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I just got a new tank for my turtle, its 29 gallons for my 2 1/8 baby RES Mikey. I have a few questions about filters and tank bottom cover.

1- I know that there are specific filters made and sold for turtles and reptiles, but many of the reviews I read claim them to be noisy or hard to find replacement parts for. I've had fish for a really long time, and am a big fan of the Whisper brand filters. Would these fish filters be good for a turtle tank too?

2- In the tank Mikey is in now he has gravel substrate. I read about how some turtles will eat the gravel and the severe problems it causes, its not an immediate issue for me as Mikey's mouth is too small to eat the gravel, but in the new tank I'd like to try sand. What is a good choice for sand, and could I see some pictures of good tanks with sand, I've already seen the horror pictures.

3- Also, what are some live plants that I could use that would be good for my turtle when he gets older and won't uproot ( or at least harder to uproot) and would be good hiding places for Rosy Reds I might put in too.

I wouldn't recommend the whispers, I started with those and quickly moved on to canister filters. Many people here use Filstar XP3 filters, I use two for a 75 gallon tank.

The gravel is VERY frowned upon in this community because if ingested it can cause many problems.

The plants and roseys can and probably will become food for your turtles at some point.

confrontinglife wrote:I wouldn't recommend the whispers, I started with those and quickly moved on to canister filters. Many people here use Filstar XP3 filters, I use two for a 75 gallon tank.

The gravel is VERY frowned upon in this community because if ingested it can cause many problems.

The plants and roseys can and probably will become food for your turtles at some point.

The idea for fish and plants was so he could eventually eat them. And the gravel I have is very large, it's impossible for him to eat is right now. It's being replaced anyway.

Check this out for your plants
http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html

I woudlnt recomend sand, unless your up to the cleaning and maintainence

It really puts a toll on your filter and cuts down the efficiency of your filter

Again its up to you

For a 30 gallon tank, I would look into an Aquaclear 70. Gravel also traps a lot of waste and sand can stirred up and into the the filter. For more specifics (the good kind), here are 2 you'd want to read:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6430

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10574

So that's the talked about Beast setup.... Thanks, those are really helpful.