Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Right now I'm using 1/2-1" river rocks in my turtle tank, and a Fluval 1 and a Duetto 50. Sherman and Abrahms are still hatchlings in a 20 gallon, soon to be upgraded to a 55 when they grow up a bit.
Now for the question. Do you guys think an undergravel filter would benefit them or would it be more trouble? Also, I've got them on minnows, rosies, crix, mealworms, chicken and beef heart...along with the standard pellets that abrahms eats... Any more suggestions for food? I know this is alot, but my wife (Married today) was asking them...she's been doing some research on getting her own ally snapper.

congratulations on getting married...what they hell are you doing writing about turtles on your wedding day?!
well whatever works.
i use UGF on many tanks but most people think they are useless.
if you do get one consider two things.

one:
the substrate you use makes all the difference in the world
you can't really get one to work if you use soil or giant stones.
you need an intermediate gravel size or sand. these may not be appropriate for your turtles as there is always the risk they will consume some and get impacted.
to get around this i use VERY fine sand and basicaly hope for the best.

two:
use powerheads on REVERSE flow (so the water get pushed underthe plates and bubles up from them,,,,,not sucked through the plates and out into some cheesy filtration sponge on the end.
The reverse flow way works a thousand times better.
but if you do use sand cover the intakes to your filters with panty hose or tiny mesh bags, as sand in the impellers will ruin the filters.
i also think that if you use an UGF you wil want to do so in conjunction with other filters.
i think snappers would probbaly prefer a soft substrate thoughg (like a sandy soil) so you might be able to do it.

I saw the proquatics 90 and another one at Petsmart and they can be hooked up to a UGF easily, but I didnt look far enough to see if they have reverse mode. Now if I put gravel down on top of the UGF then I put the riverstones...I think that would work. Any more hints?? Oh, also... I've tried various fruits and veggies with my kids...only one will try them, but he seems to be pure carnivore (like his dad...) and the other won't try them, but he eats the pellets....
One more thing...(Jackie Chan, anyone?) How soon should I move them into a 55? They are both around 3" or less....