Filtration

[Rainfrog]

I realy love turtle. I have never had one but before I got anything I wanted a turtle. I have recently decided to make a =n efort to get one. it will take time. I am shure my lack of finances is becoming a boring topic for every one by now but it is reaky frustrating to me that it is so hard for me to explore my passion for herpitoligy (spelling?) I will not own animals I cannot care for and I will not give animals substandard housing or conditions so $$$ is a huge factor. I realy want a black knob sawback but may get a southern painted bue to cost (care is similar) I will have a 55 gallon tank (will not settle for less) or larger (up to 75) but I am not shure how to filter it. I recently read an article and wanted to know what more exsperienced keepers though. it uses a magnum 350 canister hooked up to a UGF layered with 3 inches of gravel. it sounds incredible for decreasing maintenance here is the link http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/s...nk_filter.html. Keep in mind I will have one black knob or one souther painted. Thank you. BRF

[Landon]

IMO, UGFs are big no-no with turtles. i had a 20l set up similar to the tank in the link. i had 2 baby RESs in it for less than a year. when i broke the tank down the space under the UGF was SO nasty. i wouldnt want to keep that stuff in there wiht my animals. i havent used a UGF since, and i was a big advocate of them before that.

i think running a couple of large canister filters would do it for you. i moved my RESs and added a baby snapper to a 110. they were small, but i never had any problems. they had about 40 gallons of water and i filtered it with a fluval 404. monthly cleanings of the 404 was plenty to maintain a safe clean environment for them. i planned on adding another filter once they got bigger, but it worked fine for three small turtles, and the fish load i had in there.

[Rainfrog]

I think the idea is that the 3 inches of gravel helps to break down larger waste and the depth helps to keep it from packing. The I dea dehind hooking the canister to the UGF is that it would remove all the gunk that normaly would have gathered underneathand you would not have the build up like with a power head. It seem sound in theory to me So I just wanted some exsperienced points of view. thanks.

[Studdlygoof]

In all the fish forums i'm a part of there is always this same debate and i think it just boils down to personal preference...I'm a big supporter of the UGF's but i can agree that if not set up correctly there can be big problems...ideally you want you gravel to slope from the rear (being the highest) to the front so that you larger waste particles will "roll" to the front where they can be sucked under and broken down under the gravel...having turtles however like myself does not allow you to do that because their past time is rearranging the tank to the way they like it...i found that to help combat the extra waste that can accumilate under the UGF is to hook your canister on one end of the UGF and then get one of those reverse flow attachements for the powerheads and hook them on the other end...the powerhead helps keep things stirred up so you dont get any dead spots...like i said...i think this topic boils down to personal preference and there is no right or wrong answer...it shall go down in history as one of the big debates along with "the chicken and the egg"

[pgaks2]

i have a 55 gallon filter that i built a false bottom out of eggcrate into, its about a inch and a half deep false bottom, i made my own bulkhead to pass through the false bottom and hooked up my magnum 350 to it. i keep one adolescent RES in there and it does great, only have to clean the external filter once a month, and i dose the water every 2-3 weeks with a few drops of pond bacteria, between the 2-3 inch deep gravel floor, and the pond bacteria, most of the gunk is broken down before it even gets to the filter.

one thing ive noticed is the lack of circulation with my personal setup, but im gonna have to dig up a powerhead or extend my input hose from the filter deeper into the water and put a 90 dedree on the end.

sheb