Aquarium in enclosure

[longqi]

One really simple way to lift the water to a low waterfall is to put an air stone into a pipe
The bubbles will lift the water a short distance and aerate it at the same time

 

[Twitch_80]

Yeah course, I was going to put ruts in it for the water to splash over. The murray's love their vegies so good point, lettuce wouldnt last. It would be interesting to put a vine or climber as it would grow on the cage but Im not sure. I know grapes are bad for dogs but I havent looked into it for reps.

 

[longqi]

Bio filtration is extremely easy if you use a moving bed type filter
Moving because of air and water [fluid dynamics] is easiest
Best filter material is small straws cut into 5mm lengths or less
Excellent surface area and very few potential problems
Never blocks and once activated requires nearly zero maintenance

 

[Twitch_80]

Thats a good idea, I was going to use a pond pump and pump it from the far end of the pond to the top of the waterfall.

In theory the roots and rock wool would create the bio as well as the plants extracting the nitrogen. Its a good plan but as you said I think Ill have to do a bit of trial and error to get it right which is why Im thinking fish first, turtles next year.

 

[longqi]

If your dissolved oxygen ran about 5 in a 1000litre tank you could have at least 5kg of brown trout or 10kg of murray cod??
Yummy

Rockwool is quite good but can tend to block up a bit so watch your ammonia spikes
Efficient biofiltration needs a little bit of aeration
But starting at low stocking densities and slowly building up will let you learn the limits of each part

Plants are excellent nitrate and nitrite strippers so you are spot on with that bit

 

[Twitch_80]

LOL I wish, the other half wont let me grow any animals to eat, she doesnt even like going to the farm. So its turtles with goldfish and yabbies for them to eat but of course if we end up with a yabby problem Ill have to help out Im hoping over time I can put some other fish in.

 

[longqi]

Anyone knows a lot more about goldfish than I wish to know but Ive read some horror stories about the result when fed to some reptiles including tree snakes
Something about the chemicals they use to treat them or something like that??
Might pay to check that out a little bit if you dont know about it??

 

[Twitch_80]

Yeah I know, they are quite bad. I have a friend who has a small pond and some extra fish, I would be going from there as I know their history so it will be a bit slower to build them up but worth it. The only problem I can think of with this is if the turtles eat them all too quickly. Even though I know about that with the goldfish (and some other feeders bred in large quantities I believe) everyone still buys them for turtles with little effect which I find strange. I have a breeder tank set up with fish that I feed mine but it wount sustain them when they are fully grown. You are a wealth of knowledge mate, its awesome. Any other ideas of fish that may be a bit smaller?

Maybe Ill just have to go with trout and if they escape the turtles and get big well, damn, Ill just have to eat them

 

[Just_Plain_Nuts]

You dont use external filters?

We dont personally, we use these particular pumps because of their ability to pump water up to the waterfall height that we need. We replace the standard filters of these with wool and charcoal. We generally set them up now with a space inside behind the enclosure should the customer want to run a canister but that is up to them.

 

[Twitch_80]

Cool, your enclosures look great, it was the other photo of yours that put the idea in my head.

 

[longqi]

I used mosquito fish in one small system I used to show how it all fitted together
used to catch them in the drains so have no idea what type they were
I think they were long neck turtles I used and they gobbled the fish up quick smart
Had a few big yabbies in there too and they nipped a few of the fish but were pretty much ignored by the turtles
I made a floating cage from mesh for the plants with holes big enough for the fish to get in there
That way they stayed safe until they were silly enough to wander out of the cage
Even had them breeding at some point so must have had the balance pretty close to good

 

[Grylls]

I have a Kreffts turtle. They are a pretty common turtle and I just bought mine from the local pet shop. I had him in with another one the same size but they kept beating one another up.

