# Paludarium for a turtle



## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

I currently have a paludarium set-up for brackish conditions and I've got 9 fiddler crabs. I'm considering the possibility that, after the last one kicks the bucket, to convert this medium into a turtle tank IF it's adequate.
It's a standard 75 gallon divided in half. Half beach [pool filter sand] and half water, about 10 gallons worth of it. Both sides are about 22 inches in length, I forget the width.
Would this be adequate for any kind of turtle?


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2007)

not that i can think of. if you changed the water to fresh it could serve as a grow out tank for them but you would eventually need to make the whole tank water if you were going for water turtles such as painteds, sliders, or mud or mush turtles, but if you were going for land turtles such as box, or russian tortoises, you would need to get rid of the divider and the water and make the water section just a large water bowl. if you want to keep it the way it is i would go with mud skippers and bumble bee gobies.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

BB gobies would be eaten by a mudskipper.

But I agree that you have two extremes that wouldn't suit both "types" of turtles well. Aquatic turtles would need almost the entire tank to swim, not a few gallons. Land turtles also wouldn't fare well with that much water. Either dedicate it to one, or the other.

If you go the aquatic route, you'd be needing about maybe 10 percent land area, or a simple place for them to get out and bask. Daily water changes would be best, or 50-100% per week. Make sure you have the correct lighting, and feed the right diet, supplements, etc.- aquatics are notorious for "shell curl", etc. otherwise.

HTH


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

Oh boo! So basically this paludarium stays for crabs/crays, mudskippers or the like. That or it's a tear-down.
Thanks everyone. I was even thinking of getting a slider turtle or 2 for my outdoors 8k gallon pond but:
a) I have a cat and the occasional raccoon that would find them tasty
b) there's no walls or anything so they'd wander away

Too bad. No other turtle species that stay small?


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## MaelStrom (Jun 24, 2007)

Im not sure how aqautic turtles would take to brackish waters... Im not even sure if there are readily available turtles that would thrive ina brackish tank ....


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2007)

brackish turtles...i think terrripins are brackish but either way, you would need a completely different set up than what you have.


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## fishbone (Jan 15, 2007)

Oh, no no, I would go freshwater, I would not stay brackish


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

The only brackish turtles (North American) are diamond back terripans, and those require a tank the way one might setup a slider or a painted tank. Mud turtles are semi-terrestrial and do well in shallow water (no more than 8") and will often spend a lot of time on land.


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## Jerabu (Jan 14, 2010)

fishbone said:


> Too bad. No other turtle species that stay small?


Provided the tank is not brackish, you could look into mud or musk turtles - they stay small, are very hardy. The only downside is they almost never go on land (even less than the types of aquatics you see basking -so half your tank would be wasted.). 

They are not colorful like sliders and the likes, but sliders get awfully huge (dinner plate size), and are illegal in many states. 

Many species of musk and mud turtles do not exceed 3-6 inches in length.


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