Lunsford, Kent Hunsuckle & Rone Fong.
At some point many turtle hobbyists ask about
live plants; can they exist in a turtle tank, what kind work and what are their
needs? Experienced hobbyists give a range of answers but often limited
information; many people very knowledgeable about turtles have never researched
& maintained planted tanks, and some never branched into the fish aquarist hobby
far, either. Some recommend, hey, sure, get some live plants; they look better
than plastic plants, provide theoretically needed stimulation via a detailed
environment and draw wastes out of the water. Some say ‘no,’ your turtles will
inevitably either eat or dig up and kill any plant. So who’s right?
I undertook this article with limited live
plant maintenance experience, acquired through research and personal
experimentation. Planted tanks are commonly discussed amongst fish enthusiasts,
and many people actually have ‘planted tanks’ with very few & very small fish
whose purpose is to produce plant fertilizer; the plants aren’t supporting cast,
they’re the main event. That won’t be the case in a turtle tank.
To start with, yes, you can have live plants in
most turtle tanks. That’s a qualified yes. It varies with tank size,
substrate, lighting, water parameters, CO2, plant number & species,
turtles’ number, size, species and individual variation, and other tank
Let’s take a look at plants’ general
requirements; substrate, atmosphere, light & nutrients. Then we’ll look at what
plants can do for you, and what kinds you might like.
plant names to summon sites with species-specific info. If you right-click the
mouse you can ‘Open In New Window’ & open hyperlinks without losing sight of
I.) What Plants Require.
Substrate – In nature you seldom find a pure gravel bed in a water
body, yet many aquarists expect plants to thrive in 2 inches of aquarium gravel.
People with ‘plants only or mostly’ tanks have some soil-mix options, but
turtles will turn any ‘dirt substrate’ into a muddy slurry. So what can you do?
Use Plant Species That Aren’t Root-Dependent – many plants (i.e.:
hornwort & Anacharis) draw nutrients out of the water column;
Anacharis will send out root-like growths to attach itself to substrate, but
can thrive free-floating in the tank. Hornwort will end up floating whatever you
do. Floating plants require nutrients just as root feeders do, but do not
require a nutrient-rich substrate.
Provide a Nutritious Substrate – There are two popular products
Laterite is a fine reddish clay gravel that provides an iron-rich
substrate in your tank. Cheaper than Flourite but reputedly not as ‘nutritious.’
Often mixed with gravel for iron and to improve growth. Rinse thoroughly before
use or have cloudy red water for days. As of 1-19-03,
Pondside Herp. Supply charges $12.00 for a 55 oz. box, sufficient to mix
into the gravel of a 55 gallon aquarium. Read another
article on Laterite.
Flourite is a mildly abrasive hard reddish clay gravel, one of the best
out-of-the-box substrates you can buy. It does not crumble to mud in water, but
gives off a lot of reddish ‘mist’ in the tank when first used. Thorough rinsing
helps but won’t eliminate the problem, which fades with time. Flourite is used
as pure substrate (best) or mixed with gravel (cheaper). Due its mild
abrasiveness I don’t recommend it for softshell turtles, which try to bury
themselves in substrates. As of 1-19-03,
Pondside Herp. Supplies charges $12.50 for a 7 kg bag, said to provide about
a 2 inch deep layer in a 10 gallon aquarium. Recommended use is 1 kg for about
each 200 cm2 (31 in2) of tank bottom. (Example: A 75
gallon tank is 18”x48”, 864 in2, roughly 28 kg Flourite recommended,
about 4 bags. Not bad…)
particularly undemanding plants (Aponogeton ulvaceus), or plants that
aren’t put in substrate (Java fern & Java moss). Kent recommends sticking to
‘natural’ gravels (not painted/colored gravel, where the coating will be worn
down.) Kent found those with a high quartz content seemed to adversely impact
pH, but quartz is inert; I suspect some gravels release minerals into water &
add buffering, whereas quartz wouldn’t). Usually medium or small gravel is used
(in which case watch that your turtle doesn’t swallow it & risk impaction).
