Custom filtration system is working great

[Marshall]

I got tired of having a canister filter to clean for every terrarium so I decided to see if I could build a single centralized unit to clean them in groups of three. Luckily I was able to recycle parts from all the old canister filters and only had to buy general supplies such as sealant, epoxy, large pump & pipe/hose. The filter runs about 2200 gallons per hour split among two 75 gallon tanks and a 150 gallon tank. The external unit is a 16 gallon PVC canister with a 12 gallon reserve tank with a valve that will automatically add water to the terrariums if the water evaporates more than one inch below full. The filter has 5 stages, a pre-filter, bio filter, stone + silica, activated carbon & a 24 watt UV sterilizer. I have been running it for 28 days now without and water changes or tank cleaning. Below are images of the three tanks that are connected to the central unit after having been run the 28 days.

 

[snoozer]

Wow. You built yourself a great filter system. Turtles can be pretty dirty and the tanks look great.

 

[Marshall]

Wow. You built yourself a great filter system. Turtles can be pretty dirty and the tanks look great.

Thank you and yes turtles are pretty filthy animals. I have a total of ten that are my personal pets but 3 of them live in my pond. I also have on average 25 to 35 turtles in my rescue sanctuary depending on how many people adopt them. The sanctuary tanks are mostly stock tanks so they just use a continuous water replacement system and simple bio filter/ UV sterilizer combo.

 

[addy1]

That is a lot of turtles, a full time job caring for them, imho lol

Great filter system.

 

[sissy]

this was interesting and did not know this about turtles

 

[Marshall]

this was interesting and did not know this about turtles

Thats why I always tell people to use an air stone or in my personal system water cavitation (falling water of some sort) but in my experience the turtles hardly ever stay under long enough to really use saturated oxygen unless they are in torpor. As far as breeding goes, Heckle & Jeckle are tru turtle pimps lol cause they have fathered about 25 turtles with various females over their "careers"

 

[sissy]

I never paid much attention to turtles except to help them cross the road .We got the snapping turtles on the farm in NJ as they would come up from the Raritan Canal to lay eggs in the garden and it was neat to see the ground boil over like a volcano as they all hatched and came out of the ground to head to the canal

 

[Marshall]

I never paid much attention to turtles except to help them cross the road .We got the snapping turtles on the farm in NJ as they would come up from the Raritan Canal to lay eggs in the garden and it was neat to see the ground boil over like a volcano as they all hatched and came out of the ground to head to the canal

In my experience the two things people seem to think about turtles that is absolutely not true is
1. They are boring and not very interactive with people (aka solitary)
2. That they are easy to care for and this is sorda because of believing the first one.

In reality they are very smart and will learn to identify certain people and build real and lasting bonds with that person or if they don't like them they will not forgot it and will always remember to fear that individual.
My turtles will run and hide if anyone besides me walks close to them and if I put my hand in the tanks or in the pond they will swim right up to me and grab onto my hand without any fear.
As far as maintenance goes they are very complex to care for and that is by far the number one reason people abandon them and they end up in my sanctuary is cause people bit off more than they could chew. I think it is awesome that you help the cross the road cause sadly that is how most of the wild box turtles are killed is by a car hitting them.

 

[sissy]

yeh around here the idiots think it is funny to run over them on the back roads .I think it is cue the way the look up at me as if to say thanks that is a long trip across that hot dry desert that you call a road .I don't know what they think is better on the other side of the road since it is all green where they came from and just as green on the side where they are going .

 

[Marshall]

yeh around here the idiots think it is funny to run over them on the back roads .I think it is cue the way the look up at me as if to say thanks that is a long trip across that hot dry desert that you call a road .I don't know what they think is better on the other side of the road since it is all green where they came from and just as green on the side where they are going .

Most likely they are either heading to or from a water source. They tend to find a good spot to live and stay there sometimes for their entire life. Even though they are land turtles they still need a water area to drink and also to get certain foods that are abundant there but they usually will try and have their home farther away from the water to avoid certain predators.

 

[sissy]

On the side road to my sisters house and also on my road there are creeks on both sides of the road .No ponds ,just streams and creeks and cow pastures and horse pastures on both sides of the roads .