this is Terry

[Saloli]

this is Terry and his old tank (just moved into 75 gallon)

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notice in the first picture that he has dimpling which he had when i adopted him. though it in no where near as bad as it was

 

[jeffbens0n]

Looks like an awesome setup. I love the live plants, but do you have trouble with him tearing them up?

 

[tortoises101]

Awesome setup.

 

[LindaF]

Nice! I bet he loves the extra space.

 

[dmmj]

Looks nice but be fore warned he will probably eat any plants he can get a hold of, I learned that very expensive lesson long long ago.

 

[Saloli]

Terry is a Diamond Back not a Slider he doesn't eat plants. The plant that are sometimes consumed are incidental, meaning they didn't mean to eat them. No he doesn't tear them up. The plant is Marsh Bambo or common Reed. They are part of the biological filter. If you look closely you will see the water pumps they keep the water moving but other then that the system relies on biologicals for filtration. Pretty much all my systems are what are called established systems meaning they mimic a large number of the things that go on in a natural system (ecosystem). the water quality is generally better then can ever be maintain in a cage type system (for example with gravel of nothing on the bottom). I still do water changes once a week. Though the water parameters are as follows pH 7.8, ammonia/ammonium 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, alkalinity around 120ppm, hardness i think was at 300 last test, and salinity is variable 10-15ppt. Yes he does like the new space but he now has a g/f so they need a bigger tank so that is my next project for them.