Kent’s had the best luck with regular small gravel straight out of the bag with
all the dirt in it (not rinsed), & recommends 3” depth for plants with large,
sturdy roots (like Anubias barteri).
– Kent stated it’s not the best substrate for plants; it
lacks most nutrients, packs around the roots too tightly & doesn’t allow for
water flow around the roots to bring in nutrients. Kent said it can be used when
Laterite is mixed into the sand, but recommes only grassy plants or some
slow-growing plants that slowly grow strong roots be tried in sand.
Atmosphere – Relevant concerns are submersed/emersed plants & CO2
Submersed/Emersed: Assume any aquatic plants at the pet store are
designed for permanent submersion and you assume wrong. Some plants are
indeed fully aquatic, or at least can exist indefinitely submerged. Others, such
as terrestrial plants or some emersed plants (i.e.:
Green Acorus Grass), by nature grow in water but extend much of the plant
body above water. Such plants may die a slow death if kept permanently
submersed. On the other hand, they may be perfect for a spotted turtle or
Eastern mud turtle tank with fairly shallow water.
CO2 Supplementation: Most turtle tanks are sparsely
planted & this is a non-issue. The CO2 gas level is a common
growth-limiting factor in planted tanks. CO2 is produced from
respiration by animals (and even plants), breakdown of organic materials and
diffusion of atmospheric CO2 into the water. Since turtles exhale
above water (unlike fish), they don’t enrich tank CO2 as much. You
can raise CO2 levels via CO2 supplementation, and there
are many systems available. Some are fairly simple & rely on a yeast/sugar mix
to produce CO2 bubbled into your tank via plastic tubing, sometimes
into filter intakes to make water absorb it (rather than let it bubble straight
up & out). Some commercial systems use CO2 tanks you pay to have
re-filled (perhaps annually). Some use carbon blocks. Commercial products may
only produce CO2 during daylight hours (when plants use it), monitor
tank pH, keep a constant bubble rate, etc… Even systems rated for tanks smaller
than the one they’re on often produce much quicker growth. If you overdo it,
large pH shifts can occur & kill your fish. This is more troublesome at night,
when plants don’t consume CO2. DIY (Do-It-Yourself) systems are cheap
& design plans available online; you have to mix the yeast sugar mix & change it
every few weeks (Rone found
this article on making a DIY injector). Rone also cautioned that you should
read through 'Debates and Miscellany' on the bottom of the article and/or 'Take
Heed: CO2 is not a Toy'. Commercial systems are precise, reliable (no yeast
mixture to die off suddenly), low maintenance & offer more control. Filters
whose output causes a lot of surface turbulence work against supplementation
because higher CO2 levels are lost faster from highly aerated water.
Rone found an alternative,
Seachem’s Flourish Excel, which provides carbon in the form of simple
organic compounds rather than CO2 gas. Most turtle tanks are sparsely
or at most moderately planted, so competition for CO2 is probably
light (though there are fewer fish producing it). Bottom line: You
can get away without supplementation, but it’s there if you want fast growth or
have trouble with a particular species. You can try a DIY system to see how it
works, then buy a commercial system once you decide on permanent
supplementation. Or give
Seachem’s Flourish Excel a try (the simplest way to experiment).
Light – The usual recommendation for planted tank lighting is
about 2-3 watts/gallon. The aquarium hood lights most tank setups came with
produce maybe 1 watt/gallon. This leaves you two choices: either use low-light
tolerant plants or provide more light.
Low-Light Tolerant Plants – often grow better under stronger light, but
can thrive in low light. Examples include Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias species
and some Cryptocornye.
