# High Tech Turtle Tank



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I thought turtles would eat most fish, especially as they grow, and rip up plants as they move around and such...so this is actually pretty cool if it works longterm.

It doesn't need any special lighting or anything? And how is it not trying to escape/crawl out of the rimless top?


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

How large is your turtle? It's a excellent chance of him tearing up your very nice scape. Any light spilling off the basking platform will cause an algae outbreak.


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## Duck5003 (Oct 1, 2012)

I think this is great! Best of luck on it all working out. Judging by your photos it looks like the first week went well with no real signs of damage, hope to see that continue  :thumbsup:


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

HybridHerp said:


> I thought turtles would eat most fish, especially as they grow, and rip up plants as they move around and such...so this is actually pretty cool if it works longterm.
> 
> It doesn't need any special lighting or anything? And how is it not trying to escape/crawl out of the rimless top?


Charles is very lazy. He chased the fish around when they were first put in but after he realized they were too fast for him he gave up. These fish have been living with him for over a year. 

He needs a mercury vapor lamp that keeps the basking platform ~90 degrees and puts out UVB. There's about 1 inch of sheer glass all around so he can't get his claws over it without a foothold. There's an acrylic sheet blocking escape from the basking platform.



devilduck said:


> How large is your turtle? It's a excellent chance of him tearing up your very nice scape. Any light spilling off the basking platform will cause an algae outbreak.


He's about 3 inches in shell length and fully grown. In the first week he's uprooted 1-2 sprigs of DHG. He doesn't really dig, but as he treads over the grass the loose strands will pop out. I also see some turtle sized bite marks are showing on the ludwigia, but they're still growing fine.

From my experience in the previous tank, the basking lamp will induce algae on the basking platform and the filter pipes near it so yeah I'll have to deal with that. I try to keep my lighting and fertilizer lean.



Duck5003 said:


> I think this is great! Best of luck on it all working out. Judging by your photos it looks like the first week went well with no real signs of damage, hope to see that continue  :thumbsup:


Thanks!!


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## gt turbo (Sep 13, 2012)

Dude, i have so many thoughts about this tank, some of them cautionary, but truth be told, I'm stoked that you are trying something so different and it seems to be working so far.

I would suggest that you up the numbers on your schooling fish to make them more comfortable.

Best of luck.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

gt turbo said:


> Dude, i have so many thoughts about this tank, some of them cautionary, but truth be told, I'm stoked that you are trying something so different and it seems to be working so far.
> 
> I would suggest that you up the numbers on your schooling fish to make them more comfortable.
> 
> Best of luck.


 
all of what turbo said, and man not only is this cool but I also think its a beautiful scape as well! Great job!!!


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

1 month update:

I stupidly increased my photoperiod from 7 hours to 9 hours which caused an outbreak of hair algae. I've since dialed it back down to 5 and uped the CO2. I also purchased some finnex leg raisers from Fuze (here). It's stopped growing but there's a lot of tiny pieces left over. I've recruited a pair of black mollies to clean up the rest. Other than that everything's been going well. Oh, and it's a bad idea to keep cherry shrimp with turtles. They're too small and they stand out too much. I bought 12 of them and they're almost all eaten. Amano shrimp are ok though so long as you have a lot of places for them to hide. They camouflage well and have excellent evasive maneuvers.


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## Agent69 (Oct 9, 2013)

I used to have a male cagles map too unfortunately for me he liked nipping at plants. When I see yours it makes me miss mine :icon_cry: btw 3" is not full grown mine reached 4" in 16 months but I guess it was probably because I fed him many protein rich food so he wouldn't like plants but just ended up fattening him up. Good luck nice scape btw


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## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

That's a sweet scape!


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

That is absolutely stunning. What kind of turtle is it?


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks guys!

And it's a cagle's map turtle. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-cagmap.htm



Agent69 said:


> I used to have a male cagles map too unfortunately for me he liked nipping at plants. When I see yours it makes me miss mine :icon_cry: btw 3" is not full grown mine reached 4" in 16 months but I guess it was probably because I fed him many protein rich food so he wouldn't like plants but just ended up fattening him up. Good luck nice scape btw


Mine is 2 years and 5 months old. He's probably larger than 3" I was just guestimating. What happened to yours?


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## Siddhartha Saive (Nov 21, 2013)

This is awesome [emoji4]


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## Agent69 (Oct 9, 2013)

RisingSun said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> And it's a cagle's map turtle. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-cagmap.htm
> 
> ...



View attachment 321026

He passed away when he jumped off his basking rock because I had the water level too high I had the same basking area as you. It was my fault because I got too confident he would not jump off since that's how I had him since hatchling when he was smaller than a penny :'( ...


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## dprais1 (Sep 12, 2012)

I love this tank! great job!

