BABY TURTLE AQUARIUM SETUP (diy FILTER & BASKING DOCK)

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

What turtle videos do you want to see next?

[@revibeddiy166]

HOUSE BILLINGS definitely a feeding video

[@yourefantastic2559]

HOUSE BILLINGS Looking forward to the new turtle pond for the big guys!

[@aprilgabrielrodriguez7158]

I'm sure you can come up with something awesomely epic 😉

[@williamlewis3163]

Box turtles

[@aarushmsaxena7443]

The next video should be of if any turtle eggs had hatched. And diy turtle egg incubator. I have seen many other videos but I think you will make it better. And with excitement that you always have . Keep up the good videos. And continue your good work. Looking forward to the next video

[@darrenmurray7204]

Some great ideas there you have. Gives me food for thought ❤

[@THEDollabills19]

So awesome with the new setup! Everyone is now downstairs together. What a relaxing room

[@reesesaquatics8172]

very cool video i enjoyed watching it

[@alexkarasoulos]

I wrote a good chunk but it's broken down to tips and recommendations I've had with keeping my peninsula cooter. Part 1 is about plants, Part 2 is about Fish, Part 3 is adding inverts and Part 4 is filtration and Part 5 is food. I too live in New England and know some of the struggles keeping up with temperatures, And since you live in New England I recommend getting any of this stuff at N.E.R.D. in Plaistow, New Hampshire, The Fish Nook in Acton, Massachusetts or European Aquatics in Malden, Massachusetts. 1. You should add live plants to go with fish but I had to go through many plants to find what worked and what didn't. Hornwort and was my biggest success along with Marimo Moss balls, its bitter to turtles and is readily available, 2nd would be Java Fern and Anubias, they are a little expensive and sometimes they take a few bites, for carpeting plants your only common option is dwarf hair grass, Monte-Carlo, Glosso, and Dwarf Baby Tears always get eaten and Vallisneria also gets eaten. Bacopa/Moneywort can get eaten it really just depends on the specific Turtle. If you add enough of water lettuce and duckweed they can be sustained and I have heard the Anarchias does well and java moss should be added if you are going to have shrimp. I have put leopard gecko hid in tanks then glued moss and java fern for shrimps and fish to hide in and give it a natural look. 2. For fish, I recommend extremely fast short-finned fish such as danios like zebra danios, but even though celestial danios are beautiful, they prefer colder waters and aren't as active. When your turtles get bigger Congo tetras are ideal because they get 3in and bit more aggressive to smaller species but in this stage add a schooling fish with the mentioned characteristics like cardinal/neon tetras. When the turtles get bigger try to get non-aggressive cichlids with shortish fins unlike angels and more of red devils or even Bolivians rams/Acaras. At this size you can attempt some subspecies of guppies with short fins like Endler's Livebearer/Guppy, some people have had them all eaten in one day but I have had incredible success with them. Plecos that are larger then your turtle are also good like a sunshine pleco because they have armored scales and turtles don't really attack them and for the current size of the tank, I recommend gold nugget plecos or Bristlenose plecos. 3. Inverts are a cool clean-up crew that can help you a lot while constructing a turtle tank. There are many snails that are compatible that are brackish and fresh because peninsula cooters come from deltas on miniature peninsulas in Louisiana and Florida with having some brackish water if you would like to add salt to the tank but that could affect the other creatures and plants in the tank. As long as the snail doesn't fit in the turtle's mouth you are good to go, for bigger snails apple/mystery snails are recommended but for smaller tank try nerite snails and for Malaysian trumpet snails, I'm not personally sure I've never tried them and they could work. As of Shrimp Cardinias can be kept if you have the knowledge to keep them but the Neocaridinias tend to hide less and get eaten, ghost shrimp I haven't had good like so far, they all got eaten, but the best one to go with is Amano shrimp even though they're on the pricier side of shrimp. The last one that did well were dwarf crayfish even though they aren't technically shrimp, they can be kept with LOTS of hiding spaces. 4. Also if you want more natural filtration you can add vines plants such as Ivy or Pothos to add at the top of the filter but don't add lucky bamboo or sweet potatoes or anything similar because they have roots that can poison turtles. Sponges filters also help ALOT if you're housing inverts fish or plants, because inverts feed of the matter of the sponge that decays and the plants absorb the nutrients and the bubbles create additional aeration for the fish. 5. I recommend the Saki-Hikari Turtle pellets because they decrease waste are healthier and smell better than traditional pellets. For greens give mostly kale for its high in calcium and for a treat use romaine lettuce but has very little nutritional value and If you can every once in a while attempt feeding carrot slices. As Juveniles, they require a high protein diet like tilapia (Don't feed )or for insects try crickets, wax worms, super worms (When they're older)mealworms, and locusts/hoppers (If available in your country, banned in the U.S ) fed with feeding tongs. -Thanks if you read all of this and I hope it helps you or anyone who reads this in the future!

