Hey there, I know it's been about a week since my last update. I've been super busy with various project but I haven't forgotten about this one! I've gotten good response from the video posting so what I'll do is make an effort to provide more video content to supplement my content. If you're interested in the tank, you can find it here: Tetra Half Moon, 10 Gallon kit
This week I've got a video for you which showcases my feeder tank in some detail. Check out the video!
Key Notes:
-Feeder tanks help to reduce the chances of introducing undesirable fish into your main tank.
-Feeder tanks can result in accidental births. Try using Java Moss to keep your FREE fish alive!
-If you'd like to make your life easier, don't buy a "special" design tank. Rectangular makes your life easiest.
-If you plan on breeding your own feeders, be aware that you'll likely need a much larger population of feeders than the population housed in your main tank.
-If you lose feeder fish during the quarantine process, don't sweat it. You're helping to keep your prized predators alive by rooting out the diseased fish.
-[Not explicitly stated] Keeping your feeder tank in a visible place or checking on it regularly can help you with the removal of undesirable fish.
As you can see, there are several elements here. In the top left, you can see the bottom of my floating dock for basking. The bright light above it is a UVA emitting bulb. To the right of that is a UVB emitting bulb. Below the dock is a rest station for the turtles (you can see Isabella, a Map Turtle, standing on it if your eyes are good!). The central area is clear , allowing ample swimming space. To the right is where all of my Hornwort seems to collect. This area provides space for fish to hide, and a secondary "rest" spot for the turtles if they tire of swimming. There is duckweed along the surface of the water also adding to the level of "safety" that can be felt by the tank's inhabitants. There are 3 pieces of driftwood along the bottom. The turtles rearrange these however they feel and I make no effort to manipulate them besides to clean under them. Notice that the water level does not reach the top of the tank. There are products out there (and some do-it-yourselfers!) to help your turtles bask above the tank should you find that preferable.
Now that you've become acquainted with my tank, lets take a closer look.
Basking Dock
The dock is made out of Cork Bark. It was purchased for a small fee at a local fish store that I've come to love called "Big Al's". The fee was very reasonable compared to the prices for brand name docks created from man-made materials. Something to note about using natural woods in your tank is that it changes the chemical values in the water and will turn your water a "tea" colour. More on how to deal with this in the future.
This dock is great not only for the turtles to get out of the water (which the species kept in this tank needs), but also for some of my fish to feel more at home. Hanging out below and near this part of the tank you'll generally find my Boulengerella Maculata (common: South American Spotted Gar) and Ctenolucius Hujeta (Common: Rocket Gar; Silver Gar). Both are timid ambush-type predetors.
The Drift Wood
As mentioned above, adding "real" wood to your tank will have an impact on the water parameters and "stain" your water a tea colour due to the release of tannin. The natural woods provide safe zones for fish to hide and help break up the bottom of the tank into "zones" to reduce agression.
The Plants
The plants in this tank are all chosen for their ability to survive while uprooted, torn appart and otherwise abused by turtles. I have included a flourecent light above the right half of the tank to provide essential lighting for live plants. I wouldn't say I have a real green thumb, but these plants have proven hearty additions.
Hornwort is a great little plant that grows uprooted just fine. It can be torn in the mid-section and both halves still seem to grow fine. The leaves and shape provide great cover for smaller fish to dart through when running from larger ones, and at this stage in my turtle's life still provides enough bouyancy that they can rest on top of it and float near the surface without putting in any real effort!
Duckweed is another top-pick from me for addition to a turtle tank. It has a few benefits but also a few drawbacks, so beware.
Benefits include:
Fish and turtles will use it as a source of food, and it produces quickly so while you'll likely run out of it eventually, you do get some value from it. Some people even like to grow it themselves in a separate tub so they don't need to buy it again.
It provides surface cover for fish and turtles and helps to feel like they can hide. This reduces stress and helps to maintain good health.
It looks great if you're going for a "swampy" feel to your tank!
