hi im from manchester and iv been wanting a terrapin for along time, i would like to know how much its costs for a beginner to get everything thats needed and whats the best terrapin to get coz i have my eye on a yellow bellied one. the pet shop near me has gapliec or capliec map turtles, something spelt like that anyway. so basically any information you can give me will be very helpful.
cheers
chris.

I have no idea what those Maps might be, I can't think of any species that sounds like that, either you or the shop must have it wrong!

The best species depends on how much space you have and how much you're prepared to spend, big turts need big setups which cost more than small ones. YBS can grow to 12"+ and eventually need a very large setup, much bigger than many people would consider having.

Cost depends on whether you buy new or second hand, the size of setup required for adults isn't really suitable for hatchlings, so it's best to have a starter setup then upgrade as neccessary.

If you bought everything new then a good starter setup would cost around £200, if you can get some of the major parts second hand, like the tank and filter, then you could easily halve the cost.

And don't forget to factor in the running costs - that external canister filter will eat media (remember that it will need cleaning out and replenishment far more often that it says it will for fish) and that costs money. Then you have to allow for the 'hidden' costs of power as you're going to be running the tank heater, lights, filter pump, etc.

Oh, and you'll need to make sure you can cover the vets bills too - my female's eye infection cost us the best part of £100 - as your local cat, dog and cow vet won't be able to deal with it so you'll need a specialist.

I'm not trying to put you off, neither is Graham, it's just that you need to be completely confident you're going to be able to manage this commitment for the next 30 odd years!

(oh, and rather than buy from the pet shop, have you thought of re-homing one? there are a lot which need good homes having been bought by people who weren't ready for the commitment of owning one)

The point about vets bills etc is a good one, as is the cost of electricity which is going to be the equivalent of running a 100W light for 14 hours a day, but filter media shouldn't need replacement.

My filters are filled 90% with Alfagrog which lasts for ever, it just needs rinsing occassionally, and coarse filter foam can be washed and re-used almost indefinitely. Fine filter wool needs replacement but is very cheap, the most expensive media would be activated charcoal, but if the rest of your filter system is working properly you shouldn't need it.

I run a Hagan 405: with four chambers of activated charcoal and four chambers of their biomax substrate, there are also two foam units as well. When we first started sorting out our setup a lot of the information sites we read spoke highly of this filter.

The foam lasts, well ages, I replace the biomax every 6 months and 50% of the carbon every 6 weeks or so. If I get into it and it doesn't look too foul, sometimes I rinse the carbon out rather than replace it, to get rid of the lumps. The biomax and the foams are the 'living spaces' for the bacteria and so you need to let them build up a nice colony.

If I were you I'd ditch the carbon, it's a luxury and shouldn't be neccessary, and it certainly shouldn't be rinsed and re-used as it will leach all the nasty stuff that it's removed back into the water! Four chambers full of the stuff is way too much anyway.

If you use Alfagrog as your bio-media you never need to replace it, it lasts for ever and all you have to do is rinse it out once in a while, I do mine once per season! Fill most of the filter with that, and in the bottom chamber have a foam pad to stop the bio-media becoming clogged.

When the bacteria have colonised the bio-media your filter should need very little attention, if it's working properly it should be virtually self-maintaining, the biggest problem I have is the pipes which tend to clog up, but never the filter itself.

Will that Alfagrog stuff work fine in my 405? It looks very similar to the Hagen Biomax media (ceramic porous stuff the bacteria can colonise).

It'll work in any filter, it's just a porous lava rock, BBQ rock (for gas BBQs) also works very well.

I'm not too familiar with the innards of Fluvals, but with most filters that have media baskets the baskets themselves take up a fair bit of space, if you can do it you may want to take the baskets out and just put the media in a bag, you should get more in that way.

That's why I like Eheim Classics, just a big container that you can fill with media and a pump on top, no unneccessary bits and pieces!