sand in turtle tank?

[dano85]

has anyone put sand as a substrate in there turtle tank?
Did it work well and will plants grow in sand?
anyone with a pic?

 

[0_missy_0]

Plants don't root too well in sand, but it can be done. Dwarf hairgrass is an exception and grows really well in sand

Sorry no experience with turtles.

 

[Pierced Soul]

only just setup my first turtle tank. Missy is right sand wont hold well for plants unless you have a lot of it. The other thing is that sand tends to get into the impellers of the filters and after a while will wear down the impeller. you could always keep the intake covered with cloth to prevent sand getting in but you'll find you'll need to clean it regularly to get out the gunk.

nevertheless i've used 'washed' sydney sand in mty tank which you egt from bunnings (and needs more washing by the way). I've used it a lot in fish tanks and i prefer the look, although i've had to replace filter parts a bit.

heres my turtle tANK

another downside to sand is that detritus sits on the surface a lot more so it stands out

 

[scorps]

yeah i used to keep alot of fishtanks and stuff and normaly didnt go near sand unless was for a display tank where sand would look better the main prob with it is it gets in your pumps

 

[dano85]

that looks tops does it help if the draw of for the filter is about half way up the water level i might give it a go and see how it works out.
thanks for the input guys
any mor pics

 

[hornet]

its recomended you dont use sand or fine pebbles in a turtle tank as they can eat them and get impaction, you want pebbles that are big enough that they wont be eaten

 

[ldheav]

its recomended you dont use sand or fine pebbles in a turtle tank as they can eat them and get impaction, you want pebbles that are big enough that they wont be eaten

Sand is ok it runs straight through them

Pebbles are better tho i must say

 

[Pierced Soul]

i ahve my filter intake sitting on a rock with another rock covering the aqrea near it so it doesnt suck sand in from the ground.

i've always wondered when people say stuff like 'turtles shouldnt have sand in the tank, or juvie beardies shouldnt have sand cos they may eat it...". in thw wild there's no one to stop them eating it is there? I assume (cos i'm by now means an expert) that young turtles and beardies arnt dying in the thousands because they ate sand.

I'm not trying to flame anyone, I'm just curious about these things and whetehr they're urban legends

 

[Helikaon]

you jsut have to remember the captive bred animals are different from wild animals. most are bred in what is considered relatively sterile conditions and it is often not the physical peice of substrate but rather a small tear in the intestinal lining which then becomes infected and the animal dies or with a stomach full of substrate the digestive system may stop entirely. but the main reason in my opinion to not use substrates like sand, is not a fear of consumption but rather lack of hygiene. especially in fish tanks as all of the nitrates from left over food and defacations from the turtle will get stuck in the sand and as you cant logically filter the sand with a gravel filter it will stay there and can alter the water quality. and with little lizards and snakes you will see a poo in the sand and you will staright away clean it up but there is also a lot of fluid passed that will soak into the sand that wont be cleaned. therefore my point is it is hard to clean and i am not sure but i doubt it is cheap enough jsut to replace every week.

remember wild animals may defecate and they will probably never come across their waste again while in captivity they cant really get away from it.

cheers
Gary

i ahve my filter intake sitting on a rock with another rock covering the aqrea near it so it doesnt suck sand in from the ground.

i've always wondered when people say stuff like 'turtles shouldnt have sand in the tank, or juvie beardies shouldnt have sand cos they may eat it...". in thw wild there's no one to stop them eating it is there? I assume (cos i'm by now means an expert) that young turtles and beardies arnt dying in the thousands because they ate sand.

I'm not trying to flame anyone, I'm just curious about these things and whetehr they're urban legends

 

[Pierced Soul]

Helikaon: thanaks for the reply. I've seen people speak about using astroturf with young lizards, wouldl the same prob with urine and fecal matter soaking into this occur as well, or do you take the astro turf out and wash/clean it?

 

[dano85]

is there any easy way to clean it?

 

[Helikaon]

Helikaon: thanaks for the reply. I've seen people speak about using astroturf with young lizards, wouldl the same prob with urine and fecal matter soaking into this occur as well, or do you take the astro turf out and wash/clean it?

um yes it would though if you get 2 lots made up for your enclousre so you can swap the dirty oen for the clean and then disenfect and dry ready for when the otehr gets dirty. that would work well though i am very fond of simply going with news paper hahah but i liek simple.

and Dano um im not sure about easy ways of cleaning sand i used a gravel for my turtle before goign to the black pebbles and the only way i foudn to give it a good clean was to get it all into a bucket and rinse it in water. i guess you could do the same with sand, i must admit it does look good.

cheers Gary

 

[Pierced Soul]

in terms of cleaning sand, I just siphon the stuff that settles on top. if you wanted to make sure nothing ahd worked its way into the sand, my suggestion would be to take the turtle out, switch off the filter, stir it all up, let it settle, then siphon what settles on top