What size heater do I need?

[johngefc]

Hi all,
I have just been lucky enough too get a 7ft x 2ft x 2.5ft tank for my turtles.
It has a pond pump and filter capable of 2000l filtration for fish.
I've worked the volume of water when full to be about 1000l and will only fill it maybe 70% so I'm hoping that will be fine.
The problem is there is no heater. What would I need for say 700l of water?
Thanks in advance
John

[wayne020668]

hi Jon, we use 2 x 300w metal heaters here at turtle rescue u.k in our 6 x 2 x 2 tank set up for two reasons. 1. because these are metal they won't break as some turtles / terrapins can break glass ones. 2 x as a higher wattage these heat quickly then turn off where small wattage ones will stay on to heat such a large set up and burn out. these can be bought on e-Bay for £7.99 Item number: 221023785194.

hope this help you,

regards Wayne at turtle rescue UK.

[johngefc]

Cheers wayne. I'll order those this week. Another question is that I've been given a 12 inch plec fish with the tank. Will it live alongside the turtles. They are two yellow bellies about a year old?

[wayne020668]

should be OK mate, turtles will take a dead or sick one but as it's armored so should be fine.... just make sure the turtles are fed every day...

[johngefc]

I'll let you know how we get on.
Been a crazy weekend. My dads filter from the tank blew during the night and pumped all the water out of the tank onto the living room carpet.
The heater had shattered and out of 15 pretty big fish (oscars, catfish, sharks) the plec is the only one to survive. So I've bought the tank off him for the turtles but would like to keep the fish.
I think we will have to feed the turtles in the tank now as it'll need a ladder to reach in. They do seem to know feeding times and come too the surface though.

Would we be ok to put new baby turtles in with the two we have? Would the plec try and eat them?

[turtlegirl]

So sorry to hear about your dad's filter disaster, I recently lost a tankfull of tropical fish too due to filter failure... only the large common plec survived. Plecs are tough!

Assuming it#s a common plec, they are mainly vegetarian and won't take live prey as a rule except maybe tiny fish. Their sucker mouths are designed for eating algae off tank glass sides, not chewing prey as they have no proper teeth so your turtles should be safe.

Plecs basically should be fed on algae wafers or pellets at night just after "lights out"and JMC sinking pellets 3 times a week. Plecs also like chopped courgette or cucumber and melon ...and ther should be a piece of wood in the tank as plecs need to nibble on wood to help digest their food