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

This is amazing info and thank you for taking the time to write all of this. Most of what you talked about we have in our other tanks and we love it. The pothos plants are something i use in almost every tank, as well as duckweed and silvania. The duckweed and silvania need water that isnt moving too much so it does very well in our 55 gallon community tank. It actually grows fast enough that we can feed all of the turtles daily! I love your input on the types of fish to add and its funny that you mentioned zebra danios because I just picked some up for our community tank, reason being is they were fast enough so our oscars dont catch them. Thank you again and hope to see you stick around and continue to interact with us!

[@MrTurbo718]

Wow that's beautiful

[@almadory5576]

I have watched all of your videos. Love the passion you have for animals. Your turtle videos are my favorite💕

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thank you so much for the support! So glad to have you on board

[@chase.different2893]

I named my crusher like yours cause it’s cool and your video really helped me I couldn’t find the species until I saw your vid Thnks so much

[@brianreyes4356]

Yasss daisy and crusher!! So glad they are doing well

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

yes we love these guys!

[@sherylsanders4050]

Love Thor and loki can’t wait for the summer pond

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

I know I cant wait for the warm weather

[@Anna-qwerty]

Haha your turtles stretching their necks out examining the place. So cute

[@tommybojangles3897]

Im still new to the channel so I am going back to get all caught up. This is just awesome man I love what you guys do! I love that your entire family is involved and has the passion for these animals. If anyone has not subscribed and watched all the other videos PLEASE DO you are missing out.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thank you for the love and support, glad to have you

[@jamesgarrison1532]

Looks amazing bro! Keep up the good work

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thanks james!

[@linwong3076]

Beautiful setup as always

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Glad you like it

[@elisa4822]

Update on turtles..?

[@kc.5.563]

I like that yall love step brother lol my movie

[@Shartlet3958]

Hey! Just found your video. I subscribed and liked, keep up the great work! Very beautiful tank and turtles!

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thanks for the support! Glad to have you on board.

[@bbynae8126]

I have 2 sliders named Apollo and Artemis and your turtle are adorable❤️

[@daisycx2580]

Omg they are so adorable , I remember them being more tiny :) I have two sliders name Leah & Yumi

[@daisycx2580]

Btw what kind of lights do you get ? And from where ?

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Daisy Cx Hey Daisy, nice to hear from you! For the bulbs we use this Zoo Med Turtle combo pack amzn.to/2v69S4K they’re actually on sale right now it looks like. And for the lamps we use these amzn.to/2SWZBQs

[@MoracleTennis]

out of my 4 red eared sliders my fav one is rizzler

[@revibeddiy166]

Me: Hits the like button Also me: watches the video

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

😂🙌 Who’s better than you

[@UNKNOWN_housemusic]

Me I do that an sub btw do you know how to make a basking area i need to move to put them in a 40 gallon tankThey are in a 10 gallon

[@Abstruseish]

I only have one turtle. He's a red ear named Henry. He's in his 30s and has outlived another big canister filter lol.

[@jorgerozon8602]

Love it man! I do that with all my filters too

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

I find it to be so much more effective

[@double5bbq]

So cool. Peninsula Cooters get really big really fast. 😳 They have great personalities, though. They’ll be fun.

[@sophiatomaselli3671]

Baby turtles!

[@melissaatteberry2954]

What kind of sand is that? I just bought a home that has a huge 150+ gallon pond with four red eared slider the oldest female is almost to 12” the smallest male is about 4-5”. I rescued a hatchling that fell into their pond and got attacked and lost a leg, so my favorite is, “Stump.” I’m watching and reading as much as I can for tank setup. Right now he’s like 1.5 to 2”. Really small but is shedding his skin and growing.

[@namcoman3091]

#BillingsFam!!! So glad your back now I have some videos to catch up on. Great job

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Yes! Thank you!

