Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm one of the many people who is being plagued by these tiny little white worms in my RES's tank. He's about 3 years old and I first noticed the worms last month. I cleaned out the entire tank with bleach and water, but kept the gravel, not realizing taht might be where the problem is and now the worms are back, but not as bad as before.

I've read that some people who had this problem with their slider got rid of the gravel in their tanks - they thought that's where the worms were living/breeding, etc.

I don't know of any other alternatives to using gravel in the tank - what are some other options?

Thanks,
Katie

I use pieces of slate, with a few river rocks mixed in. The turtles like moving them around, so the dirt can't stay underneath.
-----

>>I use pieces of slate, with a few river rocks mixed in. The turtles like moving them around, so the dirt can't stay underneath.
>>-----
>>

I'm using larger gravel, about the size of my turtles head. I originally got too many so whenever I do a changeout of his tank, I also rotate his gravel. I bought a collander to do the cleaning. If anything survives my cleaning of the gravel it would be a miracle. I also clean my gravel in extremely hot water. I only leave in enough gravel for him to play with and to hold down the faux plants.

I like the slate idea though, but last time I tried that, I made a mistake and used something completely inappropriate for the turtle tank which killed all my feeder fish and made my turtles eyes hurt. I've been more careful of what I put in the tank now.

Large rocks are a good thing because they help keep things in place.

The cork bark has been replaced with a turtle island.

-----

That's a very nice looking set up you have there. My tank is much smaller than yours, but I think I could get the same effect by getting rid of the pebbles I have in there now (most are small enough for my turtle to pick up in his mouth, ranging from about 1/4" to 1/2" in diameter) and replacing them with some smooth river rocks, similar to what you have in your tank.

It may not look as nice with the empty areas in the bottom of the tank but it'll be much easier to keep the water clean.

thanks!
Katie

I personally go without any gravel so that the waste can't collect in it. My tank isn't as attractive but it has drastically cut down on the accumulation of "turtle-filth" and keeps my tank spotless with zero effort. That way, the filter is forced to take care of the mess. I use some slate pieces for resting spots, but not as a cover the bottom.