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In two weeks Nemo will be moving from a cramped ten gallon tank to a very large 55 gallon tank.
This is his/her and my adventure to the new tank.

I already have the tank, and a basking light.
I still need:
More lamps.
Sand.
Live plant.
Tank mates.
Hidey places.
Basking. (Above tank or not?)
Filter.
Stronger heater.

So, to get started this is his tank as of now:
[img][/img]
And this is the tank I'm moving him into. Don't mind the hamster stuff. Annie, a Syrian, lives in there for another week then I'm moving her into a Living World cage.
[img][/img]
Sorry, it is kind of blury but I had to use flash to get a bright enough picture.



The tank is four foot long, about 13 inches wide, and about two feet tall. The previous owner had three turtle in it with the tank filled all the way and didn't have a problem with the weight on the stand.


My questions are:
What are some good (affordable) filters?
How do you even clean sand in a tank?
Tank mates for a turtle? (Pleco's don't work for Nemo, the only one I've had with him attacked Nemo)
Algae control in a planted tank?
Information on live plant care (Completely new to live plants. Most I have done is have a moss ball, which died)
Easy above tank basking platforms for a reasonable price.
How to create a more natural looking tank but still be able to maintain it and have it not look cluttered?
Brands of in tank heaters that can heat more than 50 gallons of water?
Water changes in a large tank, gravel siphons, magnetic brushes?


I've done a lot of research but everywhere gives different answers. I'd like to hear from people who actualy own turtles.

I can answer a few questions. Tank mates,Chinese sucker fish make great tank mates. They are generally too fast for turtles to catch. Sand is easy to clean you will need to buy a syphon. You can search YouTube for cleaning sand in a fish tank. Aqueon and Jagger make good large heaters. If you want an atba you will need to build one out of wood plexiglass etc. Hope this helps.

In a planted tank, they will take some of the nutrients away from algae. However, turtles usually destroy whatever plants are in the tank. ATBAs can be tricky to make and have the turtle accept it. If you're going for a natural look, check out cork bark.

Just an input, there's a lot of research you need to do before doing a planted tank. I honestly don't think you'll have any luck with rooted plants in a turtle tank, since turtle tend to love digging up any substrate on the bottom, at least mine does.

I've recently added Duckweed to my turtle tank, about 2 sandwich bags full thinking they grow so fast and some people consider it a nuisance in planted tanks. It'll provide an unlimited supply for the turtles to eat. they ate all of it all overnight ....

I've seen above tank basking platform on here, maybe you can look at someone's build. You can probably build a simply one out of wood, and take apart your 10G tank and use the glass as a viewing panel?

Heaters, I personally always like the Eheim Jagers, but Hydro make an in-line heater that you can attached to the return from a canister filter. This will eliminate some clutter in the tank.

Since that tank doesn't seem like it's drilled or reef ready, I would say a Canister filter is your best bet.

n3hihz wrote:Just an input, there's a lot of research you need to do before doing a planted tank. I honestly don't think you'll have any luck with rooted plants in a turtle tank, since turtle tend to love digging up any substrate on the bottom, at least mine does.

I've recently added Duckweed to my turtle tank, about 2 sandwich bags full thinking they grow so fast and some people consider it a nuisance in planted tanks. It'll provide an unlimited supply for the turtles to eat. they ate all of it all overnight ....

I've seen above tank basking platform on here, maybe you can look at someone's build. You can probably build a simply one out of wood, and take apart your 10G tank and use the glass as a viewing panel?

Heaters, I personally always like the Eheim Jagers, but Hydro make an in-line heater that you can attached to the return from a canister filter. This will eliminate some clutter in the tank.

Since that tank doesn't seem like it's drilled or reef ready, I would say a Canister filter is your best bet.

For a young turtle they would even uproot the plants? I think id want to try it at least once

I mean try it out. Every turtle is different. You should read up on some planted tank articles. I'm still in the learning stage of planted tank (only had bare bottom freshwater tank previously) so I can't give you solid advice on what definitely works. I can tell you my last attempt which was a fiasco.
1. Use good substrate. If you try to skimp out on substrate you'll end up paying for it in extra work and headache. Good substrate helps hold nutrients in and feed the plant forgot the terms.
2. Extra light doesn't always mean its better. I thought oh a stronger light will help my plants grow. Yes but it also mean it depletes all the nutrients in the water faster...FML means more dosing more fertilizer.
3. Do your research on the plants you want to keep. Some plants you can keep low tech and less work. I bought something called UG grass looking thing. $20 a sq inch. Couldn't keep it alive. Waste of money.