If you are going to keep fish with turtles you need to grow them up together preferably and they have to be a good size otherwise they will eat them. A few of my cod and barras have chunks out of there tails. Turtles will eat anything, it doesn't matter if it's too big to fit in their mouths. Mine rips fish to shreads with his claws once he gets a hold of one. I usually buy him feeder goldfish as they are a little slower for him to catch. I also breed platties in a bath tub in my backyard for food as well as they breed like crazy!

Also you really can't have plants in with turtles. They do need them in their diet but don't expect them to leave your $30+ plants alone. I had some really nice ones in my tank with mine and he destroyed them all in a matter of days. I just have elodi now, grow it in the bath tub and put a few pieces in ever now and then. Other than that I have just a few fake plants. It doesn't ever matter if they don't like the taste of them. They will still rip anything to shreads or dig it up. You name it, they will destroy it!

I have introduced my snakes to my turtle. Only so they can see each other through the glass of the aquarium. The snake is fine but the turtle tries to jump out of the water to bite the snake. If It was me I wouldn't have the two anywhere near each other. It wouldn't take much for the turtle to grab the snake and claw at it. You would also need a baskin dock for the turtle as well, the water heated, a baskin light and uv light. If anyone reading this has turtles don't feed them turtle dinners or turtle sticks. Feed them hikari gold cichlid pellets.

Here's some photos of my snakes and turtles.







The last one is of him on his basking dock. Most people I've talked to say they don't often see there's basking. I put food on mine so my turtle has to go up on it. They will do anything for food! I've been doing it for a while now and he always goes up on the dock now to check if there is food haha! They are nice to own and mine is really tame, he doesn't mind being handled at all. They are extremely messy! I have one of the biggest canister filters I think you can buy and he still fills it up pretty quick.

 

[Twitch_80]

Yeah they like re-arranging stuff and destroying it, like oscars. I have a few fish in with mine but once they are large I doubt I will except for them to eat. So you feed them goldfish as well, no problems? I just find it odd that it doesnt have the same effect as snakes. If anyone can tell me why I really like to know.

 

[Grylls]

Yeah goldfish, platties, barbs, blue claw, earth worms, prawns if washed well!, boiled zucchini (used to feed it my pleco's so I tried it on my turtle and he loves it, makes a huge mess!) .. If you really want something to feed your turtles and have the space for another aquarium then get a pair of convict cichlids. They breed every couple of weeks I think! You just have to separate the babies once they are hatched otherwise the parents will eat them if they feel threatened.

 

[Twitch_80]

I like convicts but no room, the oscars are enough lol. You boil your zucchini? I just peel it.

 

[Grylls]

Oscars are awesome. I was either going to get them or the turtle and Australian native fish. I had a huge barra in my tank. He was so tame, used to pat him and hand feed him. He got too big for the enclosure tho so I had to give him to a friend. I replaced him with an archer fish !

One of my mates has an Oscar. It's on it's own so it's a bit lonely. It moves all the pebbles on the bottom of it's tank so it can see it's reflection. They it gets all moody lol. I think it needs a mate. It's Impossible to tell if they are a male or female. I used to have electric yellow cichlids. They were really nice ! Easy to breed as well.

 

[Twitch_80]

Yeah I have a huge tank that will have the two oscars, silver dollars and possibly blue yabbies in in. At the moment they are in seperate tanks just because I dont think its enough room for them to have their own space. One is friendly and likes rubs, rolls over for it and one is not lol. Have you noticed if you move the stuff around in the tank if they dont like it they move it back. Funny fish, loads or personality.

 

[Grylls]

Haha yeah I've noticed that! In my mates tank he has a big treasure chest in the corner. When the Oscar it unhappy if goes behind it and sulks in the corner! . They will be the next fish I get I reckon. I hate having to clean fish tanks though! That's why I like my snakes !

 

[Twitch_80]

Yeah its a pain sometimes but the larger it is the less it needs. There are ways to make it easier but its worth it.

 

[Grylls]

Yeah I mainly just have problems with algae growing on the glass. It a 5th tank with an aqua one 2450 canister filter.