My DP and Turtle Tank!

[khoa.tran]

Hey guys,

I've recently moved into my new place and so far setup 2 of my tanks, a 5.5 gallon and a 20 gallon long tank. The 5.5 is a DP tank with 3 DPs and an Otocinclus. The 20 gallon currently houses goldfish and a baby turtle. Now I know you guys will bash me for having such small tanks but I will be moving things around later when my 75 gallon cycles. I will house a crowntail betta in my 5.5, move the DPs and the otocinclus to the 20 gallon, and move the turtle and the goldfish into the 75. For the DP's future 20 gallon, I will probably stock up about 6 otocinclus and get 1 more DP. So far I have 1 male and 2 females, I think adding one more female would be good. Also have anyone had any luck with breeding DP's? Also tell me what you think of the tanks! Here are the pics!

PS: I also have a 29 gallon at my parent's home housing a Monotrete Abei. I don't have time to bring him over here yet as I'm taking summer school and I'm having exams now. So pics of him will come later!

[Pufferpunk]

Awww, I love baby turtles. At 1st I thought this was gonna be about a turtle kept with DPs! Then, I was gonna bash you.

[pufferfreak]

Neat tanks. I used to have a turtle.

[robert_hollis]

I hope you have a light that puts out UVA and UVB for the turtle. I don't know how familiar you are with their care, but just in case you're new to it, they gotta have that light for strong healthy shells and bones. Putting the tank next to a window will not suffice. I used to keep some RES in my 50g tank, but eventually I dug them a pond in the backyard, and they're as happy as can be these days. Also, I highly recommend setting up an above tank basking station once the little guy gets big enough to enjoy the full depth of that tank. Not necessary, but often appreciated by the turtles. Oh, and they love to eat anacharis!

-Rob

[khoa.tran]

Yeah I have a heat lamp and a UV lamp for him. I also have cuttle bone in the water so it can add some calcium I think? not sure but someone told me to put it in. About the above tank dock, I've seen those but don't know how to make one. Do you have any suggestions for me? One thing I found was that my turtle likes to eat snails and I think water lettuce. I had a lot before and now they all disapeared. I do put in a leaf of lettuce once in awhile for him to eat.

[robert_hollis]

I wouldn't bother with leaf lettuce that often, as it's pretty empty in nutrients from what I hear. Doesn't hurt, but doesn't help. As a baby, turtles are more carnivorous, and will eat snails and fish and shrimp and all that good stuff. Mine love super worms. Also, boiled chicken is supposed to be something they like. Most greens are good for a RES, but some stuff like cucumber are more likely to be accepted if blanched. Pretty much anything on a salad bar is ok. Cuttlebone is good. It will help them get calcium. They'll nip at it from time to time, and get it directly, but it will also leach into the water. Also, you should definetely secure the top of the tank with a screen or such, as turtles are amazing climbers! I've seen a silver dollar sized turtle get out of a full tank before. If a turtle gets out, the biggest danger to them is the fall from the tank (can do some serious damage), and any cats or dogs. They can usually survive out of water for weeks at a time. As for an above tank basking area, I simply took some scrap wood, and cut it to length so that it would rest along the inner lip of my tank's plastic top, and nailed it together to form a sort of wooden box that took up half of the top of my tank. I then angled part of the floor to form a ramp, and attached some window screening material to the bottom of the ramp. The turtles can hook their claws in the screening material to give them good footing for coming out of the water. I put some screening over the top, and along one side to give myself a view. Some folks would say to use glass for a window to keep the heat in better, but it was easier for me that way. Of course it's good to give them a basking area that's big enough to have variation in temp, so they can bask in a cooler or warmer spot depending on their preference. Also, a lot of people like to put sand in there as turtles seem to like that. Ok, so my infor on a basking area isn't overly helpful... I'd suggest googling 'above tanks basking' or something similar, and just looking at the pics and info you can find. I altered my design a few times until I got something my turtles seemed to really like. Another common habit among turtle keepers is to get a kiddie pool and let their turtles spend an hour or two a day outside in the real sun. Some people will feed their turtles in the kiddie pool to reduce the bioload on the tank from messy eating habits, and pooping after eating. When turtles get older they become more herbivorous, but by the time your turtle gets to that point you will probably have to upgrade to an even bigger tank, or a pond (you should have a few years).

Ok, so I know this is the puffer forum, and I'm rambling on about turtles, but I know them pretty well by now... I did many, many, many hours of research on them when I first started keeping RES, so yeah...

-Rob

[khoa.tran]

Thanks for the advice, I will try to build an above tank basking when I'm free for the 75 gallon. However, I can't build a pond for him since I live in a condo and the area outside belongs to the condo corp. The max size tank I could probably fit safely in my place is the 75 too. I figure in the long run it would be kinda small for him since people recommend 10 gallons for 1 inch turtle shell. But the 75 is the best I can do. I hope it works out. Thanks for the advice again

[LilGreenPuffer]

Actually, darker lettuces and greens are very high in nutrients. Iceberg lettuce is really nothing but water, but romaine and other greens are very nutritious.

[robert_hollis]

Actually, darker lettuces and greens are very high in nutrients. Iceberg lettuce is really nothing but water, but romaine and other greens are very nutritious.

Yeah, you're right. It was 2a.m. when I posted and I guess I forgot to differentiate. Thanks for catching that.

-Rob