Well worth the money? fly river turtle

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
As a non-FRT owner (only dreamer), I'd buy him and be stoked to own him. It looks healthy, the shell isn't as nice as others I've seen, but it's cute as hell. Love the 'goatee' he's rocking! It's rare to have the opportunity to own one, let alone at a reasonable price...if you can provide a good environment for it, it's a no brainer.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Nice little male. His carapace is more skin than chiton. Once you get him in a proper brackish environment he may well slough off the wrinkled skin layer and present a smoother carapace.

All of mine were shipped to the lfs in moist burlap sacks. Once I placed them in my tanks they all shed their entire outer shell layer.
 
Oddball said:
Nice little male. His carapace is more skin than chiton. Once you get him in a proper brackish environment he may well slough off the wrinkled skin layer and present a smoother carapace.

All of mine were shipped to the lfs in moist burlap sacks. Once I placed them in my tanks they all shed their entire outer shell layer.
Click to expand...

the owner states it's a female. oh well. Can't doubt the expert. ;)

How do I make a proper brackish environment? What kind of salt? etc.

So you're saying that FRTs shed the outer shell layer? does it come regularly? How often?
 
The first time my FRTs sloughed (it's not a growth shedding) I freaked. I thought the turt had broken his carapace. I researched the event and found it wasn't unusual for FRTs to lose an outer layer of carapace if it'd damaged by disease or drying. My big male sloughed only twice that I remember. The second time was likely due to rooting damage from hair algae growth. That's only twice (for mine) in 13 years.

BTW, you can verify the sex yourself. Here's some help:

sexingFRTs.jpg

sexingFRTs.jpg
 
Oddball said:
The first time my FRTs sloughed (it's not a growth shedding) I freaked. I thought the turt had broken his carapace. I researched the event and found it wasn't unusual for FRTs to lose an outer layer of carapace if it'd damaged by disease or drying. My big male sloughed only twice that I remember. The second time was likely due to rooting damage from hair algae growth. That's only twice (for mine) in 13 years.

BTW, you can verify the sex yourself. Here's some help:

View attachment 956018
Click to expand...

sir, any advice and tutorials on creating a suitable brackish tank?

What does the shell sloughing look like?
 
FRT light brack tank is pretty straight-forward. Substrate is a mix of crushed coral sand, tumbled coral trash gravel, and aragonite rice gravel. Filtration is wet/dry with double wide coarse sponges at the overflow (saves a huge mess from the filter). FRTs are a riverine species so, a strong outlet flow won't harm them. Just ensure you provide several current flow breaks to allow the FRT places to rest and sleep. Salinity (here, opinions vary) in my FRT tanks is maintained at 1.007 - 1.010. The species ranges from near full marine to full fresh alkaline conditions. Light brack offers less problems from fungal infections. Temp: ~ 84F. Below 84F they're sluggish and prone to fungal infections. Above 84F makes maintaining a healthy filled-out appearance difficult (less reserve fat layer).

The slough looks like someone peeled after a sunburn. The surface shell layer literally blisters up then, shears away from the carapace in about a day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom