Those who got terrapins please come in..

[Achilles_knight]

1. Plants takes up their swimming space. (has a plant at their sun basking platform)

2. Algae minimise oxygen from the water (dirty looking too) They swim & play (not crawl) alot with one another in the water.

But, thanks for sharing your view.

 

[onegoal]

Algae and plants has effect on the environment. I keep small fishes in the pond. Those u buy a bag for $2 with 20fishes inside. With plants & sunlight, the fish keeps on multiplying. And the fishes are very very healthy. Reason I know is because i have too many fish and give some to my parents. They manage to stay alive for long time. Unlike buying from fish shop, about a portion will die soon.

So I left it as it is. There is no right or wrong way so long your terripin survive well. Have fun!

 

[Achilles_knight]

You have fun too.

I don't keep fishes for the sake of making it looks "natural-habitat looking".
Simply bcos our human living environment and filtration system does not support it well enough, more so with terrapins living together.
Unless, filtration portion was proportionately invested.

Just want to make sure the basic necessities required for the upkeep of
these terrapins was provided, that suffice.

 

[Alex.hero]

I bought this tank from a local aquarium shop one year ago.

It’s not very big but sufficient for small terrapins. At the back, has got a pump to send water through 2 sponges, a whole rack of rocks/stones and a bag of charcoal. I always fill up enough water for them to swim around. Hahaha

Total I think spent around $70-80.

Never fight for territorial?

 

[Achilles_knight]

Added another sun basking platform for the turtles.

In deep sleep

 

[onegoal]

Bigger and bigger now lol

 

[Sunader]

Terrapins for adoption

Hi,

Sorry if this is not the right place, I'm just hoping to get some advice. My tenant left his terrapins with me and I'm unable to look after them, where is a good place to put them up for adoption?

Thank you.

 

[Alex.hero]

Hi,

Sorry if this is not the right place, I'm just hoping to get some advice. My tenant left his terrapins with me and I'm unable to look after them, where is a good place to put them up for adoption?

Thank you.

Lol I am trying to ask someone to take over mine.... but until now still no success.

 

[onegoal]

Hi,

Sorry if this is not the right place, I'm just hoping to get some advice. My tenant left his terrapins with me and I'm unable to look after them, where is a good place to put them up for adoption?

Thank you.

At night go bonatical garden pond or Chinese garden pond. It is the easier way out for u.

 

[WussRedXLi]

Using EXOTERRA SOLAR GLO All-In-One Sun Simulating bulb
(UVA, UVB and heat)

Hi, nice decently big setup there. You quite power, even got IP camera.


My recommendation is not to use the Exo terra Solarglo mercury vapor bulb (MVB), regardless of wattage.
Also, do not use the Zoo Med Powersun MVB. The Powersun MVB is a little more powerful, but still you might as well go for those things that really put out proper amounts. Even a Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 with reflector is miles better, even though its decay still does not match the MegaRay MVB that i mentioned below.

These 2 MVBs are nothing more than heating bulbs. Halogen spots are cheap also put out decent UVA, i think you setup also gets some indirect sunlight and there is also a fair amount of daily UVA, which isn't going to be affected much by window panes, polycarbonate/acrylic.
And besides, these 2 MVBs are not cheap stuff.


If you really wanna use MVBs for whatever reason, the only MVB that is recommended now is the MegaRay. And even then, it went through a good period of screw-ups nearly a decade ago. But that has been fixed. 2 versions, 100W and 160W. The 160 is pretty powerful and is good if you need the distance/depth penetration in your tank or enclosure like yours from the picture.
I can't seem to find the source, but practically the 160W MegaRay has been measured to be emitting 9 times the UVB intensity levels than the 100W MegaRay. Of course, you still gotta be careful with the usage regarding setup distance from the basking zone.


