Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two 1.5 inch RES in a ten gallon tank. Thinking about what I will need in the future and having read that there is no such thing as too much filtration, I purchased an Aquaclear 300. I am using a piece of plexi-glass to quiet the water fall, but the water seems pretty turbulent. I have it on the low setting which filters 100 gallons per hour and there is probably about 7 gallons of water in the tank. They seem to be playing in it, but it looks like a lot of work. Should I turn it off at night so they can rest? One side of the tank has less activity than the other, but I still don't think the water is calm. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I also use an Aquaclear 300, but in a 20G long aquarium. I hang a CD jewel case lid which dips one inch into water to quiet the waterfall. This way at any setting the water only shows activity directly under the waterfall and the rest of the tank and also the surface are quite calm. When my turtles (I also have two!) swim across the current, they do drop down to the bottom of the tank, but that doesn't seem to bother them. They just keep swimming until they break free of the current. I think it's good exercise for them. If I were you I would keep the filter and maybe upgrade to a 20G long tank in the near future. If you upgrade to something bigger than 20G, then Aquclear 300 may not cut it. Hope this helps.

Personally i think aquaclears are underrated, i have two 300's on a 100 gal, water is crystal clear. One on a 40 gal, water is crystal clear, and one on a 20 long, same situation. Just make sure you change the charcoal monthly and do a weekly water change.

I plan to upgrade the tank at some point which is why I got the 300. Do you ever replace the sponge or do you just rinse it out. And how much water do you change weekly? Dumping the whole thing is bad, right? Thanks for your input, this forum is so helpful to people like me who picked up two cute turtles on whim at a beach shop. If you include what I will spend on these turtles that will go down as a pretty expensive vacation.

I rinse out my sponge but it doesnt hurt to buy a new one every few months anyways....thats what i do and i get good results. I do about a 1/3rd water change because i have fish and dont want to eliminate all of the beneficial bacteria, but with your turtles it really doesnt matter.

I know how people say you should change the sponge and carbon inserts monthly, but I do it differently and seems to get good results. I use 2 sponge inserts with the carbon insert in between. I clean the filter once a week and do a complete water change every 5 weeks. The water is very clear even at the end of 5 weeks. But my algae would get out of hand so I am always motivated to clean the tank around that time. I change the inserts (not all at once) every 3 months or so. I feed my turtles in the tank sometimes (e.g. veggie meals) and net out their poop every day. Hope this helps.