Below i have listed the main equipment required for the upkeep of turtles.........
There are many variations of each type of equipment used, i have listed a few of each to give you an idea of what's required.
ENCLOSURE
When deciding upon an enclosure always try and get a bigger one than required for the size of your turtle/s as they will soon outgrow a smaller tank.
Below is an example of a tank of mine housing one 2.5" long soft shell turtle....................
This tank is 4' long therefore i wont have to upgrade the tank for at least 2 years.
As you can see there is aquarium sand on the bottom and several hiding places amongst the rocks etc;....This is ok while they are juveniles but as they get bigger they will end up disturbing virtually all the accessories that you have nicely arranged within the tank.
For this reason my adult turtles don't have anything in their tank apart from filter/pump, heater, uv steriliser and basking area as shown in the following photo............
FILTER PUMPS
There are several types mainly used......
Internal 'submersible' filter/pump.
External filter/pump.
Hang-on type or piggyback filter/pump.
Undergravel filter/pump.
INTERNAL
This type is completely submersible, you will find many sizes rated by litres per hour flow rate.
They are compact and easy to maintain, i find these type suitable for juveniles/young turtles as the filter is able to cope with the mess they make (excretment etc;).
Below are a couple of examples i use..............(all photos are for illustrative purposes only)
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When deciding which size to go for always get one that can handle up to twice the volume of water that is in the tank as with turtles you generally don't fill the tank to the top.
These can be placed standing up or lying down within the enclosure, some have an adjustable flow rate (which is the type i go for).
Most submersible filter/pumps have an attachment for a feed of air (see blue pipe in photo above on right), this puts air bubbles into the flow of water thus putting oxygen into the water, which helps the biological cycle required within the water, and also provides the oxygen neccesary for turtles to stay underwater.
EXTERNAL CANNISTER FILTER/PUMPS
The cannister type filter pumps are ideal for large tanks housing adult turtles, once again there are many types and sizes(flow rate) to choose from, these have a few benefits over the internal type,
a/.......You don't have to put your hands in the tank to clean/change the filter media.
b/.......More powerful.
c/.......longer intervals between filter media changes.
d/.......The filter and pump are housed in the cupboard/unit under the tank out of sight.
Below is one that i use........
Note the two pipes at the top, the black pipe is the feed from the tank and the green pipe takes the water back in the tank, the blue middle bit of the cannister is where the media etc; is placed.
I find these type very efficient and less work overall as regards cleaning/changing media.
With this type of filter/pump they are usually supplied with a means of adding oxygen into the water, this is achieved using either a spray bar setup or as i do, by placing the 'exhaust' pipe a couple of inches above the waters surface creating a good stream of bubbles.
Hang-on or 'piggyback type filter/pumps
These type of filters are easy to maintain but are not suitable for adult turtles.
Undergravel filter/pumps
Undergravel filters are once again ok for small turtles but personally from experience i find them inadequate for adult turtles.
These are driven by a powerhead that draws the water in the tank through the substrate and bottom plate and upwards through a lift tube where the powerhead is situated. The powerhead can be replaced with a cannister filter thus adding a more effective means of filtration.
The downside is that you need a substrate bed (gravel), which has to be vaccuumed regularly and more time consuming maintenance to the setup.
HEATERS
There are 3 main types of heaters used listed below, although there are others i find that these are more suitable.......
SUBMERSIBLE HEATERS.
Submersible heaters are normally made within a glass tube and have an external temperature control.They must be placed within the flow of water to be efficient, but because the casing is made of glass, caution must be observed when used with turtles especially adults.
You can purchase plastic heater guards at most good aquarium shops. Or you can partition the tank off to prevent the turtles from reaching the heater. (see photo further below).
As you can see from the photo on right there are a few different sizes and all are rated by the wattage. Depending on the volume of water within your tank to choose the correct one. |  |
IN-LINE HEATERS
In-line heaters are by far the most efficient and safest way to heat your aquarium.
They are used with external cannister type filter/pumps and placed in-line with the exhaust (return) side pipe.
A decent one will set you back maybe £30
Here is a typical example ...........
INTERNAL CANNISTER TYPE HEATERS
This type of heater is designed to fit inside a particular make/model of cannister filter, they aren't as popular because of the lost media filtration space required to fit the heater within the cannister.
Don't forget whichever heater you use to have a thermometer (preferably the stick on type that you put on outside of tank glass)
Do not use the glass type thermometers because any damage from the turtles will result in the thermometer liquid entering the water which isn't good for your turtles health.
UV STERILISERS
UV sterilisers are used to help the erradication of algae within the the water, usually called 'algae bloom', this is when the water starts to turn green.
These sterilisers can be used in conjuction with a filter media called 'clearmax' which is inserted within the filter usually at the last stage of filtration.
Below are examples that i use...........
On the right is a uv steriliser that i use, for the relatively low cost to purchase they are a worthwhile investment, saving you the unnecessary upheaval of water changes so often. |  |
Here is the 'clearmax' filter media i use within the filter, used in conjuction with the uv steriliser (as shown above). This has to be changed at 2-4 week intervals depending on the amount of water/mess etc; |  |
If your setup suffers from algae bloom you must empty, clean and start from afresh and using the above similar items will prevent the algae bloom from returning leaving you with crystal clear water.
I use a steriliser in my big tank that has 3 adult turtles, i therefore placed the steriliser and the heater behind a screened off end of the tank as shown in the photo below........
The screen was a d.i.y job by myself using the top from a folding plastic crate from b&q (the type with lots of slots in it)
There are suckers attached to it at each corner and a hole cut out where the 'exhaust' pipe from the uv steriliser protrudes through.
Don't forget that turtles are good climbers so make sure they can't get out of the top!!!!!!!!!
The photo above shows my adult turtles enclosure, a typical tank setup for adult turtles.
The filter/pump is an external cannister type which is housed in the unit below, the heater and uv steriliser are partitioned off from the turtles at the righthand end of the tank using a fold up crate lid.
The lid houses a uvb striplight with a floodlight on the left for basking.
This type of setup requires less cleaning/maintenance than others therefore is ideal for adult turtles.