No issue with red ear sliders getting high levels of UVI or absolute UVB uw/cm2 readings. You see our wild population at Haw Par, reservoirs basking at up to UVI 8-11 and UVI 2-4 average. As long as they fall into the terrestrial UVB (295-320nm) wavelength they are safe.
About a decade ago, you might have read about the issue with some branded CFLs and T8 tubes, issue was that they also emitted a wee bit of 280-295nm wavelength UVB due to a slip-up of sorts and this caused photo-kerato-conjunctivitis. This is because the particular phosphor mix that those fluorescents were using were similar to our medical 311nm narrow-band fluorescents that were used to treat skin issues.
Other reptile UVB fluorescent lamps did not cause conjunctivitis issue as they used another phosphor mix which did not emit 280-295nm. The whole UVB spectrum goes from 280-320nm. Natural sunlight spectra (terrestrial UVB) does not contain wavelengths shorter than 295nm.
More details : http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-discussion.htm


UVB output decay of the Exo Terra Solarglo

The second 125W lamp I received was in March 2009, and the result was disappointing, however. It started with a UV Index of 3.6 at 30cm, which seemed a bit low compared to the other two, but still ok; but after only 100 hours this had fallen to only 2.2. That is a very significant decay and a much lower output than before; you can get that with a ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 tube fitted with a reflector. I have not put that lamp on long-term testing.

Show you 3 instances of the Exo Terra Solarglo outputting literally no UVB. Don't waste your time and money on this.

From Reptileforums.com

Tested with the solarmeter 6.2 the UVB only measured at 003 μW/cm2 and with the Solarmeter 6.5 0.02 UV!

Megaray 160W.

Some readups
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/


The Solarglo and Powersun MVBs also have horrible UVB decay. Only the MegaRay has been consistently and widely tested not to decay much and can be used for 1-2 years, easy.
The Solarglo and Powersun MVBs horrible decay, together with pretty low UVB uw/cm2 output even when new, you are basically throwing money away, not to mention having literally zero UVB benefits (that's why you got the bulb in the first place, to get UVB coz a tank even moved to the windows have Zero UVB effect when it passes through a glass pane or the tank acrylic/glass/polycarbonate). I have seen it before on a video, 80+ uw/cm2 UVB unfiltered, even a thin piece would cut it to 0.0 uw/cm2 on the Solarmeter 6.2 used.
Below shows a UVI of just 0.1 even at point blank distance after 1 year for the Powersun MVB (like 99% decay after 1 year). New bulb is UVI 17, close distance of course.

 

[WussRedXLi]

Anyway, just a little more info......don't really have to worry about the incorrect FS phosphor (medical 311nm) being used in the fluorescents emitting 280-295nm, the major brands have already fixed this and it has been like nearly a decade.
Actually can measure with the UVB and UVI meters if you have both.
Those emitting 280-295nm wavelengths would have say a 100 uw/cm2 reading on the UVB meter, but UVI readout would be extremely high, say UVI > 10.
Sunlight would read 100 uw/cm2 (eg mid morning sun) and give a readout of say 3-5, same for bulbs.
Coz the UVI meter has a weighting curve with heavier weightings as wavelength falls (ie gemicidal 254.3nm probably would give you a crazy high UVI but at just 1 uw/cm2...probably way worse for 180nm UV-C that they use to give you ozone generation via the germidical lamps )
Weighting curves not dissimilar to dBA, dBC on Sound pressure level SPL meters.


One thing that is not often talked about is the decay of the lamps. This affects $$.
CFLs are the worst of the lot. Usually 6 months/2000hrs mark they have already degraded 50%. At 12 months/4000hrs they have already degraded to 25% of new.
Metal halides are ok, 2000hrs mark is ~ 30% degradation. 4000hrs around 50% left. T5 HO is around the same. So that's around 1 year.
T8 tubes are slightly better than that
160W MegaRays are good, reports say that the UV is still very usable after 2 years.

