Written by Ray Budiardja

Aquatic Turtle Supplies

pet turtle This guide is made based on author experience on nursing water turtles.

Enjoy the reading

WATER TURTLES NATURE

To set up healthy turtle tanks is quite a challange. You need stronger Aquatic turtle supplies capacity than ordinary fish supplies. Water turtles will pollute your turtle tanks with their feces, skin remains from molting process, food remains and fat.

Basically, to set up turtle tanks, I categorized water turtles based on their habits. There are 3 types of water turtles :

Floater type. This type of water turtles can float on water, they can swim well but always try to find something to hold on. They need island to rest and bask. Kinds of turtles s.a red eared sliders, cooters, yellow belly.

Sinker type. This type of water turtles can't float. Usually, they reach the water surface by climbing on something or swimming upwards to take breath and sink again. They are almost entirely aquatic, spending most of their time in shallow water, where they can easily take breath. Kinds of turtles s.a razorback musk turtles, long-neck turtles, mata-mata turtles.

Swimmer type. This type of aquatic turtles is a real swimmer. They have flippers like sea turtles. They are almost entirely aquatic, rest on the bottom of aquarium and don't bask. Most of softshell turtles have flippers with various shape variations. Pig-nose/ Fly river turtle is one of them.

Water turtles are messy eater. They eat a lot and you can imagine the waste they produced. For some owners, caring water turtles is troublesome. They must change water and filter media several times a week to keep the water clean and healthy.

Some owners even reduce the food significantly, to reduce the waste. It's totally wrong !. Water turtles needs enough food to grow, form strong shell and enhance resistance against disease. Shell and skin colouration will be affected too!. The colours will be dull, reducing the turtles' beauty.

The other owners put their water turtles in small container with a little water. They do that to make cleaning job easier. Poor turtles !, they can't swim, run and exercise. This treatment definitely affecting water turtles' health.

So, what are the right aquatic turtle supplies to ease my job ? Please click the next tab to see some considerations.