[@pawa2511]

Hi, quick question? What are those bricks that you have in the aquarium? What are they called? What kind?

[@allannelson2512]

We just got “Gonzo”. I’d love a video on how/how often to do a water change in your 40 gallon tank.

[@jamesledbetter6712]

Doesn't pfs have silica which is small glass material ?

[@cherry-qt5wc]

What heater do you recommend?

[@beberosa8167]

Do they grow a lot ?

[@lindamelius4075]

I ended up with a turtle but have no ideal what kind it is and what I should do. It came from MIssouri what part I'm not sure. I've had her in a cage with water in a bowl and I finally got a 40 gal tank and put her in it but she seems like she doesn't really swim that well. Figured she would go to the bottom and check things out but just stays on top and breath really hard when I put her on her floating thing.Never owned a turtle before could really use some advise. Thanks in advance. We thought it might be a map turtle but really don't know. I would seed a picture of my set up and what she looks like if I new how.

[@sophiatomaselli3671]

Greenie and Crush!

[@guillermoiiialtaaduana3767]

Gracias

[@susanrenovated4728]

My fave and only turtle's name is Yoshi. She is a 1 year old red eared slider. I love her!

[@monkeyhugs2434]

I have a turtle that looks just like that. I thought it was a yellow belly slider but you called these Palencia Cooters. She's growing like a weed. Her name is Seaweed.

[@GregTLaurie]

What kind of bricks or stones do you use to stack up the basking area? Great video, thank you for sharing.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Greg_Laurie Hey Greg great question. The light colored ones are granite cobblestones they sell at Home Depot for a couple dollars. We had just a regular brick in there as well, which works fine as long as they’re not treated with chemicals.

[@GregTLaurie]

@@HOUSEBILLINGS Awesome, thank you! We are trying raise thier basking area so we can put more water in the tank.

[@Gaetano.94]

I was wondering if you could help me. I got a baby turtle a couple weeks ago. He is probably 2.5 inches from tail to the neck part of the shell. He is very very scared easily and gets very startled if someone comes near him, he starts swimming so fast that it looks like he is trying to teleport to another dimension through the glass. What can I do to make him more comfortable and not swim away like I'm trying to kill him?

[@joeyb373byrd7]

You should get a pleco they're really good for cleaning the tank

[@master_vader205]

Look how he swings the turtles around when he's talking! lmao

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Lol I’m Italian I talk with my hands. It’s definitely something I try not to do while I hold them, but the turtles are fine.

[@gigithree4768]

Bubba Sparks is one of my turtles name….my brother & daughter came up with it lol

[@trinaschukar59]

What is the heater you are using here? I need to find one for my baby turtle

[@AtariTheAquarist]

I would do a fast nano fish they can't catch and a bunch of cherry shrimp

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Great idea! Hopefully they just ignore the shrimp because i would want them to survive lol

[@awa5699]

That’s the same with mine there the same age but tjs almost an inch bigger than baby but baby has the messed up shell from a bird or fish trying to eat it as new born

[@shaunyaiome3571]

I have 2 baby yellow bellies that I keep in a 125 gallon long tank, their names are browser and Sheldon

[@nopehope7600]

I know it been a a few months but what are the bricks that are holding the basking station

[@linwong3076]

I would add shrimp with the turtles and a shark would be cool! Lol

[@alexkarasoulos]

Fish with fins like freshwater sharks don't do well with turtles. Though some could work.

[@kelleysullivan5084]

I also have two red eyed sliders that came together, the female twice the size of the male like yours and they look like their the same age as yours 4-5 months old?). Their names are Miley and Cirus. Miley is the female. Your turtles are adorable.

