Here is my pond setup information, please let me know if more is needed:
Added Rio grande red sliders to koi pond in separate basin, water and filtration is shared.
We have a 700 gallon pond and separate turtle basin with biological filtration only.
The water and fish are stable and healthy and we just added the turtles, 5 of them this past Sunday.
We have a slight waterfall allowing water into the turtles pond, and that water cycles into the koi pond.
Oxenagation should be good, the fish stay below water for long periods, occasionally stay in the caves\ crevasses
For long periods of time, and have had no losses in over 3 months, the pond has been running for about 6 months.
There is a 'stream' about 3' wide, 15' long with a fair amount of water agitation leading into a wider water fall, dropping
Into the koi pond, that same stream allows water over to the turtle pond and that slight water fall there, the distance
to the Turtle Pond is only a few feet from the source.
We're locating in Southern California, 20 minutes north of Los Angeles (without traffic of course), so hopefully that
gives you an idea of our climate, weather, etc..etc..
Water quality is super clear, I am using an ultra violet UV filter, water testing weekly, again stab!e.
I am using 'pond blocks' to keep the algae in check..... (Looking to regulate that better bybother means eventually).
The pond is for the home and family, 3 kids and 2 parents and of course guests.....
I hope that is useful general info on the setup, please let me know if I need to share more.
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Some questions, more to come, thank you in advance for putting up with the newbie, and
of course any/all feedback.
1) The turtles just arriving, i'm sure need some time to get comfortable/confident in their new
home but of course we've noticed they are SUPER skiddish and jump, swim, and hide right away
if they see us coming.
if we are stationary, and they come out, and we don't move they are fine for a period of time, but
we so much move an inch, and off they go....
Is there a recommended process to getting them used to us, or it just time?
2) I'm learning about hibernating/brumating due to the colder weather, not being indoors, and not
having a heat lamp.
I would imagine, they would need to eat/store up enough food/fat before they could do that,
but i'm seeing/hearing they might try to brumate just due to the colder weather.
The local shop I got them from said they should be good to go in our pond, they asked me questions about setup,
filtration, water changes, pond install/running time, fish health, etc..
we have been feeding them the turtle food, recommended by the shop, which is the same manufacturer of our
Koi Food so I hoped that was a good sign, but I don't know if these turtles are going to Brumate, and or if they'll
be ok, and what I should do, if anything?
3) When i built the basin where the turtles are, I should have made a shelf for them to bask in, I didn't.....
I then planned to use a floating platform of some type, my first attempt didn't seem to go so hot....
I then swapped to Cinder Blocks, which have the "holes" in their sides, to which the turtles seem to like, however
they don't seem to be climbing onto the top of it, even though one side of it is just below the water line.
I've seen these guys crawling ability, so I know they can, they just dont seem to be interested in doing that.
in the meantime, we've seen the scale and latch onto the side walls, catch some sun, and then 'plop' down into the
water.... I guess that works for them, but figure it's not the 'best case scenario'.
4) Escape Artists - I was aware of this, but thought the design/angle wouldn't make it easy enough for them to get out
of the basin, but one them the first morning, was in fact, on the TOP of the basin, and quite possibly ready to roam free
but when he saw us coming, he literally jumped backward into the water.... wow......
So we used some chicken wire, over the top, and have seen them crawl up to the top, and then stop and/or plop back down
I will need to add another layer to the top of the basin, creating an over hang, so they can't complete the escape act.
I thought about using some kind of custom acrylic cover, or maybe just framing the chicken wire, within some pvc plumping and
pull either one of those on/off as needed during viewing times.
I could also add another LIP at the top, which would again, increase the angle where they couldn't get up and over it... dunno....
Any thoughts on that?
That's about it for now....
thank you!