Equipment Review and Discussion :: Nighttime heating for new RES habitat.

[zum14]

Hey, im starting to really seriously look at getting a RES but am trying to cross all my t's and dot all my i's before making the commitment. I have decided to go with an indoor pond style. The design is going to give about 200Gal of water swimming, a couple of shallow areas and then about 5 sqft of basking out of water area, now i am going to be setting this up in my basement and in the winter months up in canada here it gets a wee bit chilly, during the day not a biggie as the water heater and basking lights will take care of the temps but im a bit concerned for nightime, i have been doing some research and was curious what everyone thinks of putting a few of those substrate heaters under the pond liner in the basking/sandy areas of the enclosure to keep the ground a little warmer. It would be thermostatically controlled for safety, my only concern is that the little guy might not enjoy the warm ground or that the liner may not be able to handle the heat cycling, now thinking about it i figure they wouldnt mind the heat as long as it doesnt get too hot (plan to have a second thermostat with alarm as backup) and that the liner can handle hot direct sun so a little ol heating pad shouldnt bother it but curious what everyone thinks. Is it overkill maybe?

[jozzep]

I wouldn't put anything under the liner. Just put a nice pond heater in and call it a day.
If you were more experienced, i would suggest to let the water temps drop to the lower 50's over the winter, and let the turtles hibernate, but this should not be attempted unless you know what you're doing and know the whole process and such.Hibernating turtles live a much healthier life and tend to mate more often as soon as the temps rise up in the spring. But that's a different story

[zum14]

Sounds good if thats the case, cheaper for me, but i just want to be sure because id hate for something to happen due to cold temps which ive been reading can be hazardous to there health, right now its 65* in our basement and 50* outside, it gets a bit cooler when its in the -30* -40*'s and i dont want to be rushing to figure something out because its too cold or something, what about installing and just leaving unless needed? or am i just being wayyy to paranoid and really should just leave it alone and not worry about it? Thanks for the help.

[mikee]

Z-14 I am not sure about varying the temp that much from day to day. I would suggest that you find a temp that works for the turtles and stick with it. I have a number of heaters, filter pumps and lighting and that is the cost of keeping water turtles. Make sure you have a filter pump that exchanges the water 5 times per hour. If you have a tank with 200 gallons that is a minimum of 1,000 gallons per hour. Good Luck!

[zum14]

sorry i dont want to sound rude or anything but im not looking to vary temps for the turtles or anything like that, all im trying to get across is that our basement can get into the low 60's in the middle of a cold winter, and that all im concerned about is that if the turtle wants to be out of water during the night ( i dont know if they do that but if they do) that it will be too cold and he will be forced to stay in the water ( yes it will have a water heater ) i keep a lot of freshwater fish so filtering and heating water i got down, i just am trying to make sure that if this guy wants to be out of water at night that he will be warm enough to do so as the heat lamps are only on during the day. thanks for the replys

[mikee]

Z-14 -- My experience tell me that if the water is 78 and the ambient air is 60 degrees the turtle will remain in the water until the basking area is at 90 degrees the next day. I must have misunderstood; I thought the water temp would be fluctuating up and down.

[zum14]

so is it ok to do that? my reasoning behind trying to warm up the ground is to give the turtle a choice, i dont want to force him to have to stay in the water if he doesnt want to, or well i guess my question is do they ever go out of the water at night? and also i keep reading that the cold can be really bad for them, thanks very much for the help.

[gwennie]

Most turtles sleep underwater and don't come out at night, but they often do pop their noses out of the water while they sleep under the surface sometimes.

I was really worried about my house this winter (close to no insulation, and no real source of heat at night in the room my turtle tank is in) and folks on other forums told me not to worry about any heating over the basking area at night, because my turtle most likely would not be coming out at night and they were right.

I did often put a light cloth over the tank though (to keep out kitty paws) and that helped the tank stay a bit warmer overnight as well.

[zum14]

awsome. ok well that works for me, thanks for all the help, mabye ill just design a mesh lid for nighttime, we only have small puppies so i dont have to worry bout paws but i like the tenting in the heat idea. Thanks again. so side topic, do they need a specific area for sleeping? or do they float through the water just below the surface? curious bout the breathing and sleeping under water.

[gwennie]

No they don't need a specific area for sleeping ^^ Most have spots they prefer. I often find mine in the corner of the tank next to a certain river rock I have on the bottom.

Other times I've seen him at the end of his basking dock with one foot on the dock to hold him in place.

Just depends on the turtle, I guess!

[zum14]

Wow thanks so much for all the info! ive just been all over the net trying to find as much info as possible, i read a couple of guys saying that i need to provide plenty of spots where they can sit just under the water otherwise they will struggle and drown, also heard that a tank too deep such as 24" deep is too deep for a small turtle and they will struggle but havent heard any info like that on here, i think im going to stop reading these "stories" and stick to here, Thanks again.

[marisa]

I've been keeping two Eastern Painteds in a 150-gallon stock tank in the basement during the winter months, and the air temp can vary from low to mid 50's to around 60F depending on how cold it is outside. The water is heated by two 200-water submersible water heaters, one placed on either end (water temp is 69 - 70F). The ambient air is kept warm by two mercury vapor lights, one on either end over two basking areas (the painteds are separated due to bullying). At night, however, I cover pretty much the whole tank to trap the warmth from the water and keep the ambient air temp up. Breathing really cool air can contribute to a respiratory problem, especially in the cooler months.