Provide More Light – That means buying a new lighting system using more
powerful technologies, which are quite expensive and the bulbs should be
replaced periodically. Note that the relatively low-wattage so-called ‘plant
bulbs’ commonly sold for regular fixtures in pet stores are no substitute for an
increase in the amount of total light. There are a number of options, including
VHO (Very High Output), Power Compact Flourescents and Metal Halide. I recommend
Power Compact Flourescents for most users.
Power Compact Flourescent Fixtures – use a long, very narrow
fluorescent tube folded back on itself. These bulbs are too high-wattage for
standard fixtures & require Power Compact Fixtures or a retrofitted standard
light fixture. Produce a lot of light, and little heat. Lighting is rather even.
Common bulb strengths are 48 watt, 65 watt & 96 watt bulbs. (Note: Some fixtures
are designed to hold 2 bulbs so you can add a ‘blue actinic’ bulb, a feature
designed to provide specialty lighting to marine & reef tanks). For an example,
check out this
Compact Sea Life Britelite model, a 4 foot fixture with 2 65-watt bulbs for
Metal Halide Lighting - Bulbs resemble incandescent bulbs, not
fluorescent, and produce a lot of light and heat. Lighting isn’t even, an
effect some like & some don’t. The bulb is shaped more like an incandescent, not
long like a fluorescent.
– There’s nothing like it for intense
full-spectrum ‘everything you need’ lighting. Plants love it. There’s also
nothing like it for rapidly overheating the tank & killing your turtles, and for
triggering massive green water algae blooms. I don’t recommend putting a tank
near a window; UV light doesn’t penetrate glass anyway & the risks outweigh the
benefits. Outdoors, be sure you use a large water volume, always
with partial shade, and you may still battle green water algae. Note: I have
accidentally killed turtles via overheating & it is horrible.
Nutrients – Plants require nutrients, especially nitrogen and
phosphorous. In most tanks phosphorous is abundant & a non-issue (due to
commercial food introduced into the tank, etc… Reptile hobbyists can tell you
it’s usually a battle getting enough calcium into the diet to balance their
pets’ phosphate intake, not getting enough phosphorous into the food).
Your cycled filter breaks pet waste down; ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, so
nitrogen compounds are abundant. Potassium and iron are other nutrients noted to
be important. You may not require nutrient supplementation for hardier species,
especially if your substrate includes Laterite or Flourite, but supplementation
Seachem’s Flourish is a reputable reasonably-priced product sold at PetsMart
(used weekly; I think my bottle was ~ $8 & should last a long time). Rone noted
Yamato Green. Kent said while not critical in well-stocked fish tanks
nutritional supplementation is important in turtle tanks given the amount of
cleaning these tanks receive. This is especially true for bare-bottomed tanks
where turtles are fed outside the tank. Rone advised watching the pH if you add
much fertilizer, and remember it may contribute to algae blooms. She found this
Krib Article on Nutritional Deficiency to review if your plants don’t do
II.) What Plants Can Do For You.
Plants offer a number of advantages to the
Beauty – Even the best plastic & silk artificial plants do not match the
realistic beauty of live plants, a fact more evident after you’ve worked with
Environmental Enrichment – It’s thought by some turtles may enjoy a
varied enclosure with places to explore & search for food, rather than just a
glass box of clear water with a basking log & 2 inches gravel substrate. Live
plants are a part of that, along with driftwood, synthetic logs & rocks, etc…
Naturalistic Enclosure – tanks with live plants look more like a ‘slice
of nature’ than a glass box of water.
Cover for Prey – live food can evade the turtles better with cover. This
extends the hunt. In outdoor enclosures, this cover may allow goldfish to breed.
Waste Removal – nitrogenous wastes are removed by plants. They will not
keep your nitrates at zero, but a well-planted tank may run in the 20-30 ppm
when you’d have expected double that. Someone posted of a box turtle getting
repeated ear abscesses until a filter was installed on its water bowl per Vet
instruction; I suspect a clump of Anacharis might have similar benefits
Out-Compete Algae – live plants draw nutrients needed by algae from the
water column, which can reduce algae growth.
