Habitat - Indoor :: Gravel vs. Sand?

[katmison]

Um, I'm feeling kinda dumb here and I am new, but I have a question as I've been reading through some posts here. I've noticed many of you here talking about sand in your tanks, which I have to admit never crossed my mind for our tank for our two RES. We have two beautiful RES, one of which isn't growing at the same rate as the other (which is why I sought a forum in the first place because I became concerned), but we've always used a gravel base in their tank. They do have a basking area, it's kinda cool...it is this fake rock like thing that floats in the water and moves up and down on this plastic thing as the water level rises or falls, so the rock part of the basking area is always above the water but they can easily climb up on it. My little RES never basks, though. I'm wondering if that could be because my UVA lamp broke about a month ago and my husband hasn't made it to the store yet to buy a new lamp. Big RES does get up there and bask in the UVB light though every day. Anyway, is it bad for me to be using gravel in their tank rather than sand? I mean, they seem to have survived just fine thus far...but if I need to change it out to sand I certainly will. Also, how do I do that? I've never handled them and they are very skittish when I even go and look at them and watch them, it's like they don't like being watched and studied up close. How will I ever change out their water and gravel to sand??

Thanks!

Kat

[Turk]

Welcome to the site!
A lot of the members recommend going sand or bare bottom. With gravel there is a possibility of your turtles eating it. Also waste can get trapped underneath and get gross.
This topic should help. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12532

I'd get a UVA lamp asap. Your smaller turtle might not be basking if it's not warm enough.(90-95F)

As for handling them, it's fine they're skittish. That just means they're very alert . You can try feeding them by hand to warm up to them.
I'm not sure what you mean by the last sentence? Are you afraid of hurting them by taking them out of the tank? or you're not sure how to actually do it?

Your smaller turtle may be competing with the bigger one for food. You can try feeding them separately by taking one turtle out when you feed them.

This site has mountains of information I'd suggest reading, since it may answer many of your questions, redearslider.com

[katmison]

Thanks for all that info! To answer your question, I'm not sure how to change out the tank. Thank you for comforting me about them being skittish! I do have one more question...if they haven't eaten the gravel yet and they've been living with it for 8 months now, does that mean that they are never going to eat it? Or should I go ahead and change to sand just to be safe?

Thanks again!

Kat

[Mom2RES]

I would say if they are little, they may just be too small to eat the gravel. It may be easier to eat once they get bigger. I've also seen someone post here that was positive their turtle was not eating gravel, but once they took the gravel out they realized the turtle WAS eating it.

[Turk]

To change out a tank most people use a python (not the snake lol), to take out the water.
I use a cup to scoop out water. This takes awhile for me, but have a sink near my tank.

If your filter has carbon that should take care of any chlorine in the water so you can just get a bucket to add water.

As for how frequently you need to change your water depends on your tank and how much waste there is. I'm not too sure myself so I just change the water 20% every week.

I actually asked how to change tank water in another topic if that'll help.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=30515&p=292113&hilit=proper#p292113

I wouldn't keep the gravel since turtles can change overtime. In fact my turtle recently started nibbling his plants
Also I think sand looks better . There's a sand FAQ in the "Indoor" section with pictures of different sands in tanks.

[VeipaCray]

To change out a tank most people use a python (not the snake lol), to take out the water.
I use a cup to scoop out water. This takes awhile for me, but have a sink near my tank.

+1 for python.

If your filter has carbon that should take care of any chlorine in the water so you can just get a bucket to add water.

Most water municipals don't use chlorine anymore. Chlorine will evaporate out of the water by itself (hence why they don't use it). Chloramine is the PITA chemical that we need to remove. Your advice is correct. Carbon will remove both Chlormaine and Chlorine.

As for how frequently you need to change your water depends on your tank and how much waste there is. I'm not too sure myself so I just change the water 20% every week.

Your filter should deal with all of the waste (bioload). The natural bio filter will convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. We change water to keep the less toxic nitrate levels in check. Your nitrate test kit can tell you when to change your water. We try to keep the nitrate at 10ppm or less all though turtles aren't super sensitive to a slightly elevated nitrate level in the water. If you're trying to keep fish in the same tank as your turtle... definitely keep the nitrates under 10 ppm. Also elevated nitrates will encourage algae growth.

[PridgNYC]

You might also consider setting up a second basking area. If your existing basking are is not big enough for them both to move around freely, the little guy may not have much opportunity to bask. They aren't going to take turns. Feeding them separately is also a good idea, that way you know that they are each eating the appropriate amount of food for their body size. (the amount of food that would fit into their head every other day)

[katmison]

Wow! What a ton of great info! This forum is amazing! The tank was low on water so my husband actually added some water tonight and I told him about the gravel vs. sand and he said for me to go get the sand tomorrow. I actually had already looked at the thread regarding how to build the habitat with the sand, including the pictures with the different colored sands, which is what got me thinking about our gravel base tank and whether we needed to change it out to sand. I didn't think about them just being too little to eat the gravel, so thank you for pointing that out too. We went ahead and named them tonight, so little one is Pat and big one is Tiny. We took Pat out tonight and tried to feed him/her but Pat was so terrified of being out of his habitat that although the crickets and other treats were literally floating into his snout he just sat there like he was anorexic. We finally gave up after half an hour and put him back in the tank. Tomorrow we are taking Tiny out to let Pat eat inside the tank because we figured that Tiny will eat no matter where she is.

Wish me luck on my venture with the sand building project tomorrow! I've never done this before so I admit I am a tad nervous, but I am very grateful for finding this forum and for those awesome pictures y'all have posted in the other thread. Thanks!!

Kat

[steve]

I'm late to this topic, but good luck and post pics when it's done

If Pat is still not interested in food, try some live feeder minnows. Hold it by the tail and let it wiggle in front of his face.

[PridgNYC]

If you can find pool filter sand, go with that, it is much easier to clean, i didn't even bother cleaning it, I just put it in (before my turtle was in there) and let the filter deal with the fine particulates that clouded the water every time I stirred the sand. I was running an FX5 with the optional load (mostly filterfloss with carbon). The play sand will take you hours and a huge amount of water to get the fine silt out. Then if you want to be thorough, you will have to sift it to get the big pebbles out.

From what I have read on fish forums, the pool filter sand is the better choice because it doesn't compact as much as the play sand, and allows some anaerobic bacteria to colonize the lower strata which are useful for getting rid of nitrates. You'll get the anaerobic bacteria with the play sand as well, but the pool filter sand stays loose enough that any hydrogen sulfide gas that is produced as the by-product of reducing the nitrates is slowly released, however play sand can compact hard enough to develop pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas which can be released without warning causing very bad water conditions (poisonous) near where the large bubbles ascend.