Sand bottom for RES

[TheKrow]

Hello all,
My fiance's friend got some turtles, and after seeing them she had to have some. So here we are a few months later, tank is all set up, but I have a gravel floor for him, and I've seen quite a few times where a sand base is recommended. I was wondering how I would best go about getting some. Its not the bags of live sand I see at Petco I assume, also, wouldn't that clog my filter, and is it a pain to use a syphon to do partial water changes with a sand bottom? As a new turtle keeper I appreciate any input I could recieve. Thanks!

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I would advise not using sand as a substarte. It's a pain to keep clean and traps a lot of the waste. You'll find it's much easier to keep a turtle tank clean when you have a bare bottom. If you don't like that idea you could always line the bottom of the tank with ceramic tiles.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

River rocks are also a great substrate...

 

[Miguel4u2]

Go with playsand. You can get it at lowes or homedepot for less than $8 for a 55 pound bag. I got a bag for only $4. Here are some pics of my setup, they were taken with a cell phone so sorry.

 

[TheKrow]

Miguel, how is the maitenance on your sand bottom? I like the idea of Ceramic tiles actually, it sounds different. Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

[Mike D]

you could do sand you woulld just have to maintain it like you would in a fish tank. you just have to clean it more and i like to stir up the sand every week or so to release and gases that get trapped in there. you can use a regular syphon cleaner as well. you just have to be carefull because the sand will get sucked up faster than gravel.

just buy playsand from homedepot or lowes. you also have to make sure you clean the sand really well. i like to get a tall bucket and have it on and angle. put a little sand in the bottom, maybe 8 inches deep in the bottom, stick a hose in the bucket and start to fill it up. keep stiring the sand around until the water coming out of the bucket is clear, it can take a while. and then start all over again. the longer you take to prep it the better off you will be in the long run

 

[TheKrow]

Sounds rough, I went to the Rio Grande, i live a stone's throw from it, and gathered some black river rock. Tank looks awesome! Thank you for all your input guys.