Hi my name is Olivia I got into keeping aquatic turtles kind of by accident. I keep A LOT of fish. I'm addicted to pond keeping and tropicals to the point where I've got 17 indoor aquariums ranging in size from 10-200gallons and 5 out door ponds from 150-5000 gallons. I'm housing over 40 different species of fish, 12 species of various inverts, I've simply lost track of all the plants, and I moderate the clinic section for a fish forum...I have a fish problem lol
My daughter wanted a turtle for a pet so I started doing research on RES's because they are native to our location. I had no intention of taking one from the wild but figured a native species could spend more of the year outdoors enjoying sunshine and bugs rather than being couped up inside. (I actually intended to adopt one that was unwanted) After doing a TON of homework on them I decided she was to young still for that kind of responsibility.
Fast forward like a month; I went to visit a new friend in her home for the first time. You know how when you walk into a new place for the first time one of the first things you notice is the way the place smells? Well...her place smelled like a sewer. But it wasn't a dirty house; everything looking clean and well kept. Then I figured it out. In the corner of the living room she had a 5gallon tank with 2soft shell babies, full of bite sized gravel, no heater, no filtration...OMG! It was nasty beyond anyway I know to describe it. the water was brown with this sludgy film on top.
Long story short I can't keep my mouth shut and wind up with a pair of soft shells. They are still little and I'm still learning about their needs but here's how I've got them set up so far. Feel free to correct anything I'm doing wrong. I've got them in a 130gallon planted tank, filtration turns over 10x the volume of the aquarium every hour, sand substrate, other inhabitants are mosquito fish, freshwater shrimps, snails, and fresh water clams. I built them a basking area but they never use it. Tank has coral lights for the plants and UV something-or-other light for the turtles. The tank is located in the sun room and gets natural sun light too. What else do I need to make sure they have everything they need? And can any one tell me what kind of soft shells they are??
My daughter wanted a turtle for a pet so I started doing research on RES's because they are native to our location. I had no intention of taking one from the wild but figured a native species could spend more of the year outdoors enjoying sunshine and bugs rather than being couped up inside. (I actually intended to adopt one that was unwanted) After doing a TON of homework on them I decided she was to young still for that kind of responsibility.
Fast forward like a month; I went to visit a new friend in her home for the first time. You know how when you walk into a new place for the first time one of the first things you notice is the way the place smells? Well...her place smelled like a sewer. But it wasn't a dirty house; everything looking clean and well kept. Then I figured it out. In the corner of the living room she had a 5gallon tank with 2soft shell babies, full of bite sized gravel, no heater, no filtration...OMG! It was nasty beyond anyway I know to describe it. the water was brown with this sludgy film on top.
Long story short I can't keep my mouth shut and wind up with a pair of soft shells. They are still little and I'm still learning about their needs but here's how I've got them set up so far. Feel free to correct anything I'm doing wrong. I've got them in a 130gallon planted tank, filtration turns over 10x the volume of the aquarium every hour, sand substrate, other inhabitants are mosquito fish, freshwater shrimps, snails, and fresh water clams. I built them a basking area but they never use it. Tank has coral lights for the plants and UV something-or-other light for the turtles. The tank is located in the sun room and gets natural sun light too. What else do I need to make sure they have everything they need? And can any one tell me what kind of soft shells they are??