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Okay. After reading most of the posts on this forum, hubby and I have decided to get a turtle. We will begin buying all the necessary equipment during this coming weekend and, hopefully, will get a turtle about 3 weeks after we have set up the tank and made sure everything is running correctly.

I have two questions, though:

1) When the PH level in my fish tank is too low, rather than using chemicals, I add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the water (or more as needed) to increase the PH level (diluted in water then added to the tank). Would this be harmful to use when I set up my turt tank? I plan on letting the tank cycle for a couple of weeks so the PH should be okay but I wanted to be sure.

2) Would "transferring" some of the benefical bacteria from my fish tank's filter be safe in setting up the turt tank? I've done this in the past when I moved my fish to a larger tank but I'm not sure if it's okay to do for the turt tank.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Congrats on the future addition. What are the pH levels of your fish tank? I'm not sure what other effects there may be of using baking soda, though RES should be OK in the 6-8 range. Transferring the bacteria shouldn't be a problem, though how big is the tank and how big of a turtle will you get? With a smaller turtle/larger tank, I would let the beneficial bacteria develop itself.

What size tank and type of filter are you getting? I'd check the ph level before doing anything regarding altering it. If it's anywhere around 7, it should be fine. I'd also let the beneficial bacteria colonize on it's own (although you could give it a head start with a product like Cycle).

Thanks for the congrats.

The PH levels in my fish tank are currently 7.2 which is fine for the fish I have (gouramis and plecos). We have a 30g tank where the turt will go. We plan on getting a small turtle - no more than 2". I was going to get the 75g tank now but due to financial constraints (buying the new turtle items and then there was that home furniture sale a couple of weeks ago ) we have to wait until December to get the new tank (bonus time). We may actually get a 90g stock tank which is way cheaper and larger - that's still something we are thinking about. I want the glass tank because my hubby likes to sit in the living room and watch the fish and I know he'll want to do the same with the turtle (he doesn't overshadow them; just sits on the sofa and stares from a distance). We also plan on taking the turtle to a herp vet after he's been here for a few weeks - just to make sure everything is okay and be sure we have a vet that knows about turtles. I found a recommended herp vet who sees turtles about 45 minutes from home. Yep, we've been doing our homework.

For the filter, I was going to get the XP3 but I like the sound of cascading water, so I'll probably get a Whisper 100-150 - we've never had a problem with that brand in all the years we've had fish. Maybe I'll get a larger filter since we plan on upgrading in a few months. A much larger filter shouldn't be a problem in a 30g tank, right? I do plan on putting something in front of the filter that will still allow suction but the turtle won't get sucked up too.

I was planning on letting the tank cycle for a few weeks before getting the turtle, since I know PH levels change after about 7 to 10 days, even when there is nothing living in the tank. I guess I'll take your advice, Marisa and just let the tank cycle itself before getting the turtle. Seems like a safer idea. Thanks.

Turtles are much messier than fish, so you may find that you need a more powerful filter...