General Care Discussion :: Went to Wal Mart today got a few questions

[daredevilgirl013]

Ok here is what all I got for Michelangelo when I went shopping at Wal Mart since Wal Mart was 10 bucks cheaper for each item that I was wanting at the pet store.

Tetra Whisper Power Filter for 30-60 gallon tanks (his tank is a 20 long now)
Two Aquarium backgrounds (gotta make them fit the long you know)
A new big huge rock with fake plants inserted into it
A Tetra Whisper Submersible Heater for 5-15 gallon tanks (why they don't make them for 20 I have no idea)

For the heater will I need a guard for it? I plan on going to the pet store tomorrow as I really can't afford now to keep buying spring water and I'm going to have our hard and soft water taps tested. (any advice on what it needs to be? I printed the water quality pages from the site)

And tomorrow too I'm going to get some more anacharis for the snails since they are eating it like a mad dog. And I promise to post up pictures when the setup is done!

Oh and one more question, how do you guys attach your backgrounds? Just tape them?

[vieniebebe]

You are lucky.Here Wal-Mart and Petsmart are the same price.I just taped my background on the outside,since it's a pain in the butt to get them to stick on the inside.

[cam722]

The thing you need to worry about most with water is the cholorine and chloramine. It's not the ph. If you have public water, more than likely it has chlorine.. so you'd need a dechlorinator. Not sure which is best as I have well water..

Is the heater fully submersible? I've gotten whisper heaters in an emergency and wasn't very happy with them at all. If it's the over the side kind, you have to make sure the water level is high enough so it doesn't burn out the heater. Not sure how you'd do a heater guard on that type of heater.. if that's what it is.

I also tape my background to the back of the tank. I never knew there was another way to do it. I don't think putting it in the tank is a good idea with all the scratching at the glass that they do.

[daredevilgirl013]

It's a full submersible heater and it sits in the tank sideways.

And I have well water too.

[cam722]

If you have well water you should be ok.. the only problem would be if you have excess minerals.. they cause build up on the shell and glass and such. I've not found a good solution to that myself, so I can't help you there.

I'm assuming the heater is glass. So maybe better safe than sorry? if you can afford a guard, I'd get one.

Can't wait to see the pics of his new setup

[daredevilgirl013]

Yep it's glass or at least it feels heavy like glass.

And the well water before has killed our fish before which is why I want to get it tested for the turtle

[cam722]

Well water may have issues with fish but not turtles. Ph is important for fish and not so much for turtles. I won't hurt to have it tested, if it makes you feel better

I have to keep an eye on the ammonia levels, ph, etc with my fish even though I don't with my turtles...

[daredevilgirl013]

How about the water with guppies and snails and shrimp? Big deal or no?

And with the mineral build up and stuff on the shell do you just take a soft toothbrush and scrub it off (if he will stay still long enough!)?

[cam722]

yeah it will matter with the guppies unless they are in with the turtles, then for some reason or other it really doesn't seem to matter. I'm not sure about the snails, mine seem to survive just fine though. Yep I just brush them with a toothbrush occasionally. I also use a scraper on the glass to get the lime buildup off.

[daredevilgirl013]

That stuff I can do and yep the guppies are with the turtle, I seriously think they have become his friends as he hasn't eaten a single one of them.

Well thanks for the help so far. Hopefully pet land knows what they are doing with the water test tomorrow cause I get a test free since I'm a member..woowho!

[sinbad]

I think they should stick on by themselves!!!!!Or on the outside,double-stick tape!!!!!

[ellman605]

what?

[daredevilgirl013]

WHOOT! They said that the well water was perfect for lil Michelangelo!!! But I still bought some water conditioner just incase. And they had huge huge huge! ghost shrimp so I had to get four of those. But I couldn't find a heater cover..oh well hopefully Michelangelo doesn't go hitting it. So look for the pictures to be up soon I shall go work on his new tank right now!!!!

[ellman605]

dont trust what the pet shop people say, 90% of them have no clue what their talking about, and the other 10% are just making stuff up so they can get paid

[cam722]

well a water test is a water test.. and if they sell fish they pretty much know how to do those. Like I said before the ph levels aren't really all that important for turtles.