Substrate ARRRRRGHHHHH (YBS)

[MyTurtsASnorlax]

Ive had my two yellow belly slider terrapins for over 6 months now and I started of with no substrate as the tank was smaller and it seemed fine - then they grew so fast i had to get a new tank, well i got a HUGE tank that had no lid so was for sale - and since they dont need a lid I picked it up ASAP =] but then i realized I had to go buy a huge UV lighter, heater, filter etc.
They love the tank but its so big I'd been told to put polystyrene underneath it to help support its weight, so with no substrate in it - it looks really awkward [and it's in the main 'living' room of the house], so i tried some large pebbles but every week when i did the partial water clean and moved the pebbles slightly it would disturb them and i noticed it seemed to be trapping lots of dirt underneath it - even though I have TWO external fluval 405's.
So then i looked into putting sand in the tank - but I heard it clogs the filters and can cloud the water.

So what is the best thing i can do to try and cover the bottom up and hide the polystyrene underneath without using pebbles, sand or big rocks?

P.S. I also don't understand why dirt was being trapped under the pebbles as I take my terrapins out and put them in the old smaller tank they used to be in - with no substrate and I put some terrapin sticks in and the occasional treat - then i leave them in that tank for 30-60 minutes as ive told thats when they .... get rid of it ... is that true ?

[MyTurtsASnorlax]

ALSO, I tried covering the bottom with all different kinds of living plants [and plastic plants] it looked really nice - then I went to sleep woke up the next morning when to admire the new look and I seen about 2 out of at least 30 plants left and the rest were just the plastic bases left on the bottom and the leaves were floating on the top, from what I could see my terrapins had swam down and bit the leaves from the base of the plant - I was aware they would eat them, but by eat I thought they would ... digest them? not just rip them from the base and leave them to float on the top lol
So plants aren't really an ideal solution either

[annsimpson1]

sorry to say when mine were smaller and inside I never did find anything other than the bare floor that didn't need moving around to clean it, if you hadn't already got everything set up I'd have said think about painting the underside of the tank that would hide the polystyrene. The muck always found its way under the rocks etc I'm always glad when mine go out in the pond for the summer, they have nothing on the bottom of their winter pond in the conservatory apart from a few pond plants that come in with them, some rocks and their basking bark.

[Mush]

Originally Posted by MyTurtsASnorlax

ALSO, I tried covering the bottom with all different kinds of living plants [and plastic plants] it looked really nice - then I went to sleep woke up the next morning when to admire the new look and I seen about 2 out of at least 30 plants left and the rest were just the plastic bases left on the bottom and the leaves were floating on the top, from what I could see my terrapins had swam down and bit the leaves from the base of the plant - I was aware they would eat them, but by eat I thought they would ... digest them? not just rip them from the base and leave them to float on the top lol
So plants aren't really an ideal solution either

bit random but what about some aquarium background or something similar on top of the polystyrine, thus showing something pretty and not the polystyrine?

[MyTurtsASnorlax]

Thx for the replies... I think I'll try and get some aquarium background and next time I'm due a water change I'll do a full water change and put the background underneath, anything's better than that polystyrene



Another thing I'm thinking about is, because I'm using a Zoomed terrapin basking zone - the one that attaches to the side and floats, I can't fill the water right the way up to the top as they will climb over the edge of the tank - So I'm thinking about doing this...

Getting 3 pieces of thin wood and nailing it to the back and sides of the basking area then putting the basking lamp on the wood using the clamp....
Would that work?