WATTAGE REQUIREMENTS

[petluvr]

I am am going to be planting my 55 gallon that has my turtle in it (after I ask a lot of questions), what I am wondering is what wattage does most low light plants require-per gallon?

[beviking]

That's a "loaded" question due to varying tank sizes. Assuming your 55gal is 48"X12"X20", two 4' bulbs over it would provide enough light for any low light plant. For T12 bulbs, that's 80watts, not quite 1.5 wpg but it will work.

[fsn77]

Depending on the type of turtle you have, you may find that the plants become more like toys and/or the occassional snack than decoration.

When I added a couple of plants to our turtle tank, they were nicely moved around the aquarium for me and a few were chewed on pretty heavily. I gave up after a short while and removed the plants -- what was left of them.

[Hurley]

If you are going to have a turtle in the tank, they need special lighting and I'm not sure what kind of wattage those lights give off. But, you will need to take that into consideration too.

[petluvr]

I am not worried about the turtle eating the plants, she will only eat her stick food. She may uproot them now that I think about it she does like to reaarange everything.

[Bk718]

For a low light tank go with atleast 1.5wpg. The total wattage would depend if this tank is filled completely or is like your 46g which is filled 1/3 of the way.
As far as plants you can go with amazon swords since those get big, easy to care for and very easy to replace since they are available pretty much everywhere.

[petluvr]

No, this is the same 55 gallon I have talked about with you before. Now that I have thought about it, like fsn77 said the turtle does like to move things around. Are the swords a hardy plant?

[Bk718]

Once swords develop roots they are very hard to uproot. What you can do is also put them in pots.

[petluvr]

Would I then plant the pot? I don't really want the pot to show.

[Bk718]

you can spray paint the pot black lol or add silicone to it and top it with the current gravel so it looks blended in. If its the uprooting issue then you can also try adding some stones by the plant to prevent any digging in that area.

[SchizotypalVamp]

What type of turtle is it? If it is an Red-eared slider you'll need to move it soon and unless you know for a fact that she can't/won't grow to the size where she can (we tried it..didn't work out), it's also not worth it because you'll have to move him/her soon.

[petluvr]

RES are illegal to buy where I am at, it is an African Mud Turtle. Bk828, She digs up everything, I am not sure what to do I need to add something to her tank it's so BLAH!!!!

[Bk718]

okay then try adding stones around the plants so she cannot uproot them. You can either try slate pieces which you can get at homedepot for $2 a 12x12 piece or visit a stone yard and you can get a few pieces there for a few cents on the pound.. Or ofcourse if you got lakes near you, you can get some smaller round stones, just have to clean them up good.

[petluvr]

I just worry about her moving them and hurting herself. Shes stronger than you think.

[Bk718]

I just worry about her moving them and hurting herself. Shes stronger than you think.

You can get round stones and place them half way in the substrate, that way she wont be able to move them and there wont be any sharp edges for her to hurt herself. Will be a true river bottom tank

[petluvr]

I have a small creek across the street from my house as well as two fairly large mountain spring fed lakes within a mile of my house I think I could find something she won't be able to move. How would I then place the plants?

[Bk718]

place the plant in gravel, then about an inch or 2 around the plant just place the stones.

If you do pickup the stones by the creek, make sure to clean them up nicely.. You can boil them to get rid of anything bad thats on the stone and basically somewhat sterilize it. Though a few here will tell you not to boil stones..

[petluvr]

Oh I would make sure they are cleaned correctly. I think I wll have to go stone collecting in the near future.