Habitat - Indoor :: Is this a good idea?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

So I have sand on the bottom of my tank, I want something new since cleaning the sand is a pain and seems to get dirty really fast. I love the look but something new will be appealing right now No bare bottom I did that for a year and as much as I loved the cleanness of the water I hated and got extremely bored of the look and not being able to put plants up or anything else. SOOO I came up with a idea. I want to use big river rocks, first layer of baseball sized river rocks, then on top golf ball sized river rocks and under all of it a undergravel filter, Thus having all the poop settle to the bottom under the rocks and into the filter I can easily remove the rocks every 2 weeks or so and siphon out any poop and just replace the rocks. The whole idea of this is to have a new cool look extra filtering and keep all the poop out of his swimming water so he can swim vigorously like he loves to smack stuff around and no have poop all around him or in the water. Good idea or no?

[VeipaCray]

I would avoid the undergravel filter. When you disturb an undergravel filter, you will release a large amount of toxins into the water. The rocks will trap detrius.

Barebottom *yawn* or sand with a properly sized canister filter are still the best.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Yeah I had a feeling that would happen Well thanks! How can I keep my sand from being so nasty?

[steve]

What gets nasty about it? Algae? Poop?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

No algea. I think it's poop I move the sand around and my water gets cloudy but I can't really see any big particles maybe some small strings of I think poop. I need to do water changes weekly but with a 40 gallon its a pain and I don't have 45 dollars to spend on a water changer. Could I use a water hose? It's new and only used it about 4 times. It reaches all the way to my tank upstairs from outside and I have a way to siphon the water outside to the grass and put water back in from the water facuet outside.

[steve]

Get some clear plastic tubing from a local hardware store. You can also pick up a hose end kit and faucet adaptor which you can use to refill your tank. To drain, you can pick up a water bed refill kit or use your filter/pump to jump start a siphon.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Thanks for that info will defiantly look into that faucet adapter. But could I use the hose to drain and refill when I clean out the tank this weekend?

[steve]

You can use the same tube but for refilling, you still need to use the right hose fitting.

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I don't thing I did a great job at explaining lol. This is coming from my water hose faucet outside the hose is long enough to reach my tank upstairs I did it when it was brand new never used but since then it has been used a few times and hung outside.

[steve]

I would not recommend using a garden hose to do any filling (they have chemicals and plasticizers), though draining would be fine.

[VeipaCray]

I would not recommend using a garden hose to do any filling (they have chemicals and plasticizers), though draining would be fine.

+1

[michaelg]

You can purchase potable water hoses or drinking hoses. Walmart sells them in the RV section. Or anywhere else that sells camping/RVing gear. That would be a better bet than your standard garden hose.

-Michael

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Dang well draining my tank will be a breeze Thanks Ill look next time im at walmart

[Skyewillow]

I've had sand in tanks before and maybe once did I have a problem with cleanliness, but I didn't rinse too well before I laid it. It could be silt, try rinsing again till the water runs clear... that should help

[SquidSox]

Use a larger grain sand or get some of those little worm guys that live in the sand. Snails also do an excellent job of cleaning(and replacing) the sand. Also if you want to go bare bottom you can get plants just buy betta. Plants. They are weighted so the don't float away the turtles can also then rearrange them as he sees fit and it will never look the same. You can also add heavy decor such as rocks,hiding logs,fish huts ECT. To add color to a bare bottom tank.