Habitat - Indoor :: Newbie Question: Can I move my turtles from inside to out

[coltc]

I was considering moving my turtles (4) of them from their inside 75gal. tank to outside in the koi pond. Thinking about doing this just because of the cleaning of the filter and all.

I currently have 4 turtles, 3 RES and 1 I'm not sure of maybe a map, they are inside in a 75 gallon tank with a Fluval 404 filter. I'm just tired of cleaning the filter and the mess associated with it and I am considering moving the turtles out to the koi pond in the spring. I don't think the turtles will really mess with the koi. They seem to make fiends with fish they don't immediately eat. There are some gold fish in their tank now and they have been in there for months, besides the koi are at least about 3 times the size of the turtles.

Is there anything I should know about this move?

Is there a better filter I could be running that is easier to clean?

What should I do to the pond so the turtles don't potentially run off? (I will provide a place for them to lay out)

[industrial_girl_2000]

One thing you can do to keep the tank cleaner is to feed the turtles in a separate pan of water away from the tank. I have been doing this for 17 yrs with a lot of success. Something about pellets just stinks up the water terribly & you might notice that no matter how quickly the turtles eat the pellets, there are still some leftover "crumbs" that are in the water.

Also, there are quite a few folks on this board who put their turtles outside during the summer & that's fine. The thing you have to watch out for is the fact that the turtles WILL terrorize the Koi fish. Turtles don't care if something is "bigger" than they are, they will still nip nip nip at something (like the Koi fins) which will stress/injure the fish. We had one person put turtles in with their Koi, only to come back later & find the fish in pieces! So be mindful of that fact.

Also, if your yard is prone to raccoons, possums, & wandering cats, your turtles could be in danger from these predators as well, in which case you might want to keep the turts inside.

Keep in mind also that your turtles could escape from the pond too so you have to make sure to build up a wall around the pond area so they don't leave (!).

[FLhaven4strays]

You'd still need to keep the indoor setup for winters unless you're in a VERY warm area (and even here in central FL I have 3 heaters in the pond for 'cold' snaps)....and also in case one turtle needs to be separated due to aggression or medical issues.

I agree though...my pond is much easier maintenance-wise. That said, it's suprising how much work you DO have as soon as you add turtles to a pond. Do you have water plants you care about in the pond? Uh-uh. They WILL become food (or confetti....) The koi don't make NEAR the mess the turtles will, and you'll still be cleaning out the filter on the pond too. In fact, you may need to upgrade the pond's filter just to keep up with them...I've smelled a stinky pond, and believe me you DON'T want one, LOL! Also, when you consider fencing, don't forget that turtles are wonderful climbers - AND DIGGERS. You'll need to have fencing not only twice the height of your grown turtles, but also have to go underground about a foot unless you want to find that they've tunneled out one day. At my pond I see cats, possums and egrets all looking for a meal now & then. Until I put the pond in I'd NEVER seen any of these animals around the house. You can't assume that your lawn is a safe-zone.

I used a plastic chicken-wire-type fencing from Home Depot, dug a trench around the pond (leave PLENTY of land area inside in case you have females that will require nesting grounds!), sunk the fencing (curved it in a few inches), and filled up the trench. Then I used wooden stakes to hold the above-ground portion in place (it's a rounded area I have fenced). Soon I'll have to add another roll of fencing & attach it all above ground because my turts are growing and the fencing is no longer tall enough if they wanted to climb. Honestly there HAS to be a better way to enclose it - that was the roughest part of installing the pond. I had to go the cheapest route though, kwim?

How big is your pond? You still have to consider the 10gal per inch rule of thumb...and you also have to think about extra room for the koi. You're looking at 400+ gal minimum I'd think.

That said...my turtle pond is my absolute favorite place to be around the house. I'll take a book out & sit...and end up watching the critters more than reading. I'd recommend a turtle pond to anyone ...as long as they don't think it will be low maintenance

[FLhaven4strays]

Geez. Reading my own reply made it seem like all work - no play. Honestly, I REALLY DO love my turtle pond. Much easier to keep than even my hatchling's 23 gal indoor setup. I just hate to allow anyone to think a turtle pond is maintenance - free. IMO it's worth it to keep them outside.

[SpotsMama]

I agree with FLhaven4strays 100%. Our turtle pond is 500 gallons for one 7" turtle. We don't try to keep koi but we do have about 100 minnows and mosquito fish in there. It was built with a turtle in mind so it's turtle-escape-proof. The water is surrounded by a wall, and the top of the wall overhangs the water so the turtle can't climb out. His basking place is in the middle of the pond. We were very fortunate in that we were able to hire somebody to build the pond for us. It hasn't been much work and is our very favorite place to be, summer or winter. Spot likes it too.

Our turtle has a pretty good indoor setup too for winter. The tank is 100 gallons and the filter is an XP3. I can clean the filter in about 15 minutes once a month. I periodically syphon out some of the water then refill it with a python, which has made life simpler.

The key to a low maintenance indoor setup (and outdoor too) is having good equipment and plenty of space. If there are too many turtles for the space, then even the best filter in the world won't be able to keep up with the waste, and keeping it clean becomes a lot of work. I think the reason you're finding maintenance of the aquarium so difficult is that there are so many turtles for the space.