General Care Discussion :: New Turtle owner

[luclin999]

Hello!

Last Saturday I was surprised to find a Red Eared Slider hatchling in my pool. We brought him inside and decided to keep the little guy and got several things for him but I just wanted to make sure that we haven't made any serious mistakes with his equipment or care.

Turtle: 1.5" diameter Red Eared Slider named Barnabus

Tank: Standard 15 Gal Top Fin brand aquarium kit
Filter: in-tank filter that came with the aquarium
Basking/landing: Floating plastic "island" that is secured to the side of the tank with suction cups
Water heater: In-tank heater that came with aquarium
Cover: Metal mesh screen cover
Lights: One light that simulates "sunshine" on for 4-6 hours/day
Reptoguard sulfa block for the water
Food: Hatchling pellets bought at petsmart.
API tap Water conditioner
Gravel: none

The plan is to keep him in this tank for his first 6-12 months and then more him to a larger home when he is bigger.

Right now he is doing well, eating, swimming and basking and seems happy but I just want to be sure that we haven't made any serious mistakes or aren't missing something.

Oh, and I realized after these first few days that the filter which came with the aquarium isn't doing a good enough job and plan to go out tomorrow to get a larger capacity one (any recommendations?)

Thanks!

[Jeremiah]

Assuming you keep the 15 gallon tank, I would recommend the Tetra Whisper 40i filter. Turtles need filters that are rated for 2-3 times the volume of water in their tanks. That being said, most "kits" aren't really that helpful for RES; I would have just bought something like a 20 gallon long aquarium, the 40i, a heater, and a basking spot.

By the way, may I ask what kind of light you have? "Sunshine" is a bit generic. Turtles need UVB bulbs as well as heat bulbs. Your setup would do well with a standard 20" fluorescent UVB tube and a standard incandescent bulb in a brooder lamp. My apologies if you already got the UV lamp!

No filter will keep the water perfect-looking At the Beginning. The poor water quality you're seeing right now is the first step of the tank-cycling process, also known as the bacterial bloom. Just change out a few gallons of water, and leave the tank alone for a few days. The turtle will be fine, as it can exit the water via the basking island. I still recommend the Whisper filter, though. Hang-on filters (which I assume is the one that came in your kit) aren't ideal, especially if it doesn't have a strong enough volume rating.

As far as I've heard, the Sulfa block isn't helpful. I would just return it.

[luclin999]

The Sun lamp is an incandescent UV bulb/lamp, I am not using the florescent light/lid that came with the tank at all. Also, I'm not using a separate "heat" lamp, just the UV bulb/lamp for him which is turned on for two hours at a time, three times a day for him and seems to produce plenty of heat on its own. I have seen him just hanging out under it several times so far so I think he likes it.

The filter in the tank is the "top fin" internal corner filter Model GF400




... which is probably not adequate so I will go out tomorrow and get the Tetra 40i you were recommending.

[steve]

What brand light are you using?

[luclin999]

Exo-terra Solar Glow Basking light.

[Kansasslider]

That's a mercury vapor bulb. MVB. Do you know what wattage it is? That bulb can get wrather hot and should only point straight down. I would definitely recommend buying a good thermometer so you can check the temp of the basking area as well as the water temp. Basking area temp of 90° would be fine.The screen cover you have on the tank will drastically cut down on the uvb light.I would remove it.I agree with Jeremiah on removing the sulfa block.For food you can also buy omega one juvenile turtle pellets. Its probably much better for your turtle than what your feeding it now.Welcome to the forum.

[luclin999]

We don't know the wattage of the bulb, but it does point straight down on to one side of his island. The screen we have is a metal mesh with the lamp sitting directly on it so quite a bit of light does seem to make it through.







Right now he is eating the Zoo Med Natural Aquatic Hatchling formula. The pellets in this are the only ones I could find that were small enough that he could eat them.

[luclin999]

What about this filter"



http://www.amazon.com/Tetra-25905-Decorative-Reptile-Aquariums/dp/B000ICNM96

It is designed for reptile tanks, rated to 55 gallons and seems to have good reviews on Amazon.

