Hey everyone, I'm new to this forum, and I have a few questions. I've been lurking on this forum for turtle care research for years now, and finally created an account. I appreciate everyone's advice and info!
I've had my RES Burt for about 3 years now, since he was a wee baby. He's always lived alone, and over the course of his 3 years, I've slowly upgraded him from a 20g to 40g to 75g tank. He has an ATBA that he loves and uses regularly. He's always been healthy, active and social. Recently I decided to get him a tank mate, a painted turtle I've named Barry. They are both males and about the same size (Barry, the new guy, is just slightly smaller). For the first week they were both acting normal - Barry took to the ATBA immediately, and I've not noticed any aggressive behavior between the two. They've basked on top of one another, and haven't even bothered each other during feeding time.
My first question is about Barry's recent change in behavior. It's only been about two days, but I haven't seen him using the basking area at all. In fact, he's been spending a LOT more time at the bottom of the tank, sometimes just laying at the bottom with his legs tucked in. When I approach the tank, he swims back up to the top, and I've caught him swimming around when I'm not in the room, but it seems to be for very brief periods of time. Burt is still swimming around as usual, and nothing in his behavior has changed, but Barry seems to be nearly always at the bottom. It could be nothing at all, but it seems unusual, especially compared to his behavior for the first week. I fed them earlier today and they both ate, so....I'm not sure if this is a problem or maybe nothing at all?
The UVB and heat lamp are both a little old, so I replaced the UVB earlier today, and am about to go get another heat lamp in hopes that this will clear up any basking issues, but I want to know if there are any other warning signs I should be looking for?
My second question is about their upcoming tank upgrade!
I got a great deal on a 120 g tank and stand, so I'm in the process of setting it up. I've decided to go with sand for my substrate (currently they have round stones in the 75g) and I'm about to fill up the tank, add the sand, and let the filters start cycling the water once the sand settles.
I have a Fluval 110 power filter, the kind that sits on top of the tank, on their current 75 g tank, which states it should filter tanks up to 110 gallons. It's new and working great, and I want to use it on the 120g tank in tandem with a canister filter. I bought a Fluval 306 canister filter, which should filter tanks up to 70 g. That'd be a combined total of 180 g, but I'm not sure if filters work that way or not. Can I use the combined gallon amount? Or do both filters need to be able to handle a 120g tank independent of one another?
Thanks again for any and all helpful info!!