Best cycle water flow dish set up for large tortoise (or small)

[vincent-cm]

Hi all!

Anyone have seen or any idea that we can set up a large dish of water but also recyclable water flow in/out large filter system?
I have done one for small tortoise by using dish + pipes (in flow with pre-filter and out flow)

But it always ends up with mess, my tort will hang over the dish, moving soil into the water and split water outside the dish,
The water will be less after a day and mud becomes more, which is a mess in this sort of filtering system.

The general idea is that we don't need to change water daily and let the filter system do the biological cycling.


Will this to be sustainable set up or any other suggestion?


I have filter like this, and it connects to the water dish, the flow can be controlled and reduced to minimum and it flows steady.

 

[Lyn W]

Torts like to self soak in their water dishes because as well as drinking they can absorb water/nutrients through their cloaca and thin skin, so without stopping them doing that, I can't see it working, but I may be wrong.

It's not a big deal to change the water daily is it? Just take it out at night to clean the dish and replace and refill next morning.

What species of tort do you have and what substrate are you using? There may be something less messy you could use

 

[Tom]

Hi all!

Anyone have seen or any idea that we can set up a large dish of water but also recyclable water flow in/out large filter system?
I have done one for small tortoise by using dish + pipes (in flow with pre-filter and out flow)

But it always ends up with mess, my tort will hang over the dish, moving soil into the water and split water outside the dish,
The water will be less after a day and mud becomes more, which is a mess in this sort of filtering system.

The general idea is that we don't need to change water daily and let the filter system do the biological cycling.


Will this to be sustainable set up or any other suggestion?


I have filter like this, and it connects to the water dish, the flow can be controlled and reduced to minimum and it flows steady.

View attachment 338208

The reason no one does this is because it isn't practical and is near impossible to do successfully. The biological waste load excreted in one day by a tortoise, in addition to all the other substrate, food and debris, would require a massive biological filter bed and an enormous reservoir/sump type of set up. It just doesn't make sense to do it that way.

What works best, makes the most sense, and is cleanest and most sanitary, is to simply dump, wipe, rinse and refill the bowl daily or whenever you see that it is soiled. I like to have multiple bowls for each enclosure. I remove the dirty one and immediately plop the clean one in its place and refill it. Then I can scrub out the dirty one under hot water and let it bake in the sun for a day or two. Terra cotta plant saucers are cheap, easy to find, and work perfectly for tortoises.

Save the canister filter for your fish tank!