Habitat - Indoor :: NON aquatic plants for ATBA

[Drewet88]

I'm looking for some non aquatic plants to put into my ATBA to make the back wall look more natural and wouldn't be harmful to my turtles if they ate a leaf or something.
I can also do plants thats roots are submerged (I can protect the roots from being eaten) as long as the plant will not be harmful.

I'm just trying to make their tank seem a little more like nature for them but I do not want to hurt them in the process.

Thanks in advance
~Drew

[steve]

I think people have used grass before... and dandelions are good for them.

[VeipaCray]

Whatever you go with will get a lot of light from the basking bulb(s). I would pick something that does well in full sun exposure. Dandelions do well in sun and are very low maintenance.

[Drewet88]

Dandelions like the plant that I'm constantly weeding out of my yard?
I'm guessing you mean the leaves before they turn into seeds.

That works for me, is there any other types of plants I can use as well?
I'll be looking for some dandelions tomorrow in the yard, my yard is chemical free I wish I would've known I couldn't been feeding them to the turtles.

Does anyone know if they can eat herbs plants like mint?

Thanks again
~Drew

[steve]

I think mint has been used by a few people, I haven't heard of any problems.

[Drewet88]

Thats good to hear, I know mint grows like crazy and the hard part is containing it. Plus it smells good when you cut it.
Anyone else wondering about non-aquatic plants for turtles here is a link:
http://www.anapsid.org/resources/edible.html

Mint isn't on the list but maybe we can start a thread where people can post what plants they feed their turtles.
If there is already a post like that I didn't see it but who knows.

Now I'm going to look up a few of these plants and see which ones can grow nicely in sand.
Dandelion seeds are harder to come by then I thought. My efforts are getting rid of them from my yard worked to good and now I can't find a single one to get seeds, so I guess I'm off to ebay if I don't find them at a local plant nursery tomorrow.

EDIT: Since dandelions are part of the sun flower family can I feed/grow sun flowers as well.? I know that people feed them to tortoises but I do not know if I can feed them to aquatic turtles.

[steve]

I don' know about sunflower. I would imagine it would be OK too, however I usually stick to the known good stuff.

[Drewet88]

Yeah I'm going to skip the sun flowers and just stick to dandelions and baby tears. I feel the baby tears will look nice because they will cover the pot and then flow over the sides into the tank. I have some dandelion seeds now (and the rest of its leaves) I already planted some of the seeds. I ordered some online and then the next day I saw one that was about to seed within the next day or two and I waited and collected so I'll have hundreds of seeds for a plant that I'll rarely have to reseed.

Later I'll find a baby tears plant when I go by the plant nursery in a few hours but I'm still not sure if it will grow in sand, and I don't want to have to fertilize.

Just an update, I also finished my DIY canister filter. 100 gallon tank and the powerhead does 700 GPH so far all I have in there is biological filtration (the blue spikey balls) and I have two more compartments to fill up. I still have my other filters running with the new one but I plan on turning them into water polishers after the new filter has finished building up its bacteria.

Now I'm off to buy more biological media, some sponges, poly-fill and a couple of tiles. I don't think my turtles are getting belly heat from egg crate so I'm going to hope this tile will help with that.
*Man I can never stay on topic*

Happy Wednesday
~Drew

[steve]

Sounds pretty good. How big is the basking area? Tile can be heavy... don't forget about cork bark. We're going to need some pictures in the update

[Drewet88]

The basking area is 10in X 12in made out of doubled up egg crate, its also 10in tall if that matters. . Cork bark? I'll have to see if I can find that, how well does it conduct heat.? I'm willing to use anything that will make them more comfortable. My water stays between 76-80 the basking area is uaually between 85-95. I had to cover 3 sides of the eggcrate or it wouldn't get over 90 but its not covered with anything thick so when it gets colder I still have a lot of wiggle room for insulation.

Here are some pics. Sorry about the quality I had to turn off their heat lamp or my camera phone looks like I was pointing at the sun and it makes it even harder to make things out. They still need some upgrades to their area in my opinion but I don't know where to start.

http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae20 ... cd0a0d.jpg
In this pic you see the male basking (left side) and the female hopped in the water because she thought it was food time. The towels are for covering the light because the tank is literally at the foot of my bed.

http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae20 ... 5ed47c.jpg
In this pic you can see the intake for my DIY filter I need to get a longer hose to extend it. The output is hidden better on the other side of the tank.

http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae20 ... 9714c4.jpg
The tank is so dark without the basking light I'll try and get better pictures when I find the cord to hook up my real camera.

