Habitat - Indoor :: Im A Filter Noob!

[bassoongirl1]

When i first got my RES, I got a filter in a "set up kit". turns out the filter was HORRIBLE! My tank is rather small and since i have no filter, i clean it out every 2-3 days. Hopefully i can get a bigger tank soon, but in the mean time, can someone inform me on the filteration/cleaning process?
What type of filter do you recomend? And how does that work exactly, do you clean the filter everyday or replace something?
How offten to you clean out your tank? I've also heard about partial water changes or whatnot, how does that work?
As you can probably tell, im VERY clueless when it comes to filters and water cleaning and I'd be delighted if someone could help me out

[Listen97]

canister filter would probably be the best. i have mine set up in three parts. part 1 is the area with what looks like black sponges (my filter came with 4 sponges of 3 different opacities) part 2 is the stars or spheres, its where healthy bacteria grow. part 3 is your actual cleaner and contains things like carbon or zeolite to remove things like chlorine, ammonia, & some waste.

when you get the filter it will take time for the initial setup but after that you would probably want to change/clean the filter once a week, with a partial water change if its looking kinda rough. about once a month you would want to do a full water change (unless you have a huge tank or good enough filter).

[steve]

I agree a canister filter is the best type. Filter overview:

http://www.redearslider.com/filtration.html
http://www.redearslider.com/filters.html

[bassoongirl1]

What brand do you recomend? I tired looking them up but was completely lost!

[steve]

How big will the tank be?

[bassoongirl1]

Im hoping around 40 gallons, but im not sure. I have to convince my parents... haha

[TurtleKeeper48]

I clean my tanks about once a month... sometimes we go a bit longer. I clean the filters about once every two months, again, sometimes go a little longer. The water stays clear and never smells at all.

These tanks contain 40 gallons of water each and the filters are Fluval 405's - I use the "stock" filter media that comes with them new.

IMHO - having enough water and enough filtration is the key to keeping these turtles and having it be enjoyable for both the turtle and for you!

Before I upgraded to a properly sized tank ( and some say it's still too small) I used to have to clean the turtle tanks and the filters every week or two and if I went to long they would "foul" and smell just awful. That got old very quickly and keeping turtles was not enjoyable for me. There just wasn't enough water and not enough filtration.

I upgraded as much as I could. I need to keep my setups simple and not too heavy, so I'm using 40 gallons of water in a 75 gallon tanks with floating docks, clamp lamps for heat lamp and for UV light that clamp on the rim, and Fluval 405's for filtration (340 gph). One set up houses a young 5.5" female with a lot of potential for growth, and the other houses a pair of older females who seem to be stunted from a previous horrible life (one is 4" and one is 5.5").

Having a set up that stays clean for literally weeks instead of days makes the whole experience SO much more enjoyable for me, I just can't stress it enough. I see undersized set-ups all the time (usually people trying to re-home them on craigslist because they can't stand it anymore) People THINK their set ups are good - and they think it's normal to clean it every few days or once a week. It's not. Forget about the miserable conditions the turtles endure, I don't know how the people can stand it.

If you were to follow the tank size recommendations on this site, and other reputable sites (10 gallons for every inch of turtle based on shell length) and you follow the filter size guidelines (at least enough to circulate your water 5x every hour) then you will not need to be cleaning anything once a week.

[Listen97]

normally 3x the the gph is good enough. but bigger is better at limiting the amount of time before changes. you don't want to over do it in a small tank with small turtles as the suction could be too much. and even the discharge could be to great in creating too much motion. res like a calm flow similar to a pond.

[TurtleKeeper48]

Yeah, I run 340 gph filters on tanks that contain 40 gallons of water, although they are 75 gallon tanks so it is a bigger tank - but that makes it so I have 8.5x filtration.

But my turtles are not babies. They don't have any problems with the intake or the outflow.

Surprisingly, you can postition the outflow tube so that there isn't very much current at all... or you can position it so that it runs like a river. I go for a mild current and they seem to enjoy it... but you're right, if positioned for too much current - they don't really dig it so much.