My wife has a soft-shell turtle named “Duck” – you can see photos of him on our Flickr. A while back we switched to sand instead of gravel for his substrate – the result of which has made his little setup hell on filters.
We had the “water-wheel” type of filter, which didn’t last more than about a month before the bushing on the impeller went out… we replaced it, and it lasted about another month. We bought one of the in-tank filters designed for marine aquariums, and it lasted about six months.
We’ve been looking at pool/spa filters, but the pumps to drive them aren’t cheap – so now I’m thinking about trying to homebrew one using a sealed “paint” bucket, a fountain pump and some kind of foam media. I’m thinking if the pump is below the media, and can provide enough suction in the bucket, and I prime the bucket with water, it should work alright as long as it’s serviced often enough.
Anyone happen to be familiar with designing these kinds of setups?