How do I grow plants for a turtle?

[Striker]

Hello again

More questions. Hopefully eventually I'll be in a position where I can provide an answer rather than coming up with a new question every week.

Anyway, how do I grow plants in my turtle tank? I have been buying elodea, vallisneria and another type and they are usually dead within a week or two. Sometimes when I remove them they have started growing roots, but the end result is always the same.

Is this normal or does it indicate a problem with my water quality,lighting etc? Any tips on how to keep living plants in a turtle aquarium?

 

[Chrisreptile]

there are fertilisers for your plants that you can buy at most good aquariums either in a liquid or tablet form. but i dont know how these will go with turtles.
the turtles easily destroy and eat the plants.
do the plants get enough light?

 

[Striker]

They get plenty of light. The tank has a reptiglo 5.0 and a basking spot lamp, and it is next to a window where they get sunlight (through glass though) until about 11am. I figured that would be enough but I don't know.

Also I have wondered about the fertilisers. Does anyone know how well they work and if they are safe for turtles? Should I have soil or something mixed with the gravel?

The turtle eats the plants but doesn't go crazy so there is plenty left and I don't think he eats enough to kill them.

 

[Chris89]

Is there anyway to have the plants well established before you re-plant them into the enclosure?

 

[Striker]

I tried growing them in a second tank for a while. They didn't seem to do very well there. Although I don't think they were getting enough light in it. Maybe I should try putting that tank outside and growing them.

 

[coxy]

plants need 3 things light CO2 and food ,how many turtles do u have? not an expert on them but id think there waste would provide enough nutrients for the plants to feed on, and im sure u have enough light so maybe its a CO2 problem

 

[Striker]

so how do I sort that out?

 

[coxy]

so how do I sort that out?

A good site i used when setting up my aquarium is http://www.fishlore.com/ its a yank site but has some useful info on aquarium plants i have had plants in my tank for about a month now no problem, just dug them into the gravel and let them go

 

[chrisso81]

Co2 is really only necessary on high tech planted tanks, I have several planted tanks that thrive on small weekly doses of ferts and adequate lighting. There are 2 common problems with plants that may be the source of your problem:

1: Half the plants available aren't true aquatic plants and usually die within a few weeks of getting them.
2: Plants often go into shock due to the transplant and shed their leaves and look like crap, your turts are probably knocking them around in this stage so they don't get a chance to recover.

I would look at potting your plants, using some sort of soil or special plant substrate (in VIC we just go and dig up our own laterite, a red, iron-rich clay) So about a third laterite covered with 2 thirds gravel should work well. Get them established in your spare tank and then chuck em in.
I wouldn't keep em outside because you night time temps will get too cold, unless you use some sort of Aussie native.

Good luck, and if the worse comes to the worse just get some fake ones, much easier to care for!!!

 

[slim6y]

The potting idea has worked will for me in my barra pond.

I use a mixture of river sand and gravel. But I do not fertilise as the fish in the pond provide adequate nutrients and any food left over is converted into fertliser (essentially).

Light is always an issue - if you don't have the right frequency of UV plants will just die!

But potting in a plastic pot plant holder with a mixture of river sand and the gravel will aid in rooting. The sand you can get from bunnings for a few $ - it's used in sand pits usually and is well washed and fine grade.

You may want a secondary tank (even if it is temporary) so these plants can take hold before your turtles destroy them!

 

[Striker]

Thanks for your help everyone. I'll try some of your ideas and see how it goes. Thanks again.

 

[Horsy]

If you had fake plants, would tit damage the turtle if he tried to eat it?

 

[chrisso81]

I guess if the turtle managed to bite off a piece of plastic plant it may cause problems like impaction, I don't keep turtles, but would they be strong enough to chomp off a bit of plastic? You can get silk plants as well, maybe silk pass would pass easier than plastic (if it was consumed).

Another plant to consider would be any of the anubias that are readily available. They are tough as nails, don't need much light and don't need a substrate, they just suck nutrients from the water column. They usually come attached to pieces of driftwood, so they make for an 'instant ' decoration.

Java fern is another plant that may work well, once again they don't need a substrate, or much light.

 

[slim6y]

If you had fake plants, would tit damage the turtle if he tried to eat it?

Do they even have those? I mean, they don't suckle their young (do they?)

 

[Anthony88]

Get plants from the anubias family, they grow slow but are extremely hardy and dont like to be eaten.

 

[Forensick]

yeah, i use anubis, quite exspensive... but mine even suvived being attacked by yabbies...

wedge the root hard between sone rocks... and your turt won't be able to dislodge it either.....

they are also good above the water line, if the root is submerged, so i have them around the rocks that my turt basks on

 

[wood_nymph]

easiest way to grow plans is to get a potted variety since they already have a stable and permentant root system. pop them in tank with a sting good UV light and buy some aquatic plant fertilizer, pet shops or aquariums sell these in a little pack. o and just a note on elodia, if you're in NSW as of june its been classed as a noxious weed and has been banned so if you want it find a pet store with some left and stock up now

 

[Anthony88]

keeping aquarium plants is really quite simple,
1.Dont purchase plants which are any colour other then green as these plants usually require high light levels.
2.CO2 is not needed unless your aiming for something spectacular or excelled growth beyond the norm.
3.Have a minumum of 1.5 watts per gallon (3.78 litres) you dont need much more then 2 watts/gallon for a regular planted tank get a tropical flourescent lightspecifically for aquarium plants($15-25)your reptile lights will not do much if anything for your plants.
4. Use gravel in your tank for the plants to take root into, between 2-5mm in diameter.(should be able to stick your index finger in quites easy with no resistance but should not give way easily either.
5.Don't need fertiliser or any of that other stuff, unless your tank is choc a block full of plants sufficient nutrients are produced from fish(turtle waste)food left over.
6. Putting your tank in direct sun is a big no no in the fish keeping hobby, this is because it promotes rapid and abundant growth of algae stealing nutrients your plants require. Unless of course you have a plant like wisteria which grows quicker then algae and steals nutrients b4 the algae uses it in this case i still dont recommend direct sunlight.
6. I strongly reccomend plants from the anubias family, if they grow to slow for you put them in a shallow container where only the roots are submerged and place the container outside, the plants will grow like crazy.

 

[Anthony88]

This is my tank, not stunning but good enough using just the things i described above. Yes of course if you use stronger lighting, CO2 injector, fertilisers it would look alot better. I did this a few months ago but then took it down because the plants grew to quick and pruning every week was annoying. Not to mention it choked swimming space.
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[k_sheep]

Another thing I've noticed in my tanks, is my elodea grows terribly in my high pH tanks (pH = 8 or 9) but thrive in my acid/neutral ones.

My turtle goes through so many plants (along with the rainbows in the tank!) so I keep a few plants in a bucket on the back verandah. They happily grow, and I just grab a bunch when needed. A bit disenheartening when they die in my fish tanks!