Drawbacks include:
It can get a bit messy. Syphoning out the tank leaves me with an arm covered in duckweed every week! I try to save as much as possible, but I lose some down the drain inevitably. Both results can be somewhat annoying.
It can clog your filter. I find that, especially with lower water levels, duckweed seems to find its way into the filter intake and easily clogs up mechanical filtration.
If you keep turtles in a tank it's advisable to leave the top open for air cirulation. In my 75 gallon (4' x 1.5') with a caged top I lose 1-2" of water level every week. As the water level lowers, duckweed will be left behind clinging to your aquarium's walls. This can be somewhat unsightly, thought is relatively easy to clear. I use a dish brush (this is all it's used for!) to clean the surface while performing water changes.
The Substrate
While I haven't spoken a lot about this, chosing the correct substrate is very important. Not only is it one of the most annoying things to try to change later after setting up a tank, it has a big impact on your weekly maintenance and the feel of the tank. I think that we can all agree that a fish tank with natural sand has a different vibe than one with pink and blue painted gravel!
River Stones were purchased at a local garden center in large bags for a very reasonable price. After looking at garden supply prices a trip to the local pet shop to look at the price of their gravel will be painful! The river stones, while looking great in my opinion, also offer two benefits.
They don't fit in a turtle's mouth. Sometimes turtles will swallow gravel and stones that are a bit too big.. this can cause a lot of damage to their digestive tract and is called "impaction". We don't want to give them the opportunity to hurt themselves!
The stones create a two-tiered leveling to the bottom of your tank. They offer many spots for your fish to hide when they don't feel safe.
Sand is also included. I like sand as a secondary substrate for my stones. It brings a couple of valuable features.
It acts as a "filler" between the stones. This makes cleaning a bit less taxing as a LOT of gunk will build up below the stones when you include as many natural elements as I try to. Dead plant matter, feces, uneatten food and parts of prey animals that did not get fully consumed will build up down there. While having these things in your tank isn't the end of the world - having too much can cause problems.
The sand can be eatten by your turtle without causing too much harm. Unless they eat a lot of it at once, it's small enough to pass through their system without blocking everything up. On a side note - I did not use sand in my aquarium while my turtles were still genuine babies.
It should be noted that if you use a sandy substrate you'll want to make sure that it gets moved around a bit. It will settle and pack itself pretty tightly. This can allow pockets of gasses to form beneath and cause problems for your tank's inhabitants. Just be sure to include something that'll dig around and disturb the surface of the sand to counter this. Doing it manually is also viable, of course!
I thought I'd take some time to run over a few things. I'm not the first, nor will I be the last person to have the inclination to keep aquatic turtles and freshwater aquarium fish together in the same tank.
I consider myself to be fairly successful at this, but it can provide some challenges. Here are some things that will eventually come up that you should be aware of before you begin.
Turtles Won't Hesitate to Eat Your Fish!
It's true. They won't always want to eat that feeder fish you threw in the tank for them. Sometimes they'll chow down on a $10, $20 or $30 dollar fish that you thought would make a beautiful addition to the tank. If you are not prepared to lose a fish in this way, then you may want to reconsider.
I personally have lost only one fish unintended for consumption for certain, a Ctenolucius Hujeta fell prey to a turtle snap and was partially consumed. I was disappointed for sure! A betta also mysteriously disappeared one night. I have no solid evidence, but I do have a couple of shelled suspects.
Turtles will eat fish that are larger than their heads, so having larger fish in the tank is not always a guarantee of their safety either. Generally, swift agile fish that are comparable in size to the turtle are a solid bet.
Turtles Aren't Guppies!
Your turtle(s) will get into everything in your tank. They'll uproot plants, move rocks, dig holes, toss your driftwood around, try to pull your heater off the glass and just generally get into all the trouble they can manage. When you set up and maintain a freshwater aquarium including a turtle, you'll need to be aware of this! Check out AquaticAdventurA's Youtube Channel for videos of my 75 gallon tank containing 2 juvenile map turtles. As of today, it includes 100% natural ingredients (rocks, sand, woods, live plants). All plants were chosen for their ability to survive uprooted or floating through the tank. If you keep turtles in your freshwater aquarium be sure to turtle-proof it!