But 160W vs say a T5 HO 12.0 or 14.0 @ 24W is big difference in electricity.
That is a $121 difference @ 4000hr mark. So gotta see if you believe in this "heating thingy" for use in Singapore in enticing basking.
Personally i think a 160W Megaray would really be on the hot side if you use the IR gun and measure over here in Singapore. Now, if you move the lamp far far away, then why don't you use another more efficient lamp which can be used closer? (Unless if you have an unbelivably large walk-in type enclosures found in zoos, or like what some BIG terrariums for tortoises found overseas)
A metal halide would be in between.....i find this to be a good balance.
A metal halide also provides good quality and high CRI and high lux, good lighting that stimulates the diurnal cycle, like what we humans would feel great and then sleep nice at night when exposed to higher levels of light during day time.


See if you can get Arcadia 12.0 and 14.0 D3+ tubes on Amazon.co.uk if interested in efficiency. Note that you'd need a reflector (can get from various sources, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, or from Taobao which sells T5 china reflectors and also things like Zilla reflectors)
T5 HO fixtures can get from LFS or Taobao.com.
I think QianHu also sells Arcadia D3+, but in 4 foot and longer lengths i think. Coz arofanatics use that for tanning.

 

[WussRedXLi]

Be careful of the CFLs found on Taobao. I mean, you can of course try as they are cheap to try.......but only if you have at least a UVB meter. Preferably both a UVB and UVI meter, coz both readings must be in the correct range.
Same non-terrestrial UVB risk, you might be in the low UVB readings, but the UVI might be sky high. The branded Zoo Med and Exo Terra fluorescent were doing highs as big as UVI 40 or so in the photo-kerato-conjunctivitis cases (but UVB readouts are not that high).

The Taobao/aliexpress metal halides PAR 30, 38 shd be fine, if you do not have several hundreds to spend on the branded ZooMed/Exo Terra HIDs. Metal halide technology don't dig into non-terrestrial UVB for their spectra.
Anyway, they measure ok too. They don't use any phosphors in the first place, of course.....just a high intensity gas discharge technology.


Here in SG, it's usually 10-13 on a very sunny day. Only rare occasions do we peak in 14-15 UVI, say during Feb to April, 300-400 uw/cm2 range no issue.

Some of these chinese fluorescent lamps are also falsely marketed as UVB, when they only emit UVA. Not dissimilar to UVA BLB blackbulbs, just that they have a light blue tint to it so people mistake it as UVB bulb. Probably like those lamps used in zapping flying insect killer devices. Some don't even emit much UVA, just light blue high Kelvins tint nia

Watch the below videos, the tiongs themselves will leak out the secret sauce.
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTUzMDExODQ4NA==.html?spm=a2h0k.11417342.soresults.dposter


https://v.qq.com/x/page/x0197qo3x0m.html
https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTU2NjgwNzU1Mg==.html?spm=a2h0k.11417342.soresults.dtitle
Also found some interesting videos on the RGT-UVB meter vs Solarmeter 6.2. It costs rmb 418 on Taobao, which is usd 60. Forwarded shipping to my part of the world would cost usd 5. It's quite a bit more expensive on aliexpress.
They also have a RGT-UVI meter that's a bit more expensive at rmb 520. This could replace the Solarmeter 6.5 UVI meter.

 

[WussRedXLi]

Of course, some general people would say "why go through such $$$ and hassle and technicalities for a cheap-ass $2.50 LFS terrapin........too much money ijjit, siaolang spotted ".

I kena before from arowana fanatics, funnily........when they are spending tons and tons more in terms of time, effort and $$$.

Well, really up to the individual. Coz the info is usable for other reptiles anyway. (not that they are gonna be legal in SG, but just saying).

 

[WussRedXLi]

Regarding pets abandonment, same old story with other pets ba.

Issue is that for red ear sliders, the barrier for entry is very low. Just $2.50, at most $5 at Pet Lovers. And pretty cute when small. Whenever things like teenage mutant ninja turtles movies come out and then you see them lifesize turtles @ Toys R US, for sure there would be demand. So with the low cost, small size, seemingly very cute in a small tank package comes along, the effect is very much amplified.
They are actually cuter than fishes, coz at least you can pick it up and even bring it to the playground etc.