AQUATIC TURTLE SUPPLIES

Key Factors	Descriptions	Aquatic Turtle Supplies
Turtle tanks size / Water volume	For turtle tanks, water volume plays important part in keeping water conditions. Considering the waste, water turtles should be kept in big turtle tanks that can give bigger tolerance for shift in water conditions. If you had baby turtle, prepare the turtle tanks for adult size since they will grow rapidly. Recommended aquarium length is 6-8 times your turtle's adult size. Some water turtles are looking good from the top, some from the side. Side-view water turtles are best kept in aquariums, while top-view ones can be kept in ponds, patio ponds or big water pots .	Generally, sinker-type water turtles are side-view turtles. They look good for side-viewing and best kept in aquariums. Weight of your turtle tanks should be safely supported by strong aquarium stands. Choose aquarium stands with closed cabinet to hide your aquatic turtle supplies indside. Canopies for turtle tanks are used to keep water turtles inside, since it's nature to climb out of tanks to see outside world.
Turtle tanks Location	Although, most of aquatic turtles love to bask, avoid your turtle tanks from direct sunlight. Some wavelengths of sunlight create algae blooms!, use safe color spectrum of aquarium light to replace it.	It's better to keep your turtles tanks or ponds at shaded area. Use aquarium cover or car-sunshield to reflect direct sunlight.
Turtle Basking Platform	Basking stimulates a turtle's metabolism, aids in digestion, and strengthens its immune system.	There are various basking platform designs to meet the basking requirements of aquatic turtles. Just check out the options.
Turtle Food	Choose stape food that contains no soy, which can interfere with calcium absorption!. Turtle food should contain all the important components needed in an aquatic turtle's diet : protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, such as alfalfa, krill meal, fish oil, fish meal, spirulina, beta carotene, Vitamin A Acetate, D-Activated Animal-Sterol (D3), Vitamin B12, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin, DL Alphatocopherol (E), L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (C), choline chloride, cobalt sulfate, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, etc. Note: With No artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors.	In the market, there are staple food s.a Turtle Sticks, Bites, Pellets and Freeze-dried food s.a turtle mealworms and shrimp /gammarus treat.
Strong Filtration	You need strong and big capacity filters for turle tanks to keep it clean at least for a week before changing water. Separate your filters into 100% biological filter & 100% mechanical filter. Big capacity of mechanical filter is absolutely needed, while biological filter will keep your aquarium water healthy. Do not use regular filters with 3 stages filtration. Aquatic turtles produce a lot of waste that can make your filter easily clog. Troublesome to clean it in short period. Choose mechanical filter that you can easily monitor and change the filter mat/cartridges. Good mechanical filters make your biological filters provide healthy water conditions for a long time.	Following aquatic turtle supplies should be considered carefully before you decide. Usual 3 stages filtration of Canister filter or Wet Dry filter can be turned into 100% biological filter. Wet dry filter is the best biological filter since it's system provides better oxygen supply + greater surface area than other filters. From my experience, reputable brand like EHEIM filters can be considered. Although top filters are old-fashioned, they are suitable for turtle tanks. It's top position makes us easy to monitor, clean and replace the filter mat/cartridges. Remember that aquatic turtles produce a lot of waste and sometimes you had to clean or change filter mat/cartridges several times a week!. External power filters or HOB (hang on back) filters have limited space for heavy-duty mechanical filters. Choose the biggest size for the best result. If you choose Aquatic-terrarium environment (low-water) , use filters that are designed for operation in shallow-water and providing easy access for cleaning & replacing filter cartridges.
Biological Media	It's true that sand, gravel and driftwood are important media for bacteria habitat. But, some water turtles like to bit everything that interest them. They even sometimes swallow sand, gravel or pieces of driftwood whether it's intentional or not for their digestion. Although these biological media are important for decorations and keeping water quality, you should consider your nature of your aquatic turtles. Usually carnivorous aquatic turtles like mata-mata or snake-neck turtles don't show above behaviour, while omnivorous ones like most of water turtles eat everything !. Some water turtles get sick after swallowing pieces of plastic, rubber or gravel from aquarium decorations.	For aquatic turtles, please pay attention on gravel size. I think it would be better if you use bigger gravel size than your water turtles' mouth. Some aquatic turtles also like to flick sand, it can clog your filter if sucked up You can add Beneficial Bacteria directly into the water or spread directly on to your filter pad or media to immediately establish biological activity to stabilize aquarium environments s.a : ° Prevents "new tank syndrome" ° Helps to eliminate ammonia and nitrate ° Provides rapid reduction of organic waste ° Helps to clean power filters, ornaments and gravel.
Aeration	Aeration is very important for turtle tanks. Lots of organic materials in the water need plenty of oxygen supply for oxidation and bacteria living.	Use air pump/aerator for supplying oxygen to your turtle tanks. You can use simple airstone or add sponge filter. Although sponge filters are good at mechanical & biological filtration, some water turtles bit and eat the sponge !. So, check your aquatic turtles' behavior before you use sponge filter or remove it to avoid water turtles' health problems.