I think this is the first turtle tank and well planted tank I have ever seen.

Excellent and kudos to you!


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## jcgilmore2 (Jul 10, 2013)

Nice! I had saw the thread before but never clicked until now.. Didn't expect a turtle tank to look so awesome haha. Well done. Look forward to updates.


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## etk300ex (May 1, 2013)

Nice! Good for you breaking the turtle mold, there are far too many turtle myths out there.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Siddhartha Saive said:


> This is awesome [emoji4]





dprais1 said:


> I love this tank! great job!
> 
> I think this is the first turtle tank and well planted tank I have ever seen.
> 
> Excellent and kudos to you!





jcgilmore2 said:


> Nice! I had saw the thread before but never clicked until now.. Didn't expect a turtle tank to look so awesome haha. Well done. Look forward to updates.





etk300ex said:


> Nice! Good for you breaking the turtle mold, there are far too many turtle myths out there.


Thanks guys!



Agent69 said:


> View attachment 321026
> 
> He passed away when he jumped off his basking rock because I had the water level too high I had the same basking area as you. It was my fault because I got too confident he would not jump off since that's how I had him since hatchling when he was smaller than a penny :'( ...


That sucks... I'm sorry for your loss. He seemed like a cute little guy. You should get another one!


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## Dugsul808 (Jul 30, 2012)

this is pretty neat i like, nice placement and choice of plants! your turtle looks happy haha keep it up !


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## MABJ (Mar 30, 2012)

This is fantastic!

Only thing that would make it better is if your rock magically turned into a platform where it breaks the surface lol. 

Congrats on a beautiful tank.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Thanks guys!

Quick pic update:









Shell cleaning:


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

Outstanding


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

This is really cool! You've done an excellent job on your scape, and the plants looks pretty healthy too. I also see you did the one thing I was going to say after going through your pics — you put dark substrate between the glass and your trail. It looks much cleaner that way. Well done!

It's funny, everything I've ever heard says no turtles in a planted tank, or they'll eat all of your plants. Well, maybe he eats some, but clearly it's working out pretty well for you. Very impressive!


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

AnotherHobby said:


> This is really cool! You've done an excellent job on your scape, and the plants looks pretty healthy too. I also see you did the one thing I was going to say after going through your pics — you put dark substrate between the glass and your trail. It looks much cleaner that way. Well done!
> 
> It's funny, everything I've ever heard says no turtles in a planted tank, or they'll eat all of your plants. Well, maybe he eats some, but clearly it's working out pretty well for you. Very impressive!


HAHAHA thanks for the compliments. But that black under the path is actually a combination of blue green algae and my crappy cellphone camera :icon_redf

Ur right though, I should swap it out for black.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

RisingSun said:


> HAHAHA thanks for the compliments. But that black under the path is actually a combination of blue green algae and my crappy cellphone camera :icon_redf
> 
> Ur right though, I should swap it out for black.


Happy accident! :bounce:


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## devilduck (May 9, 2012)

Looking great!


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)




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## TurtleShark (Feb 19, 2013)

Wow! Makes me want to add some plants to my Painted's tank. I'm sure he would love it, but I'm not sure if he wouldn't eat the plants as well. Maybe I'll try a few guppies in his tank and see how they do. If they get eaten it wouldn't be much of a loss. One day....


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## MEandYouPhoto (Jul 1, 2014)

I have a Red Eared Slider and he is about 8 inches now (full grown) he loves to dig and would tear up that entire scape lol. He has his own tank (75 gallon) but he does get the Anacharis from my 10 gallon planted tank as a treat when ever I do trimmings.


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## NicoJam (Sep 4, 2016)

Hi there. I have few questions. Are you using a different lighting for basking? And where did you buy that plastic substrate divider? Thanks!


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Hi, yes I use a 100w zoomed powersun for basking light. I use a 0.04" polycarbonate sheet for the divider. You can get it on amazon.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Got any current pics?


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## ag12177 (Jun 21, 2017)

Hey, I've always wanted to do something similar to this with my common musk turtle, but I'm hesitant because they're known not to be good swimmer and need to be able to crawl to the surface to breathe, not swim. is it the same deal with your map turtle and is that what the giant rock formation in the middle is for? I noticed hi taking a breath from it in one of the pictures.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

houseofcards said:


> Got any current pics?


Quick cell phone shot:







As you can see I got tired of keeping stems =p



ag12177 said:


> Hey, I've always wanted to do something similar to this with my common musk turtle, but I'm hesitant because they're known not to be good swimmer and need to be able to crawl to the surface to breathe, not swim. is it the same deal with your map turtle and is that what the giant rock formation in the middle is for? I noticed hi taking a breath from it in one of the pictures.


