Taylor_Pound1127 Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hello, I am new to the ARC and also had a question about my FW tank. I currently have a 40g breeder tank, with Pool Filter sand in it, no live plants, and two RES turltes. The pump i currently have is a Cascade 1000 Canister filter with Zeolite Crystals as the filter media. The water quality is just not what i want for the turtles, and water changes are frequent. I bet some people would say to just give the turtles away because they're quite a hassle, but I was wondering if sumping the tank would improve the water quality? and what size tank should be the sump? and what size pump should I use? I have a spare 40g breeder tank that is already drilled and is ready to be sumped. Please let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 As big as possible would help. Turtles are extremely messy so you may have a difficult time keeping the water quality suitable even with 80 gallons total, but it would be a lot better. You can do a simple horizontal overflow and return and setup some bioballs with filter floss above them in the sump. It's important to use floss for this type of setup because you want to catch and remove as much physical waste as possible. Change out the floss every few weeks. Probably want 5 - 10x turnover through the sump per hour so anywhere from 200 to 400 actual gph. Rated will be much higher due to head loss from the tubing and the height the water has to travel vertically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor_Pound1127 Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Okay, thanks. I didn't want to buy a tank, sump it, get a pump, and not have the water quality change at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 oh great, another aggie . welcome to the site. do you have any fish in it? I'm not sure about turtles, so this may be way off the mark. But I found that having some bottom dwelling fish (pictus cats are some I like) will stir up the sand and keep it very clean. i'm not sure whether they ate detrius or just stirring it up put it back in the water to be filtered out. also, jestep is wise. value his advice way above mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor_Pound1127 Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 I'm in College Station, but no Aggie . Used to have a Chinese Catfish, but I went out of town and had someone feed the turtles for me, and they didn't do it properly, and the fish died from all the food clouding up the water. Turtles made it though. I've heard turtles will eat fish, since they're omnivores, but I've had turtles previously and I've noticed that as long at they're raised with them, they won't bite them. Guess I got lucky with that case. Other than that, the turtles are huge buttheads, but that's what I get for choosing turtles, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Personally, I would say don't bother with a sump right now because those turtles will need something bigger in the next few years at most. I would do huge water changes. The turtles won't care. You could change 90% a week and have super clean water. But if you are set on getting a sump I would do what jestep said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 No advice on the sump, but good to see another college station person on the board. There are a few of us here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I'll say +1 on large water changes though. Since its fw its easy to do huge water changes. On my 75 gallon planted tank I change about 30-40 gallons a week. Just run a hose out the window into the yard, and fill back up with buckets. Takes half an hour. If you had a python water changer it would be even easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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