Habitat - Indoor :: issue with my new pump and a few other items of interest...

[Turtlegrandma]

brief background: new to this site, have two 7 month old RES, about 2.5 and 3 inches, males. These are my sons turtles, that he left for me to look after!
After reading this site a lot yesterday I went out and bought a 55 gallon (or 50, not sure) tank to replace the 20. That meant a larger filter and heater....so 402.CDN dollars later they are looking pretty happy...BUT they keep knocking the pump out of it's "holder" and it floats up and sprays water everywhere!!!
The pump is a Fluval 4Plus and doesn't seem to have a very good "attachment" (3 small suction cups that "slide" into a "sleeve" on the pump), and the turts seem to push it around until it comes off. They love to lie on top of it as well, and ride the current! It is too long to go width wise so I have it lengthwise in the tank. I will eventually post pics, but have to figure that out first.
Can anyone tell me how they keep their pump from being knocked out of place???

Also: the thermometer that I had was stuck on the old tank, so I don't have one on the new tank yet...will get one today...but the water is very cold this morning - probably low 70's, or high 60's, and they were sleeping on the heater when I came in - is this ok? The heater looks like a curling iron and is warm to the touch, so I don't want them to burn themselves. I guess when I turned off the lights the tank is now so big that it really cooled off a lot. Should I turn the heat up at night? I have it set at 77 degrees.

I also read that some of you "scoop" out the turds when they are in the tank...I tried to syphon them out, but alas they don't go up the tube...are you using something special for this, or just your hands? I noticed them trying to eat their turds last night so I don't want to leave them in there.

ok, now to the feeding section for more questions...care to follow me there?

[marisa]

Ah the 4+. I used to use one, and had it suctioned to the bottom of the tank where it would float upward and come off the holder. The holder is definitely a weakness for this filter (among others). It sounds like you've got yours on the bottom as well (some stick it on the side of the tank). I weighed my down with a flat rock (actually tied it to the filter with thin nylon rope) which helped keep it under water and on the holder, while still allowing the turtles to climb on it. BUT, I still would check it periodically to make sure it wasn't slowly sliding off it (it never really did).

I don't think you have to worry about them burning themselves (unless maybe if you have a really high wattage heater like 400 watts)--the warmth from the heater dissipates into the surrounding water fairly quickly.

You could get a small net to scoop out the poop, but if the turds are small, a turkey baster (used only for this purpose, of course ) works really well.

[Pizza]

If you're getting a thermometer, it's best to get a stick-on, or a digital thermometer, turtles have been known to bite their glass thermometers (and glass heaters, anything really, even plastic). I myself use a stick-on, it's easy to set up (just stick it onto the side of the tank), and pretty good at telling temperatures, of course it isn't exact, since the sticker is outside of the tank and room temperature could interfere, but it's a pretty small margin of error.

A digital thermometer is going to cost a lot more, but if you're into the perfect set-up, it's there for you.

The 55 Gallon tank you have right now is plenty of space for your turtles, but they do grow rapidly, and prepare to upgrade to a larger one later, or even buy a second, once turtles mature into adults, many of them also grow aggression problems (Chasing, biting, fluttering), and need to be separated.

When I siphon the crap out of my turtle's tank, I use a bigger, larger hose in diameter, this way even the biggest things get sucked up. The downside to this is the water is also siphoned out quickly, you need to suck what you need quickly, or change buckets of water very quickly. It's normal for turtles to eat their own/others waste, though it's not the best, it cannot be avoided (unless you watch your turtles 24/7). I get the crap out if I have the time, otherwise I leave it in there for the filter to get (it gets mashed up pretty quickly from the turtle activity).

I've never owned a Fluval 4+, I heard some unreliable points about it, so instead I purchased a Rena FilStar brand filter, an xP4. Rena filters are the most popular types of filters among RES keepers here, and they work great. They are easy to maintain, reliable, and are significantly cheaper than other brands of Canister Filters (Eheim and Fluval for example). Not bashing Fluval here, but I have heard from other users of this brand that Fluval filters have a shorter life-span (well not exactly, just their parts wear out and break faster) than other brands of filters, finding replacement parts can sometimes he a hassle, and overall, leak or break more commonly (even the "improved" new models).

If you've saved the receipt, and where ever you purchased your filter from allows it, I would go for a refund (just my opinion though, I'm a Rena kind of guy), your FLuval just might be a flawless filter.

Well I don't know how to help correct your problem, so maybe others can help you with it, and yeah, when I ran out and bought all my turtle supplies, it cost over 740.00 CDN, and that was after running around town to numerous pet shops for the best prices!

[megcornell]

Hello, I too have the Fluval4 Plus, I only have one turtle so it doesn't take as much of a beating , but i have mine in the corner of my tank with the suction cups closest to the corner, that seems to keep it in place. I have no problems with it keeping my 35 gallon tank spotless but your bigger tank may require better filtration ( you should aim for a filter rated for a tank 3x as large as your current tank).
As for the heater- what size are you using? It should be doing a better job of keeping the water at 77... did you measure the temp or just base it on feeling? Because sometimes even when Leo's water says 78 it certainly doesn't feel that warm to me, so you may just have to wait for the new thermometer to know how good your heater is. At night, I cover part of Leo's tank to keep the water from giving off too much heat, you may want to do that as well...
I personally don't scoop up after Leo. If he chooses to snack, I let him, I figure it won't kill him.