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I have 2 adult female RES in an outdoor 300 gallon tank. In addition to a basking area (large piece of cork bark), I also have a sand box for them to not only bask but more importantly lay their eggs. The issue is that I think the sand is getting into my FX5 and now I have to replace the motor. For those of you that has a sandbox, how do you keep the sand from damaging your filter? In my research, 2 common themes seem to come up:

1) Type of sand - It seems pool filter sand is the way to go. I had used play sand
2) How far off the bottom is the intake. Mine is at least 4"-5" which should be ok

These suggestions come mainly from fish forums and I would guess fish don't nearly kick up as much sand as turtles do. When I was cleaning out the tank today, there was definitely significant sand built up at the bottom of the tank.

Perhaps wrap some sort of screen around the intake valve or different media?

Any suggestions are welcome. While waiting for the replacement motor, I have temporarily removed the sand box leaving just the cork bark.

A pre-filter might help, but I would switch sands first. I'm not sure how much they turtles will like is for a nesting area though. You could probably move the intake higher.

What type of pre-filter are you thinking of? I am currently using the foam pads on the outside of each container. For the individual container, I use the Fluval pre-filter, carbon and BioMax

They do spend time in the sandbox and when I go through the sand, I do find the occasional eggs though probably not as much as I think it should be. It's not the most ideal but security was a priority. They had escaped more than once out of contraptions that I thought were pretty secure - climbing up/pushing through metal screens/barriers. It's almost like they have spiderman-like qualities. I didn't realize how strong fully grown adults are

I agree, they're stronger than you'd expect. I was thinking of an actual pad over the strainer, but maybe moving the strainer up first. How old are they?

They are 5 or 6. It's one of those things where my kids when they were younger thought they were really cute so someone gave it to them and now that they are teenagers, I end up being the owner. I'd be lucky if they ask about them or know that they are still alive...

You could try pantyhose over the intake strainer. I also agree with moving the strainer up some.

I had thought about it but I'm afraid that although it may filter out the sand, it will also "filter" poo and other junk that I want the filter to pick up...

They make foam strainer covers. I just figured it would be a cheap fix. I use aquarium sand and have 2 fx filters with no problems. Some gets in but it has not been an issue.

Update: I switched to pool filter sand and I _think_ it does help. It seems to be heavier than play sand so instead of it floating in the water, it tends to sink to the bottom. It's hard to tell exactly as it's an outdoor tank and algae growth prevents me from seeing the bottom of the tank except right after a full water change which I try to minimize as it's a 300 gallon tank and I live in drought stricken southern California.

I also use a panthose as a liner for the intake valve. As expected, the water inside the filter doesn't get dirty as quickly but that also means more gunk is left in the tank. At some point, I'll probably experiment with not using the liner

Is this a stock tank? How deep is the water?

It is a Rubbermaid 300g stock tank. I don't fill it all the way up so the water level is about 1.5' (the tank itself is about 2' deep)

Kansasslider wrote:They make foam strainer covers. I just figured it would be a cheap fix. I use aquarium sand and have 2 fx filters with no problems. Some gets in but it has not been an issue.

Can you send me a link for the foam strainer covers you are using? I presume they are for the FX5/FX6.

The only ones I found for the FX are the ones that go inside the canister which I am already using.

Thanks.

I was thinking of universal covers. Not sure if they make one just for the fx.