350 Gallon pond. 10 turtles, 3 koi, feeders.

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T

Tokay

Candiru
MFK Member
Apr 22, 2006
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Just picked up this 250 gallon rubber pond from really nice mfk member. Replaced my tiny pond, just got it half way setup before the rain came.

Right now it has 10 water turtles (red ear sliders I believe),3 small koi, and a bunch of feeders. All of these turtles are Refugees/orphans/homeless/ unwanted/rescued/veterans, none of them where bought. I believe there is 1 male and 9 females. The range in size at just a few inches to about 8-10" ones. I always put in a few feeders every time i buy some, some get eaten, some live with the turtles just fine. Added a few baby koi, planning to add hifin and maybe some other fish.

Next i plan to make a large structure out of pvc and canvas to make a platform to stack a large amount of rock and other materials for a basking spot/shallow area for all the turtles. Then add some plants to that structure, around the pond and maybe a few floating. Then once that is done ill design a large wet/dry filter to go with my pre filter and add a large pump. Since summer is coming i might not worry about temp/insulation.

It’s a great little pond setup, with potential. Thanks pseudodoras for the pond.






Only male in the pond.

Canopy for rain/roof run-off
 
Nice grow out....

Nice save w/the turtles by the way. A bigger filter and a bask site the they will be pretty happy.
 
That's cool you take in unwanted turtles. I do also. People buy them as cute little babies and after a couple of years they get tired of taking care of them.
Your pond has so much potential with those bulkhead fittings. Is the basking area going to be in the middle so no one can climb out?
 
Same story for all these turtles too, bought as a cute baby and unwanted once grown. Ive taken some pretty big ones out of a 10 gallon with 2 inches of water. Why do people keep turtles in a puddle of water? Dont they realize water turtles swim? haha

Next is a basking area in the middle of the pond to keep them from climbing out. Half shallow area so they can sleep there at night and the rest will be fully out of water. After that im giong to build a large filter, i guess shooting to add alot of bioballs/media for lots of bio filtration.

Was thinking about covering it with a net because in my area we have possums, storks, cayotes, squerrls, etc. But i think my 160lbs alaskan malmute will keep any unwanted creatures out of the pond. I more worried about him going in there.

Anyone recommend any nice plants or fish to add?
 
Probally don't want to use any really desireable fish, since the turtles will want to investigate them..... My painted loves to eat hornwort and anachris. I place a few lettuce from my pond in his tank also. He doesn't eat them but he likes to shread them up. I can be a little messy, but he likes it, and a little net work isn't so bad as long as Bogey is happy.
 
get a nice piece of drift wood, so they can also bask together. If you keep them in too aquatic conditions, they can get shell fungus, they need periodic drying. other than that pond looks good.
 
Just a suggestion here, but if you own your home, how about digging a hole and sinking the tub halfway, then build a deck around it or around half and putting a ramp for the turtles to climb out. That way you keep swimming room to a maximum and you can provide a larger area for basking. You could use the bulkhead outlets for water in and out to a filter you could hide under the little deck. Easy cleaning.
 
Great information guys, thanks for the help.

Since the pond isn't going to be in this location forever, im going to continue to add stuff with view that it wil be just temp setup.

Going to build a pvc and canvans structure in the middle so they have a ramp to go up and rocks and stuff to bask on fully out of the water. Should be simple and not take as many rocks while still leaveing swimming space. I have a lot of rocks and gravel just not large ones to build a tall structure out of the water.
Next im going to build a temp wet/dry, prob just a big bin with media, lots of bio balls and whatever else i have laying around. Since i have the pre filter im too worried about the filter being complex or getting clogged. Ill prob just add as much bio material as possiblbe.

Questions:
1. My turtles and fish have been living outside in my old pond above ground for years just fine. With this larger pond and more living things being added, should i be worried about the temp? i dont run any heaters and never had problems before. I was thinking if i should try to bury it or surround it for better insulation. Not sure if any problems will arise.

2. Keeping the pond clean hasn't been a problem, it has been more of keeping the water clear. Any tips? I know filtration, current, large wet/dry, etc. Im sure i can prevent algae from growing, just would like water as clear as possible with running a UV.

3. Going to use a big bin with egg crate to build a wet/dry. Going to use bio balls and pot scrubbies as bio media. Anyone recommend a cheap bio media material? pot scrubbies are 1.50 for a 6 pack, and sometimes ill buy used bio balls at the lfs for cheap. Looking for something that is cheap and temp till i can acculate a ton of bio bballs (i need more for all my other setups as well) and build real filtration once its in its final location.



4. I know they sell some calcium stones to add to turtles tanks to help their shells or soemthing like that. Haven't done enough reasearch on water turtle care on a large scale. Should i be worried about adding any checmicals or stones or something that they need natural to survive well?

thank you everyone for your help.
 
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