Hi, gang.
I am in the process of setting up a 40 gallon breeder tank for my Mississippi mud turtle, Millie. But I'm struggling with how best to do it.
The issue is that because she lost her right front foot to a predator when she was a hatchling, she is a NON-SWIMMER. Oh, she tries, and paddles like mad, but the only way I can keep her safely is in 3-3.5 inches of water so that she can easily stretch up and break the surface of the water while standing on the sand.
She has outgrown her 20 gallon long tank and I want to give her more space.
Here are my issues:
1) Deciding on an adequate heater.
Because the water depth will only be 3-3.5 inches, the total gallons of water will only be between 7-9 gallons. But with the large footprint of the water area, would a little heater designed for 10 gallons be adequate? Would a bigger heater be too much; or heat it unevenly? Would 2 small heaters- one at either end-be best? I don't want to buy a heater and find out it won't work for the situation. (Our house temperature varies between 68-70 in general- do I really NEED a heater?).
2) Filtration.
I had her on an under gravel filter initially, but she kept eating the gravel, which worried me, so I switched to a canister filter and pool filter sand substrate. With the 3 inches of water, the filter sometimes draws air at the join between the tube and the intake attachment. In general, the intake tube stands a bit askew in order to operate in such shallow water. Because she is native to our area, I know their natural substrate is sand, and I'd like to keep her on sand. But I know that I can't use an under gravel filter with sand.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!
Thanks.
I am in the process of setting up a 40 gallon breeder tank for my Mississippi mud turtle, Millie. But I'm struggling with how best to do it.
The issue is that because she lost her right front foot to a predator when she was a hatchling, she is a NON-SWIMMER. Oh, she tries, and paddles like mad, but the only way I can keep her safely is in 3-3.5 inches of water so that she can easily stretch up and break the surface of the water while standing on the sand.
She has outgrown her 20 gallon long tank and I want to give her more space.
Here are my issues:
1) Deciding on an adequate heater.
Because the water depth will only be 3-3.5 inches, the total gallons of water will only be between 7-9 gallons. But with the large footprint of the water area, would a little heater designed for 10 gallons be adequate? Would a bigger heater be too much; or heat it unevenly? Would 2 small heaters- one at either end-be best? I don't want to buy a heater and find out it won't work for the situation. (Our house temperature varies between 68-70 in general- do I really NEED a heater?).
2) Filtration.
I had her on an under gravel filter initially, but she kept eating the gravel, which worried me, so I switched to a canister filter and pool filter sand substrate. With the 3 inches of water, the filter sometimes draws air at the join between the tube and the intake attachment. In general, the intake tube stands a bit askew in order to operate in such shallow water. Because she is native to our area, I know their natural substrate is sand, and I'd like to keep her on sand. But I know that I can't use an under gravel filter with sand.
Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!
Thanks.