Graeme Holden Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I have a large outside tank with 4 red ears, a large snake neck, a very large pleco, and Gambusia (mosquito fish) that have gone through two frosts with no apparent effects. All the red ears climb out to sun themselves and warm up during the day if there is any sun and will normally dive straight off into the water if I come close, but now that the sun is so welcome and they are trying to warm up more, they just stay there. I thought the pleco would not tolerate the very cold water but he is still doing ok, water temp may be going down to maybe 5 or 6 degrees I guess. All of the animals have been outside now for maybe 9 months so are will acclimatised and accustomed to wide ranges of temperatures. YES WE DO GET FROST IN AUCKLAND, actually we are in Papakura which is quite a long way from central Auckland and in a valley which is why we do get more cold and more heat as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 ours are in outside pond all year round, some have been there 12 years, just watch a really hard frost can be amplified in a glass aquarium, on those nights just cover with a piece of shade cloth to create a small micro climate inside tank stops it from icing up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick777 Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Do you have heaters in the pond/outside tanks? What do you do if your turtles race into the water the second they see you? Mine probably think I'm a predator!hahah :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Holden Posted June 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 no heaters in my tank or my ponds, I did have a heater in the pond last year but the turtles were in unknown condition at that stage, but over the summer they put on weight and condition and were probably going to be ok in colder water as long as it happended slowly. One of the ones outside in the pond has had a very traumatic life, being rescued from a main road in central auckland with a large chunk missing from the back of it's shell and missing all claws from walking around on ashphalt etc. It is thought that this male (once thought to be female) is well over 20yrs old, but grumpy but could be excused I guess through it's pretty rough past history. Now quite happy fighting with another male through holes in a perspex divider and sunning himself on a brick in the summer time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick777 Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 You must be a really good carer to help him recover!! Mine turtles are just naughty, mess up all the plants/heater/filter and cover themselves with gravel pretending to be a rock... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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