turtle set up question???

[humba_jumba]

Hi there, I am looking at getting turtles and a five foot tank... The tank has a sump system in it... would it be suitable for turtles and what would I need to make it all work effectively for turtles??? Thanks for the help

 

[Senator358]

Depending on the sump setup you would have to make some modifications. If they are babies they would only need 30-60cm of water for the first few months. Would the sump work like this? Would the sump be able to suck a turtles in or get it stuck? Turtles are better suited to still water so might not do so good with a powerful sump.
To set it up though you would need some calgrit (fine crushed limestone) to increase pH and water hardness. Use this with a mixture of fine sand for substrate. You will need a basking platform of some sort with a heat lamp above it to keep it at around 35 degrees. You also need a uvb light to cover the whole tank so a tube is the way to go. Check out the reptisun 10.0 HO. This needa to be no more than 60cm away from the water. Somewhere to take them outside is also good. A half clam shell pool is perfect and cheap from bunnings. They should really get some outside sun at least 3 times a week for 20 minutes or so to dry out. Apart from that you really don't need anything but food. Try to feed the most variety you can.
Hope that helps. Good luck with them. They are a great pet.

 

[junglelove]

don't for get to heat the water to average about 26 degrees, for substrate some people say don't use small pebbles as the are easily swallowed so sand or larger river stones. check the strength of UV and the distance as some do not penetrate UV at a certain distance, (it also wont penetrate through glass or plastic)
Have fun