Water Flow, Water Agitation & Surface Cleaner	Common problems in turtle tanks are smelly water, oil slick on surface and surface scum. As peviously mentioned, aquatic turtles pollute your turtle tanks with their feces, skin remains from molting process, food remains and fat. Bottom water flow is important for bringing turtle waste into filters. But what about other waste like skin remains and fat that float to the surface ? • Vigorous water agitation or wavemaker creates strong currents to stir up water surface that preventing oil slick and scum to form. It's also important for gas exchange to eliminate smell from turtle feces. • You can also use Surface Cleaner devices which their intake systems can extract water from the surface into filtration systems. Important Note : For tank circulation, turtle tanks need Turnover Rate around 5-6 times per hour. If you fill your tank with 50 gallons of water and Turnover Rate is 6 times in an hour, you'll need a gph pump at 300 GPH (50x6). It's necessary to get higher gph pump by adjusting the turnover rate by 1 or looking for the next highest GPH rating - especially if you use filters for circulation devices where accumulate waste in filter media will slow down the water flow.	These aquatic turtle supplies are needed for your turtle tanks : Powerheads can be used for bottom water flow and surface agitation. But, water agitation provided by powerhead only cope with part of the water surface. You should use more than one powerhead to agitate the whole surface. Wavemakers usually used in saltwater aquarium, but it's useful for turtle tanks to create evenly currents on surface and mid water. You can also adjust the flows at desired level. Moving water also cleans aquatic turtles' skin and shell, preventing algae and waste to stick. Surface Cleaner options: • Surface Extractor will suck aquarium water's surface into filtration system, it can be used stand-alone or as filter input extention (using T connector). • Surface Overflow Box will overflow water from the surface into filtration system. • HOB + built-in Surface Skimmer for effective removal of Surface Film (oily, organic film and scum) & Dust from the surface.
Turtle Lighting	As reptiles (being cold-blooded), aquatic turtles (especially hardshell) need the sun’s energy to thrive. If we fail to provide the important life sustaining aspects of this energy in captive conditions, turtles will fail to meet certain different metabolic needs which can create serious metabolic problems. There are three important aspects of light : • Infrared light. It's not visible. It can, however, be perceived as heat by the skin. Aquatic Turtles need infrared radiation (heat) for thermoregulation and keeping optimal skin temperature, that's why they love to bask. • Ultraviolet or UV light is just beyond visible light. For aquatic turtles, UVB (Medium wave ultraviolet B), with the band between 290-305 nm is the most important for the photosynthesis of vitamin D3 in skin. Radiation above 310 nm destroys vitamin D3 that has been already synthesised in skin tissue or obtained nutritionally!!. Skin temperature has also a significant effect on the pace of vitamin D3 synthesis. Vitamin D3 is essential for the effective metabolism of dietary calcium in turtles. Inadequate vitamin D3 can cause bone density suffers, softening of the shell and other serious metabolic problems. • Visible light. Besides providing us with light to see properly, the indication of daytime and night time (light and dark) is an important function. Night (moon-like) light is important to to allow nocturnal viewing. Important Note : Not all Reptile lamps are suitable for Aquatic-turtles!	As it is almost impossible to accommodate all of these needs in a single light source, a combination of different light sources is necessary in most cases. • Incandescent bulbs are more suitable as a heat source (for basking purpose) than as a visual light source, also as night (moon-like) light which provide tropical night time temperatures. Incandescent bulbs fail to produce ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. • Fluorescent bulbs. They are classified as Visual light output and UVB output. The most important feature of a fluorescent bulb is the ability to emit sufficient UVB light (ultraviolet B), a component of sunlight, whereas an incandescent lamp only emits very little amounts of UVA light. But, it's impossible to accommodate BOTH a high visible light emission and a high ultraviolet (UV) output in a single bulb (due to different wavelenghts /nm). The more visible light emitted, the less UV-radiation and vice versa, the UVB light also gets a bluer appearance. So you need 2 bulbs (for visual light output and UVB output). • Self-ballasted mercury vapour bulb . The only light source today that is capable of providing the optimal levels of UVB, UVA, visual light and heat in one bulb!. Unfortunately these bulbs are not suitable for the smaller aquariums/ aquatic-terrariums because of their high wattage (above 100W). Lower wattages simply do not generate enough heat for these self-ballasted bulbs to work properly, making them unstable and unreliable. • Fixtures. The fixture is an important aspect of the lighting and heating system, ensuring the safety and proper function of the applied light or heat source. There are Canopy/ Hood and Screw-based fixtures (Clamp Lamp /Dome Lamp ). • Fluorescent Light Controller is an electronic ballast with a double fitting to enable the combination of different linear-fluorescent bulbs in order to obtain the right light output depending on the species and climate. While Dimming Lamp Controller, is an electronic ballast, a timer and a dusk-dawn simulator in one.
Turtle Tanks Decorations	Do not add decorations that have sharp ends, or so small that the aquatic turtles can swallow them. Floater-type aquatic turtles : Create an island to hold on, rest and bask (basking platform ). Sinker-type aquatic turtles : Since this type of water turtles loves shallow water, you can create an area that the water turtles can easily climb from aquarium bottom. You can also modify undergravel filter by adjusting the height of the filter-plate to desired level. Use the holes (for tubes) at the plate for filter-hoses' access (canister and top-filter / HOB). Put powerheads and sponge filter underneath the plate. Powerheads will cycle the water below and bring it to top-filter, while sponge filter will provide enough oxygen. You can put gravel on the plate or leave it plain. By doing this, the water turtles get its shallow-water habitat with plenty of aquarium water for maintaining good water condition. Swimmer-type aquatic turtles : Especially for pig-nosed turtles, avoid using sand and soft material decorations. They like to flick sand that can clog your filter. They also like to bit & swallow everything like aeration-hose or cables that can make them sick & die. • You can add natural-looking Turtle Hut /shelter for turtle's hiding place, it can relieve stress and comfort your turtle. • Natural Cork Bark is ideal for use as a natural decorative background, natural hiding places & shelters or as plant holders for your turtle tank.	Whatever types of turtle you had, plenty of water is better for any turtle tanks.
Turtle Care & Guide	Excellent water condition, diseases prevention and proper medication are very important for turtles to thrive.	Turtle Care products: • Turtle Water-Conditioner removes chloramines and chlorine, detoxify ammonia and nitrites and provides essential ions and electrolytes. • Turtle Health-Care products help to prevent common bacterial and fungal diseases of water turtles, amphibians and other aquatic environment reptiles. • Turtle Starter Kits are Perfect for beginners. • Use Turtle Medication to help heal cuts, burns, and abrasions. • Aquatic Turtle Guide Book offers sound advice on the maintenance and care of some turtle species, description of the animal as it exists in its natural habitat, information on its life cycle and distribution in nature, advice on selecting a good specimen, determining sex, providing proper housing, feeding, and health care.