Hi, so map turtles are very good swimmers. The rock there is only for decoration. He'd be fine with just the basking platform.

I recommend reading the caresheet for your turtle ATP - Care Sheet: Stinkpot (Common Musk) and meeting all the requirements. Then you can scape within those requirements. I don't own a musk but I suspect you'll want to give him a way to climb up.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Just wanted to provide some more updates on the Monte Carlo edition of this tank. The carpet has finally filled in after many months. The Staurogyne has spread some more and the Downoi has grown larger. Algae wise, I'm still wrestling with BBA, especially on the hardscape. Been slowly chipping away at it with excel/h2o2. Here are some pics before I hack the plants:



































And finally, the happy turtle:


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

As long a its safe for the turtle I'm a fan.


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## Acro (Jul 7, 2012)

ag12177 said:


> Hey, I've always wanted to do something similar to this with my common musk turtle, but I'm hesitant because they're known not to be good swimmer and need to be able to crawl to the surface to breathe, not swim. is it the same deal with your map turtle and is that what the giant rock formation in the middle is for? I noticed hi taking a breath from it in one of the pictures.


I've seen musk turtles in planted tanks. Normally they are set up with a few sloping branches that allow them to walk on the branch, from the bottom of the tank to the top. 

And to the OP, beautiful planted turtle aquarium!


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## Mighty Quinn (Jul 24, 2017)

I know that this thread has been dormant for over a year, but I just wanted to see if the OP could post any more photos. The pics from the 11/17 version of this tank are really stunning, and the turtle is the icing on the cake. I love it! 

To the OP: please give us an update!

Cheers,
Mighty Quinn


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## Darlingg (Mar 18, 2020)

*We have the same turtle!*



RisingSun said:


> Thanks guys!
> 
> Quick pic update:
> 
> ...


I LOVE your turtle tank! It's beautiful! Exactly what I would like to do with mine! It's so cool that we have the same turtle!! I have a male Cagle's Map Turtle! How about you? Is it male or female?


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

He's a male and turned 12 this year  I got him from Robert and Trish from King Snake. They let you pick the gender. A female would be twice his size and way too big for this tank.

I've actually been taking a break from the hobby, but here's a quick pic I snapped today. Sorry for the dirty pipes and all, a little behind in maintenance heh. I'll do a proper update when I have time.


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## chicken.nublet (Mar 29, 2018)

RisingSun said:


> He's a male and turned 12 this year  I got him from Robert and Trish from King Snake. They let you pick the gender. A female would be twice his size and way too big for this tank.
> 
> I've actually been taking a break from the hobby, but here's a quick pic I snapped today. Sorry for the dirty pipes and all, a little behind in maintenance heh. I'll do a proper update when I have time.


Holy crap that's stunning! Glad you updated today because I would nothave seen this journal otherwise.


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## ryubui (Jul 14, 2014)

Wooooah lucky turtle!! Nice setup


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## AquaPlantsAquarium (May 27, 2019)

Lucky turtle...I am surprised to see how nothing has been damage from the turtle!


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## UTS99 (Aug 6, 2020)

How did you raise the light unit on your tank? I have a fixed lid on my turtle tank and I want to raise it to give the turtle more room to swim and bask. Cheers


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## UTS99 (Aug 6, 2020)

How do you clean your tank? What is the routine? And how do you not damage your plants whilst doing it?


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

UTS99 said:


> How did you raise the light unit on your tank? I have a fixed lid on my turtle tank and I want to raise it to give the turtle more room to swim and bask. Cheers





UTS99 said:


> How do you clean your tank? What is the routine? And how do you not damage your plants whilst doing it?


The light is an ONF flat one which comes raised. I maintain the tank once every 2 months. I do the following during maintenance: trim, clean glass, change 50% of the water, insert iron root tabs and dose K2SO4.

Outside of maintenance, the auto top off system tops of the evaporated water and I just need to feed my turtle. I feed about 15g of pellets a week which also takes care of the ferts.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

Rotala has taken over the tank! Big trim job today.


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## Plinkploop (Jan 24, 2021)

My jaw is on the floor!! I couldn't combine plants and turtles outside of ponds.. Congrats, so beautiful!!


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## minorhero (Mar 28, 2019)

RisingSun said:


> View attachment 1031893
> View attachment 1031895
> View attachment 1031896
> View attachment 1031894
> ...


Awesome tank! Common knowledge is that turtles will eat any plants and destroy any sophisticated scape. You clearly have blown that up. Well done all around!


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

This is amazing. Love the pic of your turtle looking at us, and seeing how the shrimps clean his shell! Like so many others have said, I never imagined a turtle could be kept in a high-tech tank with so many plants. I love seeing somebody do something so different, and successfully too.


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