Equipment Review and Discussion :: Basic tank, suggestions?

[blkbox]

I have a small tank, bought as a kit which contained a 55 gallon tank with various accessories, including a "in tank" filter (http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/repti_flo_350.php) and a lamp. Now the filter aren't particularly easy to clean and somehow efficient. Remember I do have a small tank though.

So far I've got a 2nd filter (F250, slightly smaller, same kind) _but_ stopped using it for it was not really helping. I've added sand recently, and I noticed the sand is quite harmful to the current filter. First, there's no filter medium for something fine as sand (there's no exchangeable filter mediums...) so there's still some dust floating around and the sand gets through to the hog.

I heard about different types of filter which were outside the tank, like canisters filter, where you can even pick different filter medium. Now I know my tank is very small (55 EDIT:LITERS, not gallons), I doubt it's even big enough for a canister filter since I saw those were for 100+ gallons tank, even the smallest models. The price of a modest canisters filter doesn't bother me, plus I could use the extra space in the tank (and less wires hanging going in), but is it justified? From what size should I consider it?

Also, I have one water heater (also from exo terra http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/turtle_heater.php) and I added a UV filter due to sever algae problems before.

What do you recommend for a basic setup?
And considering I will upgrade the tank sooner or later?

Thanks!
I'm kinda new at this, and so far my help source was the pet shop only...

[jozzep]

They make canister filters for any size tank. Also when you read the recommended tank size for the filter, they are referring to fish keeping and not turtle keeping which requires a filter rated at least 5 times larger.
For a 55 gal i would recommend a filter with at least 300 GPH (gallons per hour) turn over. Look into a fluval 405 or a rena xp2 or 3.

[blkbox]

Oh really?

Now that you mention it, I've heard you needed a rating that's for a tank 3x larger than yours (or so, but anyway the main idea is turtle are messy). I was browsing the fluval 405 since that's one canister filter I've already seen. Looks like it's a common model.
Thx

EDIT:
Sorry I totally messed up, my aquarium is NOT 55 galon, it's 55 LITERS! For some reason I confused numbers. It's 15 gallon.

[steve]

You can avoid tank supplies that are specifically marketed for turtles. They often carry a premium for what they offer.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Canister filters are great, no matter what size tank you have. 55 liters is a bit small, but you should be looking into upgrading that fairly soon too. If you are correct with 55 liters, even filled all the way to capacity, you are at less than 15 gallons, which is good for a 1.5" turtle or less. I don't know how big your turtle is, but 1.5" is pretty much the first 4 months of life and then they're too big.

You want to find a tank that is as big as you can afford. A 75 gallon tank would last a male for life, a 90 gallon would last either a male or female for life (do you know what gender yet?), a 120 gallon is a mansion! You can check for tanks second-hand, you'll find some great deals at yard sales and Craigslist and whatnot, esp. in the fall and spring, when people are cleaning out their homes.

For a filter, you want to look at the exchange rate, not the gallonage. Gallonage is great for fish, but turtles produce more waste than fish. You want to exchange approximately 5x the volume per hour, though you can get away with 3x the volume with more frequent filter cleanings. So let's say the Fluval FX5 is the top of the line pump (which most would consider it), it pumps out over 600 gallons per hour, so it would work in a 120 gallon tank. Or less than a 120. Or probably up to a 200 gallon tank, but then you are testing its limits. My Rena XP3 pumps out 350 GPH, right now I have it in a 90 gallon tank, which is a tad too small, but it's working fine. I originally bought it for a 40 gallon tank and upgraded the tank and wanted to see if I could survive without having to replace the Rena, which so far has worked. If I do need to replace it, I might go for a Rena XP4 (450 GPH) or the Fluval FX5.

Oh, and NEVER listen to pet store employees about turtles. Pet store employees are why turtles die ... a lot ...

[blkbox]

Wow, those were both helpful posts!

I was considering upgrading my tank sooner or later. My turtle is af of now 1yr and 2 months old, and is about 4,5" long, so I guess I should consider upgrading more sooner than later. But then, I do have a problem here; even if I find an appropriately sized tank I just don't know where to place it physically in my house. Seems weird, but I haven't figured out anywhere where an aquarium tank would fit. (It would be too big to sit where the current tank is right now.) But, I'm working on it hard.

(do you know what gender yet?)

Unknown gender yet

[...] it pumps out over 600 gallons per hour, so it would work in a 120 gallon tank.

So basically, for filters, I want it that the whole volume of the aquarium was passed in 1 hour through the tank, assuming I do the 5X conversion (fish filters for turtle aquarium)?

If I have a 60 gallon tank, I'd like to have a 60 gph -equivalent filter? (So around 60*5=300 gph?)

Oh, and NEVER listen to pet store employees about turtles. Pet store employees are why turtles die ... a lot ...

Yes, I do admit I never trusted the petshop employees! And it didn't took me long to realize that, yes in fact, turtle-specific products are kinda way over-priced for a basic fish aquarium equipment.

Thanks!