Support – In outdoor enclosures some plants, like water hyacinth, offer
resting places for small turtles.
Enjoyment of Keeping – It’s more fun to work with a variety of living
things, be they turtles, fish, snails or plants. Live plants are satisfying to
Plant Species of Interest.
Let’s take a look at plant
species grown in turtle tanks.
Anacharis (a.k.a. Egeria densa) – an older name for a plant with a
newer scientific name, but adding to the confusion Anacharis is used more
broadly for different related species. And Elodea is sometimes used
instead of Egeria! The two are not the same. I think what you buy
at PetsMart is Egeria densa. What you should see in native U.S. water
bodies is the very similar-looking Elodea Canadensis or nuttallii,
but Egeria densa is an invasive plant in the U.S. (see
map). To clear up the confusion
read this article. Usually considered a cooler water plant that grows darker
& thicker that way (at PetsMart usually dark green & thick), but lightens &
thins out even in well-lit & nourished tanks. Fair low-light performance, but
gets even lighter & thinner. Anacharis is not a rooting plant but sends
out root-like projections to anchor itself, & can grow floating or with the base
of several stalks banded together & stuck in the substrate. Capable of splitting
off bicarbonate ions from water if CO2 levels are low (makes its own
CO2), which can lower tank pH. Grows fairly fast under good
conditions & consumes some nitrates & nutrients. Said to produce a substance to
discourage blue-green algae growth. Herbivorous semi-aquatics such as sliders,
cooters & painted turtles love Anacharis & make a big mess if given a lot
at once. It cannot be grown in their tanks. It can be grown in tanks with
mud/musk turtles. You may be able to harvest it from local water bodies, but run
a risk of introducing parasites into your enclosures.
Java Fern (Microsorium pteropus) – A hardy plant grown
submersed or emersed, low-light tolerant, slow-growing with tough leaves &
usually not eaten by turtles. Java fern is neither planted in substrate nor left
free-floating; the root is tied to driftwood (or other rough objects like rocks)
with thread, & develops its own attachments over time. Kent noted you can wedge
the roots into a crack or hole instead of tying it in place. This makes it a
good ‘portable’ plant. Driftwood with screws or nails & suction cups can be
stuck anywhere on the tank wall with Java moss attached. Juvenile plants may
grow from its leaves. May come to look rather bedraggled in a turtle tank, but
hardy. It’s from Southern China, India and the Philippines.
Java Moss (Vesicularia dubyana) – Hardy, low-light
tolerant & turtles usually don’t eat it. Looks like moss. No relation to Java
Fern, but likewise is tied to a rough object (driftwood, etc…) with thread &
attaches itself over time. Kent said tie loosely or the parts tied off may die.
Rone noted you can leave it free-floating. Tends to spread, for which reason
some eventually get rid of it. Some have successfully turned it into a ‘lawn’
across the substrate, but this will make gravel vacuuming impossible & isn’t
recommended. Can entangle other plants. A similar plant marketed for cooler
water tanks is Willow Moss (Leptodictyum riparium.)
Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) – A very fine-leafed branching
stem plant growing in floating mats very similar to milfoil. Fairly low-light
tolerant but prospers under more light. Very fast grower (much faster than
Anacharis) & removes wastes from water, but small branches and tiny leaflets are
brittle & break off, cluttering the tank so you will eventually get rid of it.
Several stems can be tied together at the base & stuck in substrate, but it will
free itself over time and float. Unchecked hornwort will give your tank a
Sargasso Sea effect. Turtles may eat some but not with gusto & it might prosper
even in tanks with sliders, cooters & painteds. Supposedly one of few plants
that can survive in a goldfish pond. A very similar invasive (non-native U.S.)
