Habitat - Indoor :: Canister Filter Under Rocks?

[Bryxe]

My res is about 2-3 inches long I have him in a 20g tall currently planning on getting a 40g breeder when petcos 1$ per gallon sale comes out. I was thinking about using my 60-80g canister filter normally, but making it look descrete by putting the intake underneath the rocks when I get a 40g, I read some online articles about filters for under rocks, but not the way I was thinking of. Would it work or do I have to live with looking at a filter? I know I can try to hide it behind a plant or something but it would bug me more that way.

[litefoot]

Hello and welcome,

Bryxe being on the new side of the hobby make things easy at the start especially when it comes to maintenance. Filter are rated for fish gallons . Turtles need 2-4x's filtration do to how messy they are. A 40 gallon would need 80-120 gallon flow and media setup for a turtle not necessary what comes with a new filter for fish. Also a 40 g does not giving you much room for your friend to grow and another upgrade will come soon. Turtles grow fast ! A 3" turtle need 30 gallons water alone and a basking area. Every 1" of turtle shell needs 10 gallons of water alone plus basking area to be happy and healthy. Also having a larger water volume helps you control water parameters better no wild change's and makes maintenance easier. Stay away from gravel go bare bottom easier to clean. Also under gravel filter's do not work for turtles. Or placing inlet in rock's to hide will restrict the flow and does not work as well. I rather have a healthy turtle and a filter working at max flow.
Turtles will eat small rocks , later you could go with large river rock they can't eat or sand being small wouldn't cause a blockage if eaten. Does the filter you have go in the tank and see it? If so that takes up a lot of swimming room. Then yes I understand you having to live to look at that. Most canister filters sit in cabinet under tank and all you see are two hoses. You could replace them with clear hoses to see less of them and some plants or driftwood to hide them . Some long time turtle keepers hide hoses so well bet you could never find them. Ever think about stock tanks , very cheap and last forever. You can also do so much more with them than a glass tank.
Also first set the tank up for what a turtle needs (good filter goes a long way) and not what most newbies want to see so it has a chance to be happy and healthy. You can always teak it down the road for personal looks.

Example : flow // 2x's more for a baby // 3x's a juvenile // 4x's adult // Your 3" turtle is a juvenile not a baby so I would go with 3x's flow rate and that's for today. When he grow that filter will be to small and you will be cleaning every 3-4 days especially in a 40 gallon. Lets face it maintenance most don't like doing especially someone starting in this hobby. A good setup can and will make maintenance easier.
At 3" (may) be able to tell sex then you could plan on a final/adult setup. Some mature fast than others but at 4" should be able to tell for sure.

Any pictures of the setup now and your friend. Any name for your turtle ? My Piggley wants to say Hi !

[Bryxe]

Hi, thanks for the advise, I've built a tank stand (and kinda part dresser) big enough to hold a 120 gallon aquarium, I didn't know that turtles grew fast, so I thought I'd have a lot of time to look for a decent priced 120g on Craigslist or Faceboo. I personally like the look of glass tanks better, so I most likely won't be getting a stock tank. I have river rocks in the tank currently. I'll try to hide the filter as much as possible in my next tank. I'll most likely just be skipping the 40g and jumping straight to the 120g as soon as possible, one more question, if I got a 120g with a 400g filter, would I still be able to use the 60g filter I have currently along with the 400g? Thank you again for your advice

[litefoot]

I would be very sure about (part dresser) built. 120 gallon tank would be 1001.4 pounds not counting the river rocks !!! If not you will find all that water on your floor. In 50 years I found it's cheaper in the long run to set all tanks up for the adult size. Instead of all those upgrades !!! What kind 400 gallon filter? Not that many good 400 gallon filter out there. I use the FX6.
Yes you can use the other filter too ! I would set it up all "BIO" with only one pad so you really only have to clean that pad unless bio media get crappy. Once you get the cycling down correctly you will not need that 60g filter especially if you have an FX6.

[Bryxe]

I was looking at the fx6 on amazon, that was the only one I saw, and it had good reviews so I assumed it was good. The tank stand and dresser can easily hold 1000 pounds, I did a lot of planning for it, and even tested 3 people on it and it didn't budge. I've been constantly looking on fb and Craigslist, haven't found any good tanks yet, hopefully soon!

[litefoot]

It works great I love it. Just remember the media setup Fluval recommends is for fish !
Look here for turtle media setup : viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145