Water Level.
Many turtles require the opportunity to bask. This is done by climbing out of the water and sitting under a heat source, normally the sun in the wild to absorb heat and nutrients from its rays. Because of this, they require special lighting to achieve this. I'll cover this in more detail in another post, however should you choose to keep turtles in your freshwater aquarium with fish, you'll need to leave space between the top of the aquarium and the water's surface for them to get out and bask. You'll also need to provide that area to climb out. I have used multiple products in the past for this. As of writing this, I am using a piece of cork tree bark as my turtle's basking dock.
This doesn't regard the blog topic in particular, but in an effort to increase the legitimacy of this blog and its content, I will be creating accounts for it on high quality social media sites. Namely Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for the time being.
It is my hope that I can enhance the quality of my offerings by becoming involved in these social sites.
Please find each of the accounts dedicated to this site below.
I wanted to take some time to discuss water quality with regards to the addition of new fish.
There are a lot of resources out there regarding how to test your water for various conditions (pH, hardness, salinity, temperature, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates). What I wanted to touch on, though, is the value of understanding the impact these conditions - intended or not - can have on the fish in your tank.
Lets say you've had your tank running now for 6 weeks. Inside the aquarium you've got a close to capacity stock of fish. If you had not changed the water for a while (Lets say it's been a few weeks and your water changes prior to that have been small), you may find that the conditions in your tank are not where they should be for your fish. In fact, they might be quite a bit off for targets! You might start to ask yourself why your fish seem to be okay but the new one you added today died within hours.
Here's the answer!
As the water quality gradually decreases over time with sub-par water changes and maintenance, your current fish are slowly being acclimated to the increasingly undesirable state of things. The opposite is true of the fish you just added. While you may have placed the bag in the water, let it sit for 15 minutes to match the temperature of the bank's water to the tank's water and then gone about adding your fish... What's happened here is similar to you breathing fresh clean air one minute to suddenly finding sucking on a truck's tailpipe. It's quite a shock as you might imagine!
So if you're wondering why new fish you're adding to an established tank aren't surviving... Try a 25% water change twice a few days apart before adding another friend!
So you think you've figured out what sized tank you're going to need. Awesome! As per the old saying "measure twice, cut once", let's make sure that this good decision can turn into a great one.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Is my tank going to be a near a window?
If so, you may be inviting an algae growth issue in the future. Extended exposure to light creates an excellent atmosphere for algae growth on your tank walls, your substrate and the decorations as well! Adding an algae eating specimen to the tank may not be enough to keep it at bay.
Another concern with placement near a window can be changes to the temperature. If the sun is beating down on your water all day, you may cause the fish extreme discomfort resulting in stress and/or death.
Is the tank going to be on a flat surface?
This may sound silly, but some tanks can be under a lot of stress from the weight of its contents. Providing a level and supportive structure for it to rest on can help reduce the chances of the tank acquiring pressure cracks or even outright breaking. A leaking tank is not something most people want to deal with!
Where is my tank in relation to maintenance items?
Carrying buckets full of water up and down stairs is not the most enjoyable experience. If the bucket is too full - a likely scenario if full buckets mean fewer trips up and down the stairs - splashes of water can end up in places you don't want them to be! This point is particularly important in my experience because it has an impact on how willing you become to perform necessary water changes. Even if the tank is not up/down stairs, a "long" distance away from a water source can be a nuisance.
There are some alternative to the traditional manual bucket-and-syphon system. If you place your aquariums appropriately, there are products on the market that can syphon directly out of your tank and straight into your sink. To make the deal all the sweeter, they can pump tap water straight into your tank as well. You can find products like this Aqueon Aquarium Water Changer - 25 Feet
on Amazon for a fair price. From experience, it took roughly 25 trips to the tap to fill my 75 gallon tank for the first time!
on Amazon for a fair price. From experience, it took roughly 25 trips to the tap to fill my 75 gallon tank for the first time!