My tank setup is 60cm long with a Red Ear Slider. Keeping turtles is a challenging and demanding hobby. In fact, many pet turtles do not live past their first year due to improper care.
While taking care of my turtle, I have learned many things about aquarium and turtle care. I have provided some useful links providing excellent information on turtles. More information can be found in books from your local library or bookstore.
Finally, I have provided some useful tips on tank setup, filter cleaning and water management.
A few basic requirements are necessary for keeping Red Ear Sliders. They are:
1) Basking platform - I have used a drift wood for this purpose. Part of the drift wood is above water so that the turtle can climb above water to bask in natural sunlight.
2) Water Filter - This is used to keep the water clean using mechanical and biological filtration.
3) Sleeping corner - I have used a hanging soap dish which is positioned a few cm below the water surface. The turtle will rest on the soap dish to sleep at night.
The picture above shows the position of the drift wood and hanging soap dish.
Turtle basking on the drift wood
Turtle sleeping on the soap dish at night
A good water filtration system is very important to ensure good water quality. I am using the Eden 501 canister filter (also called Zoo Med 501 in the US) and it is very effective for a small tank setup.
Use only aquarium water to fill up the canister.
Use only aquarium water to rinse the filter media.
Tap water can be used to wash other parts. They include the canister container and pump head.
When doing re-assembly, wet the interconnecting parts of the canister. They include the rubber gasket of the cover and the tube nozzle. A little water helps to provide a better seal between the interconnecting parts. This prevents air outside to flow into the canister.
Aquarium water is free of chlorine and chloramine. This makes it suitable for fish and does not kill the beneficial bacteria that lives in the water.
With a dechlorinator, tap water can converted to aquarium water. For me, I fill up a pail of tap water and add the right amount of dechlorinator to it. This removes the chlorine and chloramine in the water almost immediately. To be safe, I leave it overnight before using it.
There are different brands of dechlorinator in the market. I use Nutrafin AquaPlus from Hagen. Other reputable brands include Tetra AquaSafe and JBL Biotopol. Some cheaper brands do not remove chloramine in tap water.
Beneficial bacteria lives in the filter media of the canister filter. In the canister filter, the filter media consists of sponge, wool and ceramic rings.
To see how beneficial bacteria thrives in the filter media, I have taken out the ceramic rings after using it for 2 months. Close observation reveals dark brown spots on the inner side of the ceramic rings. The dark brown spots indicates the places in which the beneficial bacteria colonizes on the ceramic rings.
Ceramic rings used after 2 months.
Close-up of a ceramic ring. Note the dark brown spots on the inner side of the ring.
Last updated on 28-02-09.
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