Quote (Boniface @ Jan 30 2023 04:17pm)
The tank size he's in allows for much more.
No. He actually needs a bigger tank or more water. It’s a 40 gallon. The rule of thumb on this tank is this-
10 gallons per turtle shell length in inches - He’s about 2 & 1/2 = 25 gallons
5 Ruby red minnows need 5-10 gallons(we will say 5) = 5 gallons
2 mystery snails = 1 gallon each (2 gallons)
25+5+2= 32
Now notice the tank only has about 20 gallons in it at max. The reason for this is because he is slightly disabled and doesn’t swim as well as most turtles of his species.
So I’m TECHNICALLY slacking on space by about 12 gallons of water at the moment BUT he’s disabled and I don’t want my baby to drown so we raise it a little every 3 months as he gets better and stronger and bigger
I will likely add a Pleco and 2 more snails to help with water quality and algae cleaning EVENTUALLY once we hit the near 40 gallons of water mark and I make him an above tank basking area.
I will however be removing the fish house and adding another piece of mopani wood and more anacharis soon because the fish use the wood and not the house and they all prefer the natural stuff to the fake stuff.
It’s really fucking hard to stabilize an all natural tank. Took me almost a year.
BUT (fingers crossed) he has only but a tank mate once and it was because they were too close to him while he was eating. This in itself is cool cause sliders are notorious for HATING tank mates.
This post was edited by MadMan87 on Jan 30 2023 04:30pm