[@TheMrDarius]

Rosy red minnows because they’ll eat some or the ones who die or they’ll be tankmates. My peninsula cooter doesn’t eat live fish she eats them when they go belly up but she seems to enjoy their presence along with my two koi in there. No incidents with the koi having chunks missing from their fins

[@TheMrDarius]

But that’s case by case turtle by turtle. Each one has their personality. Like my peninsula cooter I’m 95% sure she came from the wild but she’s adapted well to being in captivity and she’s real docile and mellow. My only complaint about her is any kind of plants anywhere she will destroy by trying to climb on them. My other aquatic turtle is a red eared slider that I got from a friend because she couldn’t care for him anymore. He’s young but he gets along with mama (tries to breed with him but she shrugs his shrimp dick self away). Cooters are so cool and have so much personality

[@TheMrDarius]

I know I keep commenting buuuut I absolutely love turtle habitats especially when I see stuff on cooters because here in cali we don’t have peninsula cooters normally. I just can’t wait to build a massive pond for them to play in

[@evanthompson1420]

You could put a school of tiger barbs and some corydora catfish with the turtles

[@kaitlyngialee836]

Ghost shrimp is pretty good shrimp for your tank because you have sand and shrimps love sand

[@sophiatomaselli3671]

They are my two babies

[@Bangpaulxu]

man looks great, you got my sub.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thank you for the support! Glad to have you on board

[@pekkle007]

Are you sure sand is a good substrate for aquatic turtles? There are many breeders who would say otherwise.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Pool filter sand is perfectly acceptable for turtles, it is finer than play sand and doesn’t have all the chemicals. I just suggest watching them while they eat to make sure they aren’t ingesting it much, which they hardly ever do. Other than that, turtles live naturally in sand and they enjoy it.

[@claudiavideos688]

I have 2 baby read eared turtles but they are not eating what can i do?

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

When you say baby, how old?

[@claudiavideos688]

Im not sure for the size maybe 2 or 3 months they are a little bigger then a quarter size like 2 or 3 inches i got them yesterday the fish tank with their dry space an uv light but they look scared if i get close to the tank they go in the water and start swimming around

[@maakalogotala3209]

I have this baby turtle that I named snappy because I assumed that he was a snappy turtle but instead someone at a pet store said it's a slider. I'm still in the learning my first time having a turtle so I'm taking notes and hopefully I catch up fast

[@ladyofthenorth8560]

You could do some goldfish with them! Or put some mollies?

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

great idea we may just try that

[@alexkarasoulos]

@@HOUSEBILLINGS Due to water temperatures and the length of they're fins goldfish are very suitable to go with turtles/terrapins but I have had success with faster danios like zebras and short-finned tetras like cardinals and younger congo tetras because they get around 3 inches, and about the mollies you could have success but not likely because of there balloon shape turtles can catch them easier but no matter what have lots of hiding spaces for the fish

[@rubenu5818]

do you think that pool filter sand is good for softshells? or just regular sand

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Absolutely pool filter sand is great for all turtles and it helps keep the water a little bit cleaner

[@rubenu5818]

HOUSE BILLINGS thanks! you should get a softshell there’s not alot of videos of them out there an yours would be fun to watch

[@feliciahuffstickler6774]

my favorite turtles name is wiggles and waddles

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Lol those are great names

[@trinaschukar59]

Can you put that type of filter on the bottom of the tank on the sand? Please let me know.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Yes absolutely

[@karlap7307]

2 baby sliders Hollywood and Kenmore 🐢🐢

[@maggieswinkels7959]

Gold fish

[@s.nalinidora7814]

Big bro what's the name of the filter you used?

[@werewolfgirl1476]

my turtles are red eared sliders.... one is Ralpheila and the other is Lila-red which is a baby and im going to get two more in the mere future dont know what kind of species

[@blake3551]

You should get Red Devil Cichlid I have them with my turtles and they are all some 😎

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Awesome idea! We actually have a red devil too. He’s massive, you can see him in the pool pond at the end of this video!

[@awa5699]

They needs about 10 gals per inch per turtle so that’s perfect for them

[@randomrazr]

great video. most poeple should buy tanks when babys reach adult size. tip though dont use copyright music

[@trinaschukar59]

What kind of heater should I use for a 10 gallon tank for turtles?

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

No turtles should be in a ten gallon tank unless they are tiny babies

[@trinaschukar59]

@@HOUSEBILLINGS yes, this one is a very tiny red eared slider. Will probably only keep her in the 10 gallon for a couple of months.. but wondering if I should put a heater in the water? And what size lamp I should get.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

I would def put a heater in the water unless you live down south and it is warm enough to not need one. They dont need anything crazy warm but the water should be 74-78ish if possible

[@trinaschukar59]

@@HOUSEBILLINGS well I live in the Houston Texas area. We usually keep our house around 77. Thanks for the info. I also have 40 gallon tanks whick I will probably put this little one in once she gets a little bigger.

[@qy3h634]

Long time no see!

