Power heads, sand and ghost shrimp?

[Moozillion]

I have a mud turtle in a 20 gallon long tank along with several ghost shrimp. My turtle, who is recovering from a near-drowning accident, hangs out almost on TOP of the tank heater. I set it to 84* but the in-tank thermometer registers 80. With my temperature gun I get readings from 78 to 81 at different spots in the tank. My turtle's shell reads 80 and the flesh of her shoulder reads 79, with her parked right under the heater. I'm considering getting a power head to try and equalize the temperature more, but there is residual sand in the bottom of the tank that i was unable to remove. There are also some ghost shrimp meant to stimulate her to move and eat.

Will the sand damage a powerhead?
And will the ghost shrimp get stuck to the power head?

This photo shows the residual sand. There's hardly any in the rest of the tank.

 

[Markw84]

Yes the sand will damage a powerhead. I do not have experience with ghost shrimp, but I would guess a powerhead could present a suction risk to them.

I don't think you need a powerhead to distribute heat. Temperature distributes quite well through water. With the action from your filter, you should get more than enough movement to also distribute Temps. Your readings with your thermometer sound great - no problems.

I have turtles that love to hang out on, and under the heater as well, while others choose another spot that provides a ledge or partial cover from something else. The heater does create a bit of a warm spot they can probably be attracted to, the water conducts heat so well that they won't heat up more than a degree or so over other spots in the tank. If you had no filtration at all, you could get a warm side/cool side to the tank if it were in a colder room and the heater has to fight to keep the temperature to the set point.

 

[Moozillion]

Yes the sand will damage a powerhead. I do not have experience with ghost shrimp, but I would guess a powerhead could present a suction risk to them.

I don't think you need a powerhead to distribute heat. Temperature distributes quite well through water. With the action from your filter, you should get more than enough movement to also distribute Temps. Your readings with your thermometer sound great - no problems.

I have turtles that love to hang out on, and under the heater as well, while others choose another spot that provides a ledge or partial cover from something else. The heater does create a bit of a warm spot they can probably be attracted to, the water conducts heat so well that they won't heat up more than a degree or so over other spots in the tank. If you had no filtration at all, you could get a warm side/cool side to the tank if it were in a colder room and the heater has to fight to keep the temperature to the set point.

Thanks, Mark!!!!