Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[silky]

a few months ago i took the sand out of my turtles aquarium because it was looking very dirty. I didn't replace the sand and just left the bottom of the tank bare so it would be easier to keep clean. The problem is the tank doesn't look very interesting and i expect the turtles prefer having sand in their aquarium. I'd like to add sand again but want to make sure it doesn't get dirty so I was thinking I could put the turtles in a separate tank when I feed them then put them back in the main aquarium after. Does anyone else do this?

[kroakykaren]

30 odd years ago i kept two huge terrapins, i used to feed them in a seperate tank, so it should work, but as i say it was a long time ago i am sure somebody will come along with more advice soon
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[davo]

if you had a slightly larger grain sized substrate ie really fine gravel (not much bigger than sand, but has a bit more weight to it, you'd be able to use a gravel vacuum and therefore syphon out all the crap without having sand that would be a lot harder to do so.

[silky]

I might give the gravel idea a try. I like the look of sand though. Will probably try feeding them in a separate tank and see if it causes them stress. They tend to freak out when i pick them up so transferring them to another tank every time i feed might not work out.