Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm an avid turtle amateur enthusiast who really wants to upgrade my boy's tank to a 40 gallon breeder...but I'm really not sure on what the ideal filter would be (preferablly the cheapest that I can get while not losing any quality) I usually like to keep the tank about half full of water...my turtle (Yoda) excretes like a madman so I need a powerful one, and I do want to add one more turtle. (by the way is a 40 gallon breeder ok for two turtles (adult size))
thanks for the advice

idagooch

an aquaclear 500 is pretty good...it's powerful and inexpensive. you can get it for $33 at bigalsonline.com

A 40 gallon really isn't enough for two full grown sliders. Right now I have my two babies in a 29 gallon, and in a year or so I'm going to upgrade them to at least a 125 gallon. I can't recommend any really good filters but make sure that whatever filter you get, its for 3 times your tank size. (example, if you have a 20 gallon, get a filter for a 60 gallon tank). This may be expensive, but it will well be worth it.

ditto on the aquaclear recomendation
actually you can get it for 28 dollars on drs foster and smith this week as they are having a sale
but if you call big al's and tell them that (you will need to be able to tell them where on the drsfostersmith website the sale price is) they will give it to you at the 28 dolar price and then knock off 5 percent. This is one of the best filters you can get for mechanical filtration, short of a pond filter or making your own.

but a 40 breeder is way to small for two adult sliders. Its too small for even one. 75 gallons is more reaonable for an adult and two need at least a six for tank (in the 100, 125, 135, 180 size group)

ditto on the aquaclear recomendation
actually you can get it for 28 dollars on drs foster and smith this week as they are having a sale
but if you call big al's and tell them that (you will need to be able to tell them where on the drsfostersmith website the sale price is) they will give it to you at the 28 dolar price and then knock off 5 percent. This is one of the best filters you can get for mechanical filtration, short of a pond filter or making your own.

but a 40 breeder is way too small for two adult sliders. Its too small for even one. 75 gallons is more reaonable for an adult and two need at least a six for tank (in the 100, 125, 135, 180 size group)

Like most of the others said, a 40gal is not big enough for even a single adult. For 2 adult sliders you will need at LEAST a 125gal aquarium. Right now I have a FilStar XP3 and I love it. You can get it for like $90 at That Pet Place. It is better than the Aqua Clear 500 but is a little more pricy, but its well worth it.
Chris D.

I have been creating my own filters for quite some time now, and ive learned a lot. The one I currently use is pretty basic, and you can use whichever filter media youre comfortable with. The thing I like is its outside the tank and the pump never gets clogged up. Below is a pic of the whole setup as it is now. Its a 55 gallon, the filter container is just a rubbermaid propped up for now. Eventually I will use a 10 gallon tank for the filter, but I have to build a stand that will support it. Basically, the large plastic tube is nothing more than a siphon, the larger the better. Once the water is pumped into the filter container, it passes thru whatever media you use. I have lava rock, some aquatic plants, some fine plastic mesh, and activated carbon. after the water has been filtered there is a small submersible pump at the other end that pumps water back into the tank. you want the siphon going in to be larger than the pumped water so the water level stays the same in the tank and the filter. If the pump ever stops, the siphon will stop too. This idea Ive just come up with recently, and although it is the best filter ive made yet, I still have much to improve on. the cost is basically a submersible pump, some plastic pipe, a rubbermaid container (or small aquarium), and filter media.

the link URL is a picture of how it looked the first time I built it.

http://www.iturnrocks.com/images/filter/filter0303.JPG

woops I filled in the wrong fields for the other picture. Here it is.