[Drewet88]

I think I should take out the two in-tank filters or at least one of them and use the other one as a water polisher and put it in the one spot my new filter seems to miss. Still a major upgrade in water clarity and its only been up and running for less than a week.
I don't like the divided tank look but its better for the female because the male just decided he didn't like her anymore and I was worried he'd hurt/kill her. (She bigger than him but never fights back).

Any other things I could improve besides getting another tank to properly separate them (I'm working on that still and after I find one I still have to talk the family into letting me put it somewhere besides my room).

The pet story by me sells cuttlebone and I never knew it. I've been wasting so much money $3 for 2 at petco/petsmart. The family owned pet store by me sells them for 25cent. Now they will ALWAYS have some in their tank.

The DIY filter is in a bad spot because of the short tubes. When I but the new tube and pull it from the cabinet I'll take pics of it. I used a 5 gallon bucket with a screw on lid, the intake comes through the lid runs through the media and gets pumped back into the tank from the bottom of the bucket, so it has no choice but to run through the media to get out.

Just checked my water parameters Nitrite is at 0 and so is Ammonia. I don't think I've ever seen ammonia at 0 before so I'm going to get another test kit (mine is a few years old) just to make sure its not the solution.

EDIT: Between the filter I made and the filter thats built into the back of the tank I have a crazy amount of room for media of all types, I just got to figure out which types to fill the rest with.
~Drew~

[steve]

Cork won't heat up as tile would, though with your turtle over it, I can't imagine it being too warm. I use tile and cork in different tanks, the turtles seem to have no preference.

As for the separated tank, I don't think there is anything you can do. Maybe make it look nicer, but the options are limited.

[Drewet88]

Yea I definitely have to make it look nicer and I sold one of my extra 20 gallons with a bunch of equipment yesterday so I have another $30 in the "new tank jar" at my current rate I'll be able to get a tank (no stand) before christmas. If my garage was heated I would get a stock tank and let them really swim around but thats only a spring/summer option. Cork bark I always liked the look of it and when my above tank plants start growing in it would be a nice accent.

I'm going to retire the rock and log thats currently in the tank for some plastic suction cup plants and remove at least one of the in-tank filters. I also might just use my old and tiny (rated for 10 gallons) in tank filter as a water mover and take both of the big whispers out. I'm sure my DIY filter is doing the majority of the work and it would make the tank look less cluttered IMO.

I might just use a bubble wand and see if that will help with the dead spot, there is only one and it is by the return. I've been noticing that they don't seem to mind the egg crate at all, I just want something that looks a little nicer. It almost looks like turtle jail because of my design but they do bask a lot more now that their bottom shell dries off completely.

Steve you are very helpful I noticed while searching through the pages (almost done pg. 111 out of 115 but I only read the ones with interesting titles lol) that you are active and knowledgeable. If it wasn't for this forum my turtles would be in even worse living conditions and I wouldn't even know that something was wrong.

P.S. I wasn't able to find baby's tears in store so I had to buy it online so I will be waiting for a week or two before I can get the real plant look. I also hope the plants will help build up a little humidity up there and make them feel more comfortable. My male loves the upgrades, he used to fear everything I put in the tank but now he is just as curious as my female. I'll take that as being more comfortable and happy about his environment.

~Drew~

P.P.S. I showed my family the recommended living conditions for red eared sliders (no one cared but my mom) she said when I find a tank I can put it in the living room (the rest of the family will be upset, I'll never understand how they could think turtles are creepy) but I'm still limited in terms of money so it will take some time. Full time student living off of financial aid so they consider me wanting another tank as a want not a need. But I always tell them "I WANT it but my turtles NEED it."

[steve]

How cold does the garage get? One nice thing about glass tanks is that they hold their value pretty well. If you're not careful, tile can leave scratch marks.

Your family might not understand what your turtle needs, but they will - in time - understand what it means for you to raise them right.

[Starscream]

This is a wonderful thread. I googled mint seed, which type should I be getting, does it matter?