New turtle setup

[number17Fan]

My 7 year old daughter wants to buy (and take care of) a turtle. I have a 55 malawi tank and she is bored with fish. I fully expect to do most of the care taking, but I'm glad she is excited about it so I think I will set one up.

I have a lot of left over aquarium parts and tanks from my mbuna hobby, so I think I can do this with almost no new equipment.

I like the setup of this tank...



from Turtle_hafner. I like the high water level. So can use an over sized hang over filter.

Any concerns about substrate? Should I use sand? big rocks? or can I use aquarium gravel. I read a post that said they will eat the gravel?

As for lighting, is a normal flouresent bulb ok, or do I need something more high intensity? What if I put the tank next to a window that gets a lot of sun?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

 

[coura]

Dude take that turtle out of there NOW! There are 3 main thinks that can kill your turtle in a very short term period of time
1-that water level is to high for a tutle that size, it can easily drown.
2-the turtle can easily get stuck bethween thouse rocks and drown or the rocks can fall and crush him(remenbar that turtles need air to breed)
3-that crayfish can easily kill your baby turtle. Lets start by this and then well see

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

Dude take that turtle out of there NOW! There are 3 main thinks that can kill your turtle in a very short term period of time
1-that water level is to high for a tutle that size, it can easily drown.
2-the turtle can easily get stuck bethween thouse rocks and drown or the rocks can fall and crush him(remenbar that turtles need air to breed)
3-that crayfish can easily kill your baby turtle. Lets start by this and then well see

Thats not his tank...Did you even read his post? He said he likes the look of that tank. And wanted to know if its ok he did something like that. Maybe you should read before jumping down his throat.

 

[coura]

Thats not his tank...Did you even read his post? He said he likes the look of that tank. And wanted to know if its ok he did something like that. Maybe you should read before jumping down his throat.

Or maybe Mr evilxyardxgnome needs glasses! Look to the top of that rock pile!

 

[number17Fan]

Hi guys, no worries, not my tank, but should check with turtle_hafner and see how he made out. That pic is from May 08.

So lessons learned, no crayfish, watch the water depth and rock piles.

Can I use bricks/pavers to build a land mass? this should eliminate the rock stack, crush/drown concern.

 

[coura]

You need preferably a longer and wider tank but that tank will also work. Remove the rocks, the substrate,the fish and the crayfish. Lower the water level to about 7 cm. As for basking platform you can use only one of those rocks ,a log or a peace of cork. Make shure nothing can fall or injure your turt. Get also some natural or plastic plants that turtles like as resting platforms. Your turt seems to be very young and so its bether to keep the tank barebothom so you can clean it more easily.Make very regular water changes. No sand. You need also to get a proper UV ligth(its not about the intensity its about the ligth itself). A 5.0 ligth from zoomed would be great. Make shure that is no plastic or glass bethween the turt and the ligth. What are you planing to feed her and what is your tutle species?

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

Or maybe Mr evilxyardxgnome needs glasses! Look to the top of that rock pile!

I see the turtle...but still not HIS tank. its turtle_hefner's.

 

[coura]

Hi guys, no worries, not my tank, but should check with turtle_hafner and see how he made out. That pic is from May 08.

So lessons learned, no crayfish, watch the water depth and rock piles.

Can I use bricks/pavers to build a land mass? this should eliminate the rock stack, crush/drown concern.

But dont forget that bicks can be very hard and harsh and that can injure the soft shell of a baby turtle. Beleve me wood and cork is the way to go. Also some brands have basking platforms. They seem very good but never tryed them Oh and sorry both of you guys I should have readed with more atencionwned:I gess I kind of freaked out when I saw that baby turt on top of thouse rocks

 

[evilxyardxgnome]

Also you should probably think of going with a smaller species like a musk turtle since it sounds like you will be keeping it in a 55?

 

[CTU2fan]

A couple of things...

If it's to be a baby turtle then yes, you want the water somewhat shallow so the turtle can reach the surface easily. As it grows and gets stronger you can go with deeper water but even then it's a good idea to have some underwater structure like a piece of driftwood for the turtle to rest on and be able to breathe without swimming (this is in addition to its basking area). As for lights coura is correct re: the Zoomed lights, they're good, but you'll also want an incandescent light fixture to warm the rock/log/turtle raft that you use for basking, either a normal bulb in a dome fixture or a spot bulb. The wattage on that doesn't need to be incredibly high, you want to have the temp on the basking rock to be pretty hot (in the 90s) but not blistering hot of course. Really a lot is going to depend on what kind of turtle you decide to keep, I would avoid the common pet shop red ear sliders as they get pretty large, but if you want a basking type rather than the mud/musk turts that we usually think of when discussing small species a map or painted turtle could be a good choice. They don't get really large and are nice looking turtles.