Filtration

[saber2th]

Hey everyone,
A friend wants to set a turtle tank for his kid and is going with a MartyMade 15gal. slider. Any recommendations on some filters would be greatly appreciated. There is only going to be one baby turtle of some kind with about 5 or 6 inches of water. Don't think he wants to spend a lot either, around $40.00-$50-00.

thanks,

Dave

[txherp]

I am not familiar with the MartyMade? 15 gallons is not going to last you very long unless you are housing a small musk or mud turtle species. What type of turtle is it? I like the duetto filters, they work well in shallow water.

[Christine]

Does he know he will need heat and uv lamps .. Turtles are not a cheap pet if you plan on caring for them properly. I have cascades and ehiems on my tanks

[iCandiBallPythons]

I have 2 red eared sliders and they are in a huge tank. The main thing with alot aquatic turtles are they need space, UVB lighting, and a great in-tank filtration. They can be pretty expensive animals to maintain. I would definitely make sure the purchaser does their research beforehand .

[txherp]

I had not yet gotten to the UVB part... In fact turtles do best when housed outdoors. They do not make good indoor pets. I volunteer for a turtle and tortoise rescue and I have seen some very sad cases. If he doesn't want to spend a lot don't get a turtle. And DONT get a red eared slider. When the kid decides that he is tired of the turtle DO NOT RELEASE IT! If you get something other than a red eared slider you might acctually be able to find a home for it later on in life. It is very hard to rehome RES, there are a lot of homeless ones already - just check Petfinder.com

[Christine]

I dont know If I would go as far as saying they dont make good indoor pets. I would say they are very expensive to set up indoors properly. I have a 125 gal and a 75 gal tank for my aquatics. For my tortoise I have a 6 ft by 2 ft wood and plexi enclosure they all have uv and heat lamps. You really need to give them the space, lighting proper diet and heating they need and yes there are alot of res that need homes cause they are the ones that are peddled on the street as these cute little babies that can live in a death bowl their entire life that is not true what so ever. Sliders get huge.

[txherp]

I dont know If I would go as far as saying they dont make good indoor pets. I would say they are very expensive to set up indoors properly. I have a 125 gal and a 75 gal tank for my aquatics. For my tortoise I have a 6 ft by 2 ft wood and plexi enclosure they all have uv and heat lamps. You really need to give them the space, lighting proper diet and heating they need and yes there are alot of res that need homes cause they are the ones that are peddled on the street as these cute little babies that can live in a death bowl their entire life that is not true what so ever. Sliders get huge.

Agreed

What kind of tortoise do you have?

[Christine]

I have a hermanns tortoise. Love the little guy!