[AQUATICDAVE]

hi im new to this site and i've just had a tank delivered im wanting to keep short shelled turtles in it im not sure if i can leave a few inches below the power head so as when i do get turtles i can give them somewhere to bask and have a dock for them on the instructions it shows a indicater show the min and max levels of water but the writing is so small im unsure i do want to keep fish aswel maybe plex that sort of fish so any help would be well apprieciated thanks everyone. dave

 

[shell shocked]

ive never heard of a short shelled turtle mate , what exactly are you looking to get.

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

ive never heard of a short shelled turtle mate , what exactly are you looking to get.

Sorry mate should of read soft shelled turtles not short shelled mate do you know anything about them please. dave

 

[nicky]

have you tryed putting this in shelled area aquaticdave as thats probably the best place for a reply, im not to good on soft shelled but i have a mate that keeps them so i'll find out what i can....

 

[shell shocked]

sorry mate shoulda twigged.
I would say youre best bet would be to use an external filter with it.
As for fish i wouldnt bother because as soon as the softies big enough it will eat them.
What species of softshell are you looking to get as most get very big.
I have an adult male chinese softshell for rehoming at the mo hes 12 inches long .
these are one of the smaller species and the females are bigger.

The best set ups for softies are large tanks with seperaters in them so they can climb onto a land area and bask but a dock will do fine while they are small/
Hope this helps.
Lloyd

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

sorry mate shoulda twigged.
I would say youre best bet would be to use an external filter with it.
As for fish i wouldnt bother because as soon as the softies big enough it will eat them.
What species of softshell are you looking to get as most get very big.
I have an adult male chinese softshell for rehoming at the mo hes 12 inches long .
these are one of the smaller species and the females are bigger.

The best set ups for softies are large tanks with seperaters in them so they can climb onto a land area and bask but a dock will do fine while they are small/
Hope this helps.
Lloyd

Cheers! mate thanks for advice to be honest with you im not sure on the species i've got 2 turtles on uses the dock but the other one won't and i'm worried it will die if it can't bask? dave

 

[shell shocked]

it wont die mate just keep an eye on it for any sign of shell infection.
You need to check out on the net what species you have cos most get very big

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

it wont die mate just keep an eye on it for any sign of shell infection.
You need to check out on the net what species you have cos most get very big

Cheers! mate i will look on net to see what kind of soft shelled turtles they they have got long noses and use this to get air when near the surface thanks for advice i will let you know asap. dave

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

have you tryed putting this in shelled area aquaticdave as thats probably the best place for a reply, im not to good on soft shelled but i have a mate that keeps them so i'll find out what i can....

Cheers! thanks for advice look forward to hearing from you nicky. dave

 

[Andyman]

Hmm thats an odd one, i woudn't have bought an AR-850 for turtles as the water levels need to be quite high as the filtrations in the lid, power heads situated to high in the tank for the idea to work, otherwise leave the filtration off and buy an internal filter, wich pretty much defeats the object of the tank in the first place !

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

Hmm thats an odd one, i woudn't have bought an AR-850 for turtles as the water levels need to be quite high as the filtrations in the lid, power heads situated to high in the tank for the idea to work, otherwise leave the filtration off and buy an internal filter, wich pretty much defeats the object of the tank in the first place !

thanks for advice well i've got 2 little baby soft shelled turtles now can i ask you why the water level needs to be high please i've got the water level just about 2-3 inches from the top i'm hoping that will be enough as i've got a turtle dock for them and they seem very happy in the tank! DAVE

 

[Andyman]

Checked it out at work, with some of the aqua one tanks the power head is just below the lid, if the water level was to low the power head would be out of water, the 850 just has the tubing coming down tho and the powerhead in the lid. Its pretty hard to explain, but if uve got it working well done :wink: wouldn't mind seing a few pics of it settup !

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

Checked it out at work, with some of the aqua one tanks the power head is just below the lid, if the water level was to low the power head would be out of water, the 850 just has the tubing coming down tho and the powerhead in the lid. Its pretty hard to explain, but if uve got it working well done :wink: wouldn't mind seing a few pics of it settup !

hi yes it seems to work well with the water level being about 2-3 inches down from the power head i dont think it will burn out do you? when i can work out how to take a pic and put it on my pc i will let you have a look mate! dave

 

[Andyman]

Hmmm if its workin fine i shoudn't see a problem, might try your idea out at work if i'm aloud, be a good project !

 

[AQUATICDAVE]

Hmmm if its workin fine i shoudn't see a problem, might try your idea out at work if i'm aloud, be a good project !

yep you've got try a few things out to see if they work ok the only thing that is worrying at the mo is i don't see the turtles out of the water the last time i did was a good week ago and i've only got 1 turtle dock and only one uses it stays there most of the time the other one won't go near it and thats whats a worry the other one not getting a chance to bask etc.... pet shop got no more docks left i might have get one more of the net! my brother is coming for tea tomoz so he can see the turtles! they are great things to have. dave