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Beyond Space Ayyy!

[@backyardburnouts8846]

Look at my recent video of the blind eye tetra . I think you'll be interested. They live in caves and have no eyes and get almost 5 inches .

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

HORESPOWER ENGAGED 04 I’ve seen a few of them before, very cool fish. I’ll definitely check out your video, thanks for the idea!

[@hannahsmith2867]

We have Mississippi map turtles it’s pretty much the only kind I can get were I live

[@ginacoffey934]

Carlton Skuttles 7yo yellow belly slider

[@goodiegoat6923]

This is so cool, I want turtles but someone had told me they carry a disease and I don't think my mom will let me have some

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thanks! Turtles are awesome to have. They require some work with cleaning the tank, having the proper setup, and making sure they get the right food but they make up for all of that with personality. Also yes they can carry salmonella, but as long as you wash your hands after handling it’s nothing to worry about :)

[@goodiegoat6923]

Thanks, it's cus my school has an aquatics program and they're giving away turtles that was just recently hatched and I wanted like 2

[@alexkarasoulos]

@@goodiegoat6923 The only disease that turtles transmit is salmonella and its very rare and preventable if you wash your hands before and after handling them.

[@shaunyaiome3571]

They carry salmonella but all animals carry it, wash hands after touching

[@revibeddiy166]

Get some guppy’s, they’ll look cool and the turtles can munch lol

[@ombinous5432]

I have 5 red eared sliders the names are Sammy, Sunny, Sebastian, Star and Sarah

[@angxla5876]

what size is this tank I rlly want it

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

40 gallon

[@yourefantastic2559]

Get some mollies/platies in there they’re pretty hardy and the turtles may or May not eat them

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

great idea! and they would most likely have babies too

[@really4155]

My turtles name is Ninja😊🐢

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Great name! Whats up ninja!

[@jakemcnair2535]

my turtles names are Patrick/red ear slider and rex/African side neck....I thank it would be good to have plecos/pick...catfish/or guppies.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thats awesome! How big is rex? We do have tons of catfish right now but guppies could be a real good idea

[@brianreyes4356]

Lol “so much room for activities”

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

lol that movie will never not be awesome

[@redwolf3788]

mu turtle is called floockis

[@rrgamingvip8743]

My turtles name is scrach

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Hey scrach

[@michaelbaker3350]

I have peninsula cooter turtle to names Freddy he’s a cool little guy

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thats awesome! I love them very cool creatures

[@greed1517]

Plz put aquarium dimensions

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

It’s a 40 gallon breeder.

[@ms.gorgeouscharlie]

My son has red earred sliders, Domino James, and Letty Storm. We thought Letty was a girl, then we discovered he was a boy.

[@brendengeffre4949]

The names of my turtles are Law & Order

[@craigjnr1434]

No neons anyway

[@elianamendoza4459]

My turtles is a red eared slider so his name is Raphael

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Thats a great name!

[@elianamendoza4459]

Thank you I thought so to it would be great if you named one of your red eared sliders Raphael 2

[@mikearmstrong7961]

God, not another video with snapping music.

[@sisisoso5602]

My babies names are mortin and Levi-AOT-

[@jeremyrodriguez9475]

My turtle is a boy red ear slider & i named him Myrtle😂

[@troglotech.]

Have you ever kept pets besides fish and turtles

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Great question! Yes we currently have a dog and cat. Both we have had for almost 10 years. We also have chickens as well.

[@mishti3386]

name of my baby turtle is ivy

[@aprilgabrielrodriguez7158]

How about some dwarf cichlids for the turtles the red ones color freaking pops and not mAny hobbyist have them 😉

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

That sounds like a great idea, we have been looking for an excuse to get some cichlids lol

[@jamesgarrison1532]

I second this idea

[@dalycruz65]

My turtle name is Blastoise and he is 8yrs old 🐢🐢

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Haha that is awesome! pokemon gooooo

[@melissasanders7194]

My RES’s name is Burger because he looks like a 🍔 when you hold him with two hands.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Lol very creative

[@sarahpoole9541]

Igor is my turtle son

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Haha awesome turtle name

[@courtneylischa3086]

I have two baby RES... Their names are SHELLY and SHELLDON : )

[@lawrencewan9154]

Looks like a turtle prison.

[@HOUSEBILLINGS]

Kick rocks