Even if you do not have a filter as you do not wanna deal with one and its quirks of initial cost, noise, breakdowns and failures, technical setup and pipings etc......nitrogen cycle, it's fine.
Just waste water nia with daily water changes, the procedure can be made much easier and faster with things like high flowrate water pumps or a drainage hole and tap DIYed into the bottom of the enclosure......best if your setup is in the service yard which already has drainage and water source anyway

Full water changes can be done, no issue....won't shock one (I mean if you are doing daily, the water quality would literally be around the same level)....in the context of Singapore with regards to tap and tank water temps, low levels of chlorine/chloramine.

Water conditioners not exactly needed even, frankly red ear sliders mostly aren't even bothered by chlorine/chloramine, they are extremely hardy in such regards. There is not much irritation to the eyes, if you you'd seem them rubbing. Now if you overdo it with UV and basking, they will rub their fronts. See what i mean?

Now, if you have dirty water coz 5 days never change water, that's magnitudes worse.

Water conditioners - Coz seriously it's the same for those doing aquariums.........chlorine can fix of course, but how about chloramines? When you go for the cheapest kinds of water conditioner, you can bet that it is the chemical type that does not take care of chloramines. Some waterworks in SG we do use chloramines in addition to chlorine, due to needs for stability and persistence right up the the end users' taps.

The good thing is that stuff like most cichlids, bettas, red ear sliders are not affected by chlorine/chloramine, if any. Red ear sliders are actually even much more hardier than the hardiest of fishes.
Full water changes supplying clean water very regularly (Even 2 times a day) is even better than slightly dirty tank filtered water, which have usually very high levels of nitrates anyway as pound for pound, sliders have ultra high bio-load vs fishes.

You work out the 24/7 electrical cost of filtration vs very regular water changes cost then. 20W for a filter is about 10 cents daily, water change cost is negligible.
50 litres of water is ard 10 cents i think (measure your water volume, not tank volume). Same ballpark. If it's a hatching/yearling, you'd need even less water. I know you are supposed to give it a lot of space for swimming, but technically the majority of many aquariums in Singapore I have seen over several decades all this while are also overloaded in this aspect, seriously. (I started keeping fishes in the 80s)
Both ways got its own quirks and perks.


Actually, keeping red ear sliders vs keeping freshwater aquariums particularly the sensitive fishes already considered easy peasey.
Haven't even pull in marine, reefing etc.

 

[onegoal]

At night go bonatical garden pond or Chinese garden pond. It is the easier way out for u.

Just go to these places and adpot will be best. There are alot.

 

[WussRedXLi]

Forget about stuff like Zoo Med Powersun or Hagen Exo Terra Solarglo. Not much UVB and horrible UVB output decay. Expensive too.

If you have a big enclosure (landed property), go for this mercury vapor bulb if you want more heat than the 70W or 150W metal halides, though i am not sure why would you want so much heat though.
SGD 65, shipping shd not be expensive via third party forwarders (within 1 kg even if half volumetric).

Minimum distance is 1m, exact UVI usable in practice you ownself calculate for your duration and pet.

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?s...5335569ed55e27b&abbucket=12&skuId=20938569481

 

[WussRedXLi]

Bonus info :

At 2 weeks old the UVB measured with the Solarmeter 6.2 measured at 12! The requirements for sun loving reptiles is 75 - 150 μW/cm2 UVB

Even after adding a 8 inch reflector hood (eg SGD 20 from Lazada/Aliexpress), probably it would be doubled, at best 3X. Get the one with aluminum mirror finishing for the inside, fully reflective for UVB, it has been tested that the white pain ones do not reflect UVB. The 5.5 inch reflector that you normally see does not fit these 23-26W coils, unless if it's the longer extended 5.5 inch version. Better to get the 8 inch.
You'd get 35 uW/cm2 with the reflector at best @ 30cm distance. If you use a dual reflector dome setup, it would be 70 uW/cm2. You can try to cut it down to 20cm (8 inches) but do that only for red ear sliders which are no bigger than say 8cm. When they raise their heads, their max profile would be maybe 5cm in height.
See the below diagram and you'd know already, you cannot overdo the UVI as the "layers" between the UVI levels of UVI 2 and UVI 10 are so thin.
Such is the emission profile of CFLs in reflectors.....metal halides, Megaray MVB, Osram Ultra-Vitalux and T5HO tubes in reflectors are very different.

