Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello,

i have a group (3) of muds and a group (3)of sliders living together in a 75 gallon aquarium in my room. today i had to clean my two canister filters for the tank and i noticed a lot of sludge/crud is there any way to lighten the load on the filters? are there some fish/plants that will dispose of turtle waste? thanks.

Richard
p.s. I'm usually in the tort forum so i'm sorry if someone has posted this before.
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1.1.3 Common Mud Turtles
0.0.2 R.E.S.
0.0.1 Y.B.S.
1.3.1 Russian Tortoises
0.1 Hamsters
3.0 Dogs
2.3 Family

There are a couple of things you could try but first I would point out that a 75 gallon aquarium is a bit small for that many turtles...especially if the sliders are anywhere near being adults.
You could try feeding some of them (like the muds) in another container or even in a sink. That way, they wouldn't leave any uneaten food around to rot and they will almost always defecate after eating. This eliminates much of the bulk waste.
Also, check the amounts and quality of what foods they are eating. Many times keepers feed mud/musk turtles meaty foods like chicken or beef and these are too greasy for them and foul the water very quickly. I know of others (like myself at times) who give mud turtles pink mice or even larger mice and you can imagine what that does to your filtration system.
If you do offer such things you must first do so SPARINGLY and then make an effort to make these feedings in another container.
This will save you tons of work in the way of water changes and filter cleanings.

taking them out to feed is a good but impractical idea. i feed the pellet food and some greens every now and then. i never feed them any protein except whats is in the reptomin.

I once tried to plant live plants in the tank but they ate them...

the sliders are about 3 inches each and will be moved into a pond next summer.

ANOTHER QUESTION:
what medium combination works best inside a canister filter?
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1.1.3 Common Mud Turtles
0.0.2 R.E.S.
0.0.1 Y.B.S.
1.3.1 Russian Tortoises
0.1 Hamsters
3.0 Dogs
2.3 Family

Yes, moving the turtles outside their tank to feed them is somewhat of a pain and I only do it when feeding whole fish or the mentioned mice. But it would still help if you were desperate.
I have pretty much used the standard setups in my canister filters---the foam type floss sleeves that you can get replacements for and then high quality carbon. I haven't tried the plastic bioballs or ceramic 'noodles' that are used in wet/dry filters though.
With turtles I think we are stuck with frequent cleanings of the filters no matter what.

In with my RES and my musk i keep some amphipods (calleds skuds sometimes I think), they live and reproduce down in the aquarium gravel I use and you would need to keep them alive. Hopefully some who knows more will say something if there are risks that I am not aware of, such as parasites, which I know can be a problem with amphipods and fish. I got mine from a nearby river and they did noticable improve how often I had to change the filter.

oh well, hopefully this can be of some help, and I wouldent bother with plants haveing so many turtles to tear them up.

good luck with that.