Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any suggestions for filter options for a sand bottomed soft shell tank? (temporary 15 gallon tank, I have a 30 and later a 55 already for him in the future no worries)

Biggest fear is ruining impellers. Anyone tried the 501 Turtle Clean by Zoo Med in this type tank? I knnow with Fluval '04s the impeller is the last part the water goes through, gotta 5 or 6 year old 204 (which I love millions and millions, but it's being used). If I got a 104 and filled the entire stack with fine filter media (filter floss) would that help protect the impeller? Thoughts?

i think softies can do fine without sand. mine did and grew great. with fine filter media to catch the sand, you will have to clean more often. hiding spots without sand will keep them happy.

i use two hydor submersible filters in my florida softshells tank .. i only recently decided to eliminate the sand on the bottom so i could put more water in and keep it slightly cleaner... what he has now is a 30 gallon almost completely full of water. but i still wanted him to have sand.. so for his sandbox i put a good sized rubbermaid type plastic shoebox up on top of two huge fake treeroots i got from petsmart.. the shoebox thing reaches almost to the top of the water and is full of sand.. i cut out a little entrance in the side so he can get in it..

he seems to like it quite a bit.. he sits in it at night with his nose sticking out of the water and the rest buried in sand..
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my pets: clown treefrogs, reed frogs, big eyed treefrogs, tiger leg monkey frogs, gray treefrogs, milk frogs, cuban treefrogs, whites tree frog, green treefrogs, squirrel treefrogs, blue webbed gliding treefrog, chameleon treefrogs?, dusky salamanders, tiger salamander, veiled chameleon, box turtles, mud turtle, map turtle, yellowbelly slider, florida softshell, two saltwater tanks, four cats, two chinchillas, and a boyfriend.

I would think an undertank filter like a wet/dry with overflow box would prevent sand from getting in the filter.
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