[Jeremiah]

Like Kansas said, you definitely need a thermometer to check the basking temperature--that looks pretty close for a MVB.

Luclin999, Reptofilters are the same as the Tetra Whisper power filters. They tend to be more (unnecessarily) expensive, because they're "special turtle products". Plus, they make it so that you have to keep a lower water level, which isn't ideal for RES. Whispers don't have that problem.

[Kansasslider]

Like Kansas said, you definitely need a thermometer to check the basking temperature--that looks pretty close for a MVB.

Luclin999, Reptofilters are the same as the Tetra Whisper power filters. They tend to be more (unnecessarily) expensive, because they're "special turtle products". Plus, they make it so that you have to keep a lower water level, which isn't ideal for RES. Whispers don't have that problem.

X2 I understand needing real small pellets when they are young. One of my turtles was the size of my thumb nail when I got it. Maybe when it gets a little bigger you can try omega one. PS, I'm not a sales rep for omega one.lol

[luclin999]

Like Kansas said, you definitely need a thermometer to check the basking temperature--that looks pretty close for a MVB.

Luclin999, Reptofilters are the same as the Tetra Whisper power filters. They tend to be more (unnecessarily) expensive, because they're "special turtle products". Plus, they make it so that you have to keep a lower water level, which isn't ideal for RES. Whispers don't have that problem.

The thermometer we had up on the island was reading a temp of 90.2 degrees over where he would be basking after the light had been on for two hours. That's about the right temperature, isn't it? Water temp varies from 79-82 depending on if the light is on or not.

Oddly enough, that repto filter is actually about the same price as the Tetra 40i ($28 for the Repto, and $29 for the 40i) so the price isn't really an issue. But if the water level would have to be too low then I guess not. My only concern over the 40i is that it seems to have terrible reviews on Amazon while most people seemed happy with the repto filter/island combo.

We went into Petco and since they were having a "$1 a gallon" sale on Tetra aquariums, we took your recommendation and bought a 20g "long" tank so we'll probably be moving him soon. Right now we have the new tank sitting in a shower stall testing for leaks for the next day or two before we go to all the trouble to move him and his water over.

The 15 gallon tank will be kept as a back up.

[Kansasslider]

You really shouldn't even consider the repto filter. If i had to guess most of the reviews on Amazon are first time turtle owners that have never had a quality filter for comparison. A canister filter is also a good option.

[luclin999]

I'll keep that in mind about the filter.

One other thing, feeding.

I read that you should feed them an amount of pellets roughly equal in volume to the size of their heads?

Does that apply to newly hatched turtles like mine that are only 1.5" in diameter?

And is that amount the total for them per day? If so, is it OK to break up that amount into more than one meal per day?

Because it is clear to me the Barnabus is a bottomless pit when it comes to food. He'd eat all day if I kept feeding him.

[Kansasslider]

The head rule applies to all size turtles all though its a bit much. Yes you can split it it up and you can try red leaf lettuce and carrots but it might not eat vegetables until it gets older. When they are young you need to feed every day as they get older every other day. This link should help you out.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5

[luclin999]

Neither Petsmart or Petco near here had a 40i in stock so I ordered one on-line that should be here by Friday.

Did a bit more research, the Top Fin GF400 is actually made by Tetra for Petsmart and is rated at 125 GPH so it's basically a repackaged 20i filter. I turned up the flow to maximum and since I only have about 10 gallons of water in Barnabus' tank at the moment I think it will be OK to use it until the new one gets here.

I'll probably wait until the new filter arrives before setting him up in the new tank so as to minimize the number of moves/disruptions to his routine.

Debating adding a substrate of pool filter sand and just a few larger blue/gray river rocks (2" diameter size) to the tank vs. keeping it completely empty.

Also debating plants. I understand that plastic plants are a bit questionable as the turtle might try to nibble on them, but are there specific live plants that would be beneficial to add to his tank?