plant in my area is
Red Ludwigia (Ludwigia repens) – A mid-sized native U.S. stem
plant planted in substrate with green stems & leaves some of which turn a
reddish light tea color. Turtles don’t eat it. Quite beautiful, hardy, reproduce
fairly quickly, young plants growing off the parent stalk give a branched look,
and growth rate is moderate. They are planted in substrate. They are not
low-light tolerant, but moderate light (around 2 watts/gallon) will do. Turtles
easily uproot them digging, but they tolerate replanting very well, even if left
floating around a couple of days first. A good choice for large tanks with few
turtles of small species (mud, musk, Southern & midland painted and Cagles or
Duckweed (Lemna minor) – A tiny floating native U.S. plant
growing in dense thin mats atop still water. Due to rapid growth & nitrogenous
waste removal it’s used in some areas for sewage water treatment and the plant
itself is fairly high protein. In tanks with no herbivores it tends to form a
green mat over the tank water, darkening the water and preventing UV-B light
from getting into those first few inches of water for your non-basking turtles.
In tanks with herbivores, it tends to disappear (they eat it). In shallower
tanks it’s prone to coat the filter intake and may be a nuisance. Kent
recommends avoiding duckweed in tanks with ‘water fall’ filter return (i.e.:
AquaClears) since the waterfall drives duckweed underwater where the intake
The Charms of Duckweed provides a lot of info. on the plant & its many
– A floating plant native to South America where it grows
in dense, thick mats (up to 2 feet deep). Illegal in some parts of the U.S.
(like Texas) and cleanup is ongoing & extremely costly in some others (like
Florida). Grows rapidly & draws considerable waste from the water. The feathery
black roots are preferred resting sites for young mud/musk in larger tanks.
Herbivorous turtles often eat them. Unfortunately, I had lousy luck growing them
in a 200 gallon aquarium with nearly 400 watts total lighting, bits of the root
system broke off and made a mess, and I finally tossed them out of the tank. A
similar but much smaller plant I had the same experience with was Water Lettuce.
Don’t introduce water hyacinth into your natural waterways; the thick mat
out-competes native species, casts the water body into perpetual night, releases
oxygen into the air so the water can become oxygen deficient & produces large
amounts of waste onto the bottom (massive amounts of rotting dead hyacinths).
this map to see if they’re in your area & read this
article on invasive issue. One forum regular keeps water hyacinth outdoors
in separate containers & adds some to her RES tanks to graze on, changing plants
to keep them alive. Another approach for outdoor ponds is to have a separate
turtle-free pond section that water’s pumped through so water hyacinth can
remove wastes. Note: no relation to the land-based Hyacinths, which are
poisonous to turtles.
Amazon Sword Plants – Many species, small to large, reputedly
bitter-tasting and many are hardy. Tend to require strong light and are not
low-light tolerant. Medium & larger species are often used at the back of
planted tanks. They are planted in the substrate. My Southern Painted didn’t eat
much but bit the leaf stalks off & killed it; I saved a small melon sword from a
similar fate. Feel free to try them but don’t get your hopes up. Kent said
Pleco.s eat sword plants. Note: the famous
Micro Sword is a dead-ringer for lawn grass & a much sought after plant for
an aquatic ‘lawn.’ Unfortunately, it requires strong light & generally won’t
prosper in a plain gravel substrate; I doubt it’d tolerate constant trampling.
I’ve never seen a turtle eat it. A very large tank with one or two small turtles
& a Flourite substrate might let you use this.
of many varied-formed species, Anubias are famous for being tough,
inedible, low-light tolerant slow-growing plants that are hardy & do well.
