" and the other "Uncle Kevin". When we got the last two, they were named "Jack" and "Kiara" (after our 5 yro's). When one died, Mikeala said the other just became the "Twins" so neither of the little ones would feel left out. ( Pretty cool reasoning for an 8 yro, dontcha think?)
Food - We feed them high energy koi pellets ("Tetra Pond Koi Vibrance"), fish flakes ("TetraMin"), dried cat food ("Purina Cat Chow"), lettuce leaves, shredded cabbage, stredded carrots, Cheerios, ...
They bigger two eat the koi pellets and cat food right out of my hand. Not the little one though. They're really funny, lunging off the landing and flying over to the glass begging to get fed as soon as someone walks in the room. Big eaters too. Uncle Kevin once ate 12 koi pellets in a row. (I counted). They really love the fish flakes. I betcha I feed them a dozen times a day sometimes, they are still so much fun to watch.
Just Stuff - Just like starting a pond, patience is the most difficult thing here. It took a full two months, probably closer to 3, for the filter to finally develop enough biological capacity keep the tank clear. It would clear a little, then cloud up and I'd hook up the tiny external filter. It would clear a little for awhile and I'd take the tiny off ( it was kind of a pain to clean and restart.) Then it would cloud again so back with the tiny for a couple weeks. Then ...
All this time I'm thinking "Turtles are just inherently dirty animals to keep. Fun but dirty." But then after a couple three months the water cleared up and has stayed that way for several months now. Surprisingly clear really. (No tiny filter either, just the ug with one riser)
And what's really surprising is the water is not drawing through the gravel much either. I'd put a "planter" (square maybe 6" on a side) filled with sand to hold some plants I had growing in my big tank. The turtles started digging out the gravel from under the planter and I got concerned it might fall on one and trap it, so I set it on pieces of brick to hold it up high enough for the turtles to get under. As you can see the turtles have since excavated all the gravel from under the planter and the egg crate is exposed. (Oh and the buggers ate the plants too.)
It's actually kind of neat. The rosy reds like to hang out under the planter. Sometimes they are all under at once, maybe a dozen still left after 6 months. Once in awhile a turtle will be under too.
The white piece floating is a bird cuttlebone. I read on a turtle website somewhere that the turtles chew on them for calcium. I've never seen mine do it yet but that's the second one I've put in. The first just sort of vanished so I guess they ate it.
Mikeala in the foreground, Twins swimming just above the red fish. I've forgotten what kind of fish they are but there's 2 of them. They squabble with the turtles for the food and will eat from your hand as well. Uncle Kevin can be seen coming out from under a rock behind the magnetic glass cleaner (that's about $40 too). Some of the rosey reds can been seen near the bottom.
You can tell by the grumpy exterior that's Uncle Kevin just after chomping on a piece of lettuce. The strands you see floating are pieces of shredded cabbage which they clean up pretty quick. And Twins is on the right.
Close up of Mikeala - you can tell by the great bright cheery smile. The jewelery on her back is starting to fade now. I told the real Mikeala that maybe she needed to get some Turtle Wax to polish the jewelry, but I don't think she's buying that. I told you before she's pretty bright for only being 8.
Rocks - Caves Turtles like to have places to go hide. Use a couple of those large sandstone type rocks with holes in the center (sort of like donuts) you see in pet stores, Make sure they are sandstone (mine are) as it is porous and will add significantly to the overall biological filtering capacity of the tank.
Comments Received
- Pond - Turtles Tank,Excellent
Comments-,Good job Gosta.
Never thought about making a turtle tank, like you said I thought they were very dirty, but I guess with the proper filer system anything will stay clean. The fish that you had forgotten their names are "blood parrot fish". They are kind of expensive in my neck of the woods but I have two in a 55 gallon aquarium and they are indeed friendly fish. BTY when you get them very young they are rather inexpensive it's really kind of neat to watch them turn red, kids really like that.
Again very good job, but I'm afraid my wife would shoot me if I built one. I already have five 55 gallon aquariums in the living room plus the pond. I'll tell you the frogs are out in great numbers in my area and in the evening that's all one can hear. I like to turn the lights off and go inside for awhile if I have guest and then go outside with a flash light....frog eyes everywhere in the pond.
End Turtles Tank
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