Not sure about the forum rules here but I can send you a few links to articles.

n3hihz wrote:I mean try it out. Every turtle is different. You should read up on some planted tank articles. I'm still in the learning stage of planted tank (only had bare bottom freshwater tank previously) so I can't give you solid advice on what definitely works. I can tell you my last attempt which was a fiasco.
1. Use good substrate. If you try to skimp out on substrate you'll end up paying for it in extra work and headache. Good substrate helps hold nutrients in and feed the plant forgot the terms.
2. Extra light doesn't always mean its better. I thought oh a stronger light will help my plants grow. Yes but it also mean it depletes all the nutrients in the water faster...FML means more dosing more fertilizer.
3. Do your research on the plants you want to keep. Some plants you can keep low tech and less work. I bought something called UG grass looking thing. $20 a sq inch. Couldn't keep it alive. Waste of money.

Not sure about the forum rules here but I can send you a few links to articles.

I've seen some like grass like plants that say they're good for first time planted tank owners. Along with something that looked like a small fir tree.

I'm going to be on a pretty tight budget so I'm just looking for the best, but also cheapest, choices available.
That may sound like I'm a cheap person, but I want the best for Nemo and being in a ten gallon tank is definitely not the best.

Don't worry everyone is on a tight budget nowadays.
But Duckweed is definitely a good plant to feed and they grow like nothing as long as there's light. It's a floating plant so no need for substrate. Moss is also a good choice. You can just attach it to anything and with light and water will grow. The turtle poop will provide them enough fertilization. I have someone sending me some duckweed this week. I'll try to grow it out a bit. If you want I'll send you a sandwich bag once I have enough just pay for shipping.
I don't know how much your turtle eats but might be a good idea to keep your 10G as a grow out tank in case you plant can grow fast enough for your turtle to snack on like me.

n3hihz wrote:Don't worry everyone is on a tight budget nowadays.
But Duckweed is definitely a good plant to feed and they grow like nothing as long as there's light. It's a floating plant so no need for substrate. Moss is also a good choice. You can just attach it to anything and with light and water will grow. The turtle poop will provide them enough fertilization. I have someone sending me some duckweed this week. I'll try to grow it out a bit. If you want I'll send you a sandwich bag once I have enough just pay for shipping.
I don't know how much your turtle eats but might be a good idea to keep your 10G as a grow out tank in case you plant can grow fast enough for your turtle to snack on like me.

That would be great if you would send me some when you had enough.
And if I kept the ten gallon as a grow out tank it would need to be kept like a normal aquarium? Would putting a few feeder fish in the grow out tank help with fertilization?

Feeder fish in a 10 gallon with duckweed should work well. I grow duckweed in separate tanks, and I can get two or three feedings a week.

I would add, make sure your plants are turtle safe for the ones you are going to grow in The tank with the turtle.

ljapa wrote:Feeder fish in a 10 gallon with duckweed should work well. I grow duckweed in separate tanks, and I can get two or three feedings a week.

I would add, make sure your plants are turtle safe for the ones you are going to grow in The tank with the turtle.

Okay thank you.
And I'm doing tons of research every day about safe plants. I'll have to post which ones I plan on getting tomorrow.
Thank you!

I actually dont pay much attention to my duckweed tank. I added some guppies, platies, and minnows into it, they're all pregnant now. I have a sponge filter that cleans and circulates the water, with a clip on light fitted with a PAR38 LED to save on energy. Clean out the sponge probably once every 2-3 days, just take sponge and rinse it with tank water or de-chlorinated water so you don't kill all the bacteria, helps keep fish alive. I do a water change maybe once every 2 weeks?

After all this was meant for cheap food production, so I kept it simple. Tank was free, sponge filter $5, air pump $5 used, clip on light $10, attached it to the same timer as the turtle light. Cost $20 to set up.

I just came across this

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showt ... p?t=622370

$6 shipping for free Duckweed, if you're interested.

That sounds great. It says I have to sign up to view the forum with the free shipping.
So a ten gallon tank with one of those cheap aquarium filters, the heater I use for Nemo currently, and fish would work for a grow out tank?

BabyNemo wrote:That sounds great. It says I have to sign up to view the forum with the free shipping.
So a ten gallon tank with one of those cheap aquarium filters, the heater I use for Nemo currently, and fish would work for a grow out tank?

Yes, but if you're planning on having the fish breed as well. either get a prefilter, or a sponge filter. This will help the Frys from getting suck into the filter, so there's more gain. Also provide hiding space if you're breeding guppies, or you'll have to remove the mother after birth, otherwise you'll see the mother eating all the frys.

Sign up for the site, it's very informative especially if you're planning on planted tank. It's free. There's a lot of people giving away plants etc, just pay shipping.