Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have two RES that are about 4 years old. They are in a 47 gallon tank and seem to be happy there. Last week the Marineland H.O.T Magnum filter that we bought in February quit working (it had been working fine until now). I called their customer service and was told that their filters are not manufactured for use with turtles. Does anyone have a sugjestion as to what we should be using? We need something that can handle a large ammount of water fairly quickly, and won't break in a few months. This last one was $100, you'd think that it would have lasted longer.

I used a hot magnum for 2 yrs on a 29 gal, and it is a great filter for turtles. The problem is the amt of stool turtles can make and general waste load in a tank that size.
There are larger cannisters of course like the EHEIMs etc.

I have 100gal in my indoor pond and use a Bioforce 250 UVC with UV clarifier and a good pump. I like the idea of a separate filter and pump, which gives more flexibility. some of my pump water from the outlet is diverted to my little waterfall.

By eliminating any substrate and having a good working volume of water, I dont have to clean much at all.

I would look at pond filters like the Bioforce etc (It can be hard to get Bioforce parts).

I decided to build my own filter. I believe most filters are the sum of their parts, just a way of getting whats in the water to filter through the various medias. I believe the only advantage to buying a filter is so that its in a cute little container that doesnt stand out much. My filter pumps over 1000 gph exchanging all water in the tank multiple times every hour. This isnt the first filter Ive built, and I wouldnt expect someone to build one this big for their first attempt, but there are a lot of options for building decent filters for not a lot of money. The link below showcases my very large filter. If you would like photos and images of some of my simpler ideas, I would be happy to share.
The big Filter I built

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One other thing, those photos were taken upon completion of the filter. The tank had been operating for a month or 2 without suitable filtration. Below is what the water looks like after normal operation over a couple of months.

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If I were you I would look into getting a good canister filter. My next filter will be a Filstar XP3 and they are about $100 at BigAlsOnline.com You will find much better prices online than at local stores.

Good Luck! Nancy