Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Woohoo I'm going to be getting a 100 gallon tank from my local aquarium place for a pretty good deal! Finally, I've kept my turtles in my long 30 gallon tank for too long (summer's they were outside in kiddie pool).

Ah ok so I have a few questions now that I'm changing my turtle settings...

- What UV bulb should I get? I see people discussing UVA and UVB all the time but I hardly pay attention. If you could simply answer that question it'd be great. Before I kept my 30 gallon (fitted perfect) near a window and I could simply open it up and let in the sun directly on them, it was great and convenient... but now that I'm getting a much larger tank I have to put it a bit further where they won't be getting direct sunlight

- I currently have a Aqua filter (forgot model) which does the waterfall type filteration... I know that's too small for the new tank, so should I go and buy a similar water-type filter but the larger version? If I run both of them at the same time you think it'll be ok? After every feeding I take out their water and I think I'll keep doing it with the new tank so the filter is just needed to get rid of small particles. Any suggestions on filters would be good

- Now that it's a much larger tank, can I get some more pets to put in with it? I don't really want fish since I know my turtles will want to eat it but does anyone here suggest other pets that are successful with RESs?

Thanks

Congrats on the new tank!!! Take pics when you have it setup.

The type of bulb you'll need is a repti-sun 5.0. This emits both uva and uvb rays.

In my 110 gallon tank I have running a filstar xp3. Some people use fluval 404's or eheims 2028(i think thats the right model). I chose the XP3 because a lot of turtle keepers refered it to me. So far it works great. I used to have 2 on my 110 gallon, but I ended up transfering the second filter to another tank.

As for animals....hmmm. Do you have female or male res. Females get huge. I don't really know any other animal besides fish (plecos/algae eaters/feeders fish) that will do well with a turtle. Maybe some ghost shrimp or crayfish (but only if you have adult res, the pinchers cab do some serious damage).

Congrats on the new tank! I just upgraded a couple of weeks ago and my turtles are so much happier. I have been very very happy with my fluval 404. I was using it in conjunction with a tetratech 300 powerfilter but I found that i didn't need it. The Fluval is super quiet and very effective IMO. I primes very easily and has kept the tank with three turtles spotless.

Get larger fish and your turtles wont mess with them, probably. I have a juvenile snapping turtle in a tank with 4 adult bluegills right now, and theres no conflicts. I suppose he could nip a fin occasionally, and as such I wouldnt put in a fish that I paid for. I caught these in my aunts pond. The problem with large fish is they eat large meals. I feed mine minnows that I catch and some from the bait shop. If youre concerned about crayfish pinching your turtle, just break off their big claws with pliers or something. They can still collect food without them. One thing tho, crayfish will kill and eat each other when one has molted, so youd need sufficient hiding places for them.

The photo below is of a large crayfish and a green sunfish, both of which are no longer in the tank. I gave the sunfish to a friend, and the crayfish was killed and half eaten by the others when it shed.

iturnrocks.com

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