QUICK HELP: What UVB bulb combo for my baby common snapping turtle?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
reptech;2420279; said:
light wont help with green water lol
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But if the lights cause better hornwart growth, that will help with green water, which I think is what he was hinting at, but either way, more light is kind of a double edged sword in this case.

Is there anyway you can block the light from the window? That should help with the green water
 
Ok ok ok lol to try to answer it all. Green water syndrome im talking about is free floating algae. Yes it is by a window and that is what is causing it. When I first had set it up I had hornwart with a light on the tank and it was able to prevent the green water. Now with the 20gal I need a new screen cover and a little better light. A good healthy fast growing plant (like hornwart) will use the nutrients faster than algae thus hindering it from growing. I had taken the hornwart out becasue it was cloging the internial dueto 100 filter I had in there. Once I did that there was nothing to use the nutrients so the water got to be green. So I now have a better filter that wont clog like the other so I put the hornwart back in. With light that is good for plants it will help the hornwat thrive and choke out the free floating algae that causes the green water. I will still get algae on the glass and the turtles shell but the water should be clear and the rest of the algae should grow much slower and thats my goal. I am just trying to avoid having to put a expensive UV filter on the tank and I really dont have room for it because its on top my file cabinet...and I think I can do it the natural way. Yes I could block the back of the tank from the sinlight to help a lot...but I like to have the sun light shine through for the ripple effect. I only get some direct light in the mornings and it looks real cool. And no the sunlight does not heat the tank water up.

Here is how its set up now...the water is a lil cloudy becasue its going through a mini cycle with the new filter. I did take the sponge from the old filter and shove it in there to help seed it all. The canister has some modified stuff in it for what I need. I used 2 corse xp3 sponges that I cut round....then 2 layers of the finer xp3 sponge...then a bag of chemi pure eliete (that filters phosphates another algae causing byproduct)....2 bags of bio material that goes in a aquaclear 110, and some fiber floss.

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Can you have too much UVB? I got a dual bulb strip but they only had one of the 2.0 bulbs. Now I am thinking I would like to get one of the others to add a little UVB just in case. The 5.0 only makes it 12 or so inches down and the 10.0 makes it 20" down and the tank is 16" with 8" of water. So I would like the 10.0 so I know its making it through the water to the bottom since he doesnt bask. But the bulb is for desert species....but then it goes on to say screen covers block some of the UVB. So if I got a 10.0 could it be too much UVB???
 
I have had that for a long time and he never got out once. That wood thats in there used to stand upright and come out of the water and I also had one of those floating things with the suction cups to keep it next to the glass. Never even thought about trying to get out. Cant they sometimes just not want to get out the water? From what I read only the juvs. get out and that's not all the time. I laid the wood down on its side when I moved him to the bigger tank (week now) but I might stand it back upright to give him a area but I dont think he is going to want to get out from what I have seen him do so far.
 
evilxyardxgnome;2424941; said:
Just cause you don't see him do it, doesn't mean he doesn't do it. He may not, I just wouldn't deny him access just because I thought he never used it.
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i agree and also if you put a background on your tank it will stop the light from your window but i would just move it to a interior wall windows and outside walls may have drafts witch will cause a unstable temp.
 
I can put a basking spot back in...but since he is in my office I see him all day every day when the lights are on....and he has never not once tried to get out. I don't want to put a background...I like the natural light when I open the blinds sometimes....its a window that doesn't open and is well insulated..there are no drafts there. I check the temp several times a day and it never changes....not even with the blinds open and some sun coming in.
 
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