A 35W PAR30 bulb metal halide from Taobao gets you around 200-250 uW/cm2 at 30cm (use at 35cm min). 70W gets you around 300+ uW/cm2 range at 30cm (use at 40cm min). Its been measured before, doubling the wattage does not yield double the UVB intensity, but if you use the 70W then you'd also get more visible light which is diurnal range stimulating and also a little more heat, if you need that. A little heat is useful for simulating the effect of sunlight and for digestion aid etc, similar to what you see turtles basking here in SG sunlight, but not to the heating needs and effect of what is used in the winter countries.
And the metal halide UVB output lasts twice as long as the CFLs in terms of decay.

In March this year, I tested two ExoTerra ReptiGlo 10.0 26W coils and these two are completely different to the version I tested in 2008.
The 2009 lamps even have a different shaped base (more like a cylinder than the cup-shape they had before) so they are probably made by a different company. The UVB output is much lower overall - making it one of the weaker 10.0 compact lamps available - but it still has a higher proportion of its output in the shorter wavelengths, so the spectrum is not what I consider optimal, although there is almost nothing below 290nm in this latest version.
Because of the very low output, these lamps are in my opinion extremely unlikely to cause eye problems if used at sensible distances (eg. 10 - 12 inches).
Here are some sample readings, all measured from the side of a bare lamp held vertically in a fixture with no reflector or dome, and no screen, at 12 inches distance:
Brand new lamp (30mins): 14 µW/cm² and UV Index 0.9
Lamp after 105 hrs (approx 10 days use): 13 µW/cm² and UV Index 0.7
Lamp after 750 hrs (approx 2.5 months use): 11 µW/cm² and UV Index 0.6

 

[onegoal]

TS, u sell paper car for the dead?

 

[WussRedXLi]

Bro no doubt they would contain UVB. But one important question that I have is that would it leak UVC? I read before that some chinese fluorescent lamps would leak a bit due to the uneven quality of phosphor coating.

Share PM on here.

Don't think so. I cannot confirm though as i do not have the meters.
But TB sellers have done before.

I know some folks used their reefing metal halide with 150W, 250W, removed the safety glass for their reptiles. That'd be dumb. Anyway if there were to be any UVC, either you or your pet would know it nearly immediately within hours. The inflammation starts almost immediately with such high outputs + small spot size/intensity. A 55W PL-C 254.3nm UVC germicidal lamp at least is a longish tube, so more diffused.

Anyway, some info for the reptile keepers in this thread, if you have a low budget but wanna do metal halides but the $400+ cost is prohibitive. (and remember, 1-2 year change once, since good for 3000hrs nia)


Those CFL bulbs (even branded like Exo Terra) are still quite low in UVB production and they don't really last > 1-2 months from what is measured (even though the box says 6 months). Those Solarglo mercury vapor bulbs also don't last. The only thing that lasts is the Megaray MVB, but it costs 47 usd (before discount) and shipping costs 1.5X the bulb itself from reptileUV. The ones on Amazon via 3rd party sellers are risky as they might be fakes.

Just get the UVB metal halides from TB. Remember, only the metal halides. The TB china CFLs quite a fair number leak UVB.

 

[Alex.hero]

Anyone wanna adopt my little terrapin. I have 2 now. But I will only be able to keep 1... I’ll give u 3 months of supply of food plus deliver the turtle to ur door step...