Quote (MadMan87 @ Oct 25 2022 11:50am)

He’s running 3x cheap 55 gallon filters with carbon inserts. The rule of thumb is you want double to triple filtration for a turtle cause they are messy. He’s in a 40 gallon that AT MAX I put at about 1/3rd full currently because of his small size and disability. So it has like 12-13 or so gallons in it when I first change it. He does however have other creatures in his tank so I kind of overkilled it on filtration but whatever lol.

As far as cleaning. The tank needs good bacteria to keep the water clean. So once a week I do a 25% water swap and swish all the debris off the filters in the old water so it keeps that good bacteria but isn’t all clogged up. I use sludge destroyer and water cleaner in every 2 gallon jug I make to transfer into the tank. The sludge remover helps breakdown feces and food debris the creatures miss which helps keep it clean. I do NOT user water shine chemicals. They are a terrible and lazy way to have “clear water”. Can be dangerous too.

Then every 6 months I do a full clean including filters. Pull it all out and scrub down everything as well as scrub his shell to help prevent shell rot. Since I have hard water here I scrub his shell about every two weeks anyways.


Hope this answered your question.

Quote (lolkggz @ Oct 25 2022 11:56am)

I've always wanted toget into fish and all that and have a nice tank.
I just get discouraged with all the ins and outs of waterflow/filtration and temp shit.

Quote (MadMan87 @ Oct 25 2022 11:58am)

It’s not that hard. Fish have a much simpler filtration rule. 1:1 . Start with a small freshwater tank.

Quote (lolkggz @ Oct 25 2022 12:01pm)

Could you recommend me a setup?
Can be above averaged price.
Feel free to pm me some amazon stuff or w/e.
If you don't want to, then thanks for the advice here.

Quote (MadMan87 @ Oct 25 2022 12:04pm)

Depends on pricing. Honestly. I’d go cheap. Our Beta tank is just a 10 gallon Walmart set up. It has a Beta, 2 African dwarf frogs and 2 mystery snails in it. All the stuff came from Wally World except the creatures lol. And it’s a year old tank already.

But if you want bigger I can certainly look a set up up for you. It also depends what kind of creatures you want. Plecos take bigger tanks.

Quote (lolkggz @ Oct 25 2022 12:06pm)

Did the small tank come with everything you needed?
Plug and play is what I'm kinda looking for my first one.

Quote (MadMan87 @ Oct 25 2022 12:08pm)

Aqueon makes great plug n play options. It’s a petco brand if I remember right and cheap. But you can get the kits on Amazon. You may want to change decorations and get more food but they generally come with EVERYTHING except the fish.

Quote (lolkggz @ Oct 25 2022 12:10pm)

I'll look into this and make sure to let you know how it's going.
I have a 20 gallon tank already it's been downstairs for ever and I have some small pebble rock in a back I also bought.
I'm just concerned with the filtration stuff and temp. let me find the one i bought one sec

Quote (lolkggz @ Oct 25 2022 01:01pm)

Could you recommend me a setup?
Can be above averaged price.
Feel free to pm me some amazon stuff or w/e.
If you don't want to, then thanks for the advice here.

Quote (MadMan87 @ Oct 25 2022 12:11pm)

1:1 is the rule in freshwater. But if you have too high filtration it’s OK as long as it doesn’t create too much disruption.

Quote (Chainsaw47 @ Oct 25 2022 12:13pm)

If you want to grow your own plants in the tank I’d go with a 15 gal Fluval Flex. It’s a good all-in-one for a beginner and not too expensive. I have a nice Betta and a couple Amano shrimp in mine, quite low maintenance compared to others.