I just wanted to say thanks for all the help.
I have been checking in and out reading the board for about a year, and just wanted to let you know you for sure, you have saved two turtles' lives.
Not to bore you but a quick background.
My youngest son has been obsessed with turtles since he was two or three years old (now 14).
Anyway, my Father in law kept egging us on to get him a turtle, because, get this, they were cheap and extremely easy to care for, obviously a man who KNOWS NOTHING, lol. About three years ago now, my wife caved one day as she was going by the pet store and they were having a 2 for 1 turtle sale [not reputable], 2 turtles for $15.00. She went in and of course the pet store saw the sucker and told her all she needed was a floating dock and this little plastic aquarium perhaps 2 gallons. So she brought them home and of course like all the other critters they have brought home, Dad ends up having to keep them alive, lol. Oh and by the way turtles only grow to the size of their environment the lovely pet store told her, and being the idiot I am, I believed her.
Well you can imagine after about a month with the half dollar sized turtles and that stupid little tank I was basically cleaning that thing everyday, which was not fun, so I decided to "GO ALL OUT" and bought a 20 Gallon tank and hang on filter after all I could afford to let them get a little bigger. And it need to look good so I added plenty of gravel.
and of course some goldfish for them to munch on. Now taking care of the turtles will be EASY BABY!Needless to say, after working myself to death for 6 months trying to keep the tank clean with water changes every couple of days, and the turtles getting bigger than they should based on their environment, I decided one night to see if I could find anyone on the internet that knew something about these turtles and ran across your board here. You can imagine the HORROR I experienced when I found out about the gravel, the fact that they keep growing, they need lights, and at least 90 gallons for each turtle, goldfish are bad, the need to be able to dry off, and on and on and on. OH LORD!!!!
It was close to Christmas so money was tight, but I started hunting craigslist for a bigger tank and found a great deal on a 55 Gallon tank and stand for $75, so I bought the tank went to Lowe's and built them a basking area which was not easy for a VERY UN- Mechanically inclined person. I could not afford a real filter so of course I bought a bigger hang over filter and here we are 17 months later.
I finally saved my pennies and ordered our FX5, installed it yesterday according to VeipaCray setup, and WOW what a difference in just one day.!! YEAH MAN! Awesome!
Anyway just a big thanks to all the moderators and everyone else you have made a difference for two sliders Muck and Algae!
P.S.
I am now back on crqaigslist hunting a MONSTER tank, lol
P.P.S We made our first round of Turtle Shots today, can't wait to see how the like them!
A quick picture of Muck and Algae
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4wBZlzgHNxIMFp5dzR1a2h6RXc/edit