Because they are slow-growing the algae may over-take & cover the leaves, which
is complained of occasionally. They may be slow to re-grow leaves the turtles
knock off. A good choice. Some common varieties include
A. barteri v. nana (tie to a tank fixture with black thread; if you must
plant in substrate, don’t completely cover the rhizome as it may rot) and
A. barteri coffeefolia (can also be tied to driftwood & stones).
Cryptocornye species – A
large group of fairly low-light tolerant plants of varying hardiness and size
known for their dislike of being uprooted & replanted. Some common species are
fairly hardy & can prosper in large, sparsely populated tanks. Turtles do not
eat them. I expect they would work best with smaller turtles in large enclosures
(trampling is an issue). One of the most well-known species is the wendtii,
available in both
Aponogeton species (ulvaceus,
crispus, etc…) – Popularized by the A. ulvaceus bulbs sold
in Wal-mart’s pet section. Fairly hardy &
ulvaceus may be somewhat low-light tolerant. These plants produce long,
broad leaves from a central root/bulb in the substrate. Turtles usually don’t
eat them but may ‘sample’ the leaves. The leaves are moderately durable but in
turtle tanks get somewhat ‘damaged.’ They may grow in plain gravel substrate.
These plants are accustomed to a dormancy period and so may someday seem to die
down inexplicably; I’m not up on how to manage that. Some people just replace
Green algae (fixed, not free-floating) – Contrary to what you’ve
been taught, algae is not dirty or filthy. It’s simply a unicellular plant. As
such, it draws nitrogenous wastes & nutrients from the water, & light drives
photosynthesis to make sugars & give off oxygen as a by-product. It makes
synthetic tank fixtures & driftwood look more natural. Some turtles may gnaw at
tank furnishings trying to eat it. I recommend you clean your tank’s front glass
plate off with an algae magnet (I recommend the
Mag Float) & let the rest be, or use algae eating fish (plecostomus, Chinese
algae eaters, in some cases Otocinclus). (Note: Pleco.s are too large &
heavy to clean small leaves; snails are second-rate algae eaters). Kent said
snails eat some algae but some species eat plants, too; I’ve never been
impressed with snails as algae eaters. It’s a natural part of the tank’s
ecosystem & not to be eliminated. You can reduce it by reducing the nutrient
load in the water (feed turtles outside the tank, step up water changes, etc…)
or reducing the daily time lights are on.
Filamentous (‘Hair’) algae – Similar to fixed algae but has a
longer, green shag look. May grow over your regular plants. Some turtles graze
on this. Fish willing to eat it include
American Flag Fish (Jordanella floridae), Rosy Barbs, Siamese algae
eaters, guppies, sword tails & mollies. Be warned guppies breed like rats.
Brown algae – Actually diatoms, which form a brownish haze over
your gravel & prosper in lower-light conditions. Unlikely to be an issue.
Otocinclus are said to eat it.
Blue-Green algae – Now considered more of a bacteria (cyanobacteria)
than a plant, but photosynthetic none-the-less. Tends to look like a dank green
slime mat on gravel and tank fixtures. It’s hard to find anything that’ll eat it
(although I found
an article from someone who seems to think you should; you’re on your
own if you try this…). Can be killed with Erythromycin sold for fish diseases
but likely to come back. Reportedly eaten by the
Butterfly Goodeid (Ameca
splendens) – a hard-to-find platy-sized fish. My best advice is to suck up
what you can with a gravel vacuum during water changes & hope your plants
out-compete it for nutrients over time.
IV.) Which Turtles are most Plant Compatible?
The best matches for a planted tank are the
mud/musk, which stay small but may dig up plants, and the more carnivorous and
smaller male map turtles. Southern & Midland painted turtles are small enough to
co-exist with plants in larger enclosures, if those plants are inedible.
Sliders, Cooters & larger painteds may co-exist with the toughest plants (Java
moss), but will tear the more leafy varieties (Aponogeton) & constantly
uproot the poorly rooted (Red Ludwigia). Softshells may dig up plants while
burying themselves. Common snappers are powerful & destructive and may be
incompatible with most plants, but driftwood with Java moss should prosper, or
perhaps Willow moss in cooler outdoor enclosures. Anacharis or duckweed
may grow in a snapper enclosure, but snappers may eat them.
Kent has recommendations for a happy marriage
of plant and turtle; for softshells, plant along the edges and corners to reduce
uprooting. To prevent uprooting generally, place heavy items like driftwood or
smooth rocks around the plant base.