If you have a small turtle tank, a power filter may be more suitable than a canister. This is my pick for the best power filter for turtles in the world.

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The Best Power Filter For Turtles

Of all the popular power filters out there, this is what I would recommend to most people:

• AquaClear 70 Power Filter (click to learn more on Amazon)  – I believe that canister filters are much better than both power and especially under gravel filters, at least for turtles. However, they aren’t for everyone. This AquaClear power filter is both affordable, works well, and comes in a variety of sizes for different tanks. 

Now before I get to power filters and what they are, I would advise you to steer clear of under gravel filters. For turtles, they are quite problematic. Here’s why.

Under Gravel Filter Or Power Filter?

First things first, overall, power filters are going to be vastly, vastly superior to under gravel filters.

At least, for the vast, vast majority of users.

The reasons for this:

• Undergravel filters don’t actually do a good job of filtering in larger tanks, or tanks with turtles, who love to kick around pieces of gravel and substrate.
• They are not difficult to set-up, but it is a bit laborious, as you need to set everything up before laying the substrate.
• They need to be cleaned less often than power filters, but the cleaning process is a bit more wearisome.
• You can’t use any type of rooted plants, and sometimes you might have difficulty ensuring that anything that sits on the bottom of the tank is stable.

Still not convinced?

Here is the longer (and more complicated) explanation.

How Do You Use An Under Gravel Filter?

In theory, an under gravel filter sounds awesome.

Remembering that every filter should have 3 types of filtrations, an under gravel filter works by simply using the substrate, in this case, pieces of gravel, to act as our mechanical filtration.

What happens is this:

1. Water is pulled to the bottom of the tank.
2. That water flows over and through the gravel sitting on the bottom of the tank.
3. Particles and other pieces of junk are trapped and get stuck in the gravel, ensuring that they do not circulate in the water.
4. The water that passes through the gravel is pushed or sucked back to the top of the tank and re-circulated (as well as passing through other types of filtration processes, such as chemical or biological).

Like noted above, great in theory, right?

Should I Use An Under Gravel Filter?

Here’s the problem with how this tends to actually work out in practice, however.

For starters, you need to use gravel. This type of filtration doesn’t work with any other type of substrate, especially very fine particles, such as sand. The problem? Turtles will often times mistake pieces of gravel for food, and eat them.       

Secondly, gravel used as mechanical filtration does work. Pieces of gunk and junk do get trapped around and in between the rocks. The problem? Turtles are messy, and they enjoy being messy. They often times kick up gravel and boom, suddenly your pristine, clear tank isn’t looking so pristine and clean anymore after Tommy the Turtle just kicked up a bunch of poo-laden gravel.     

If you don’t clean the gravel, the tank becomes dirty, and sometimes smelly, quickly. While you need to clean a little bit less than a regular power filter, you still need to clean. The problem is that cleaning a bunch of gravel is a lot more tiresome and taxing than cleaning a sponge out of a power filter.

Does this mean that under gravel filters won’t work for everyone?

Of course not!

In some cases, you may opt for one instead.

Under Gravel Filter Pros And Cons

• Aesthetically, they look nice. Tanks are a lot nicer to look at without also noticing the (often large) gaudy-looking filters attached to their sides.
• By using gravel, instead of another form of filtration, this can also serve as a form of biological filtration as well.  Helpful microbial lifeforms typically build-up quickly.
• They are incredibly cheap. You can pick up a decent under gravel filter for less than $20 or so.

Next, let’s take a quick look at power filters.

How Do Power Filters Work?

If you have ever purchased one of those cheap, small aquarium sets before, it probably came with a power filter.

It works like this:

1. Water enters the filter through an opening (usually vented) at the bottom.
2. That water is then lifted via pump up through at least one type of filtration device (oftentimes a sponge, can also be a cartridge of some type).
3. The clean water is then pushed out through a spill-way on the top, out to flow throughout the rest of the tank.

Sounds simple?

That’s because it is.

Power Filters vs. Undergravel Filters

Here is what a power filter gets right, vis-a-vis an under gravel filter

• These types of filters can filter out the water and get it to a quality that is at least as good as an under gravel filter, and often times even better.
• They often hang on the back or the side of the aquarium. While this is similar to under gravel filters, power filters still win out as an under gravel filter still needs to occupy space on the bottom.
• It can easily handle all types of filtration processes.
• They are far more accessible to clean and handle, as well as being able to fit on irregularly-shaped tanks.
• They are nearly as inexpensive as under gravel filters.
• You can use them with other types of substrate, or no substrate at all.
• They do not affect water plant root growth.
• They cannot be tampered with by your turtles. Your turtle isn’t going to kick up a rock that is going to somewhere get lodged in the filter.

Now, to be fair and objective, that doesn’t mean that power filters don’t have their flaws. In fact, they have a ton of flaws.

Disadvantages of Power Filters

• They often need regular cleaning. At least once-a-week.
• Because the spill-way hands over the bottom filter entrance, oftentimes clean water just gets continually sucked in and cleaned, as opposed to water on the other end of the tank. That being said, these filters still can handle a lot more water volume than under gravel filters (and that water does get cleaned, eventually).
• These filters usually need an open top. That means, unless your tank is well-secured, it might provide an avenue for your turtle to escape. At the very least, this contributes to increased water evaporation.

What Are The Benefits Of An Under Gravel Filter?

Overall, your best bet is more than likely a good power filter.

But, (and as noted above), for some people, an under gravel filter may actually be preferable.
In a match of under gravel filter vs. power filter, who might prefer an under gravel?

• Anyone that places the utmost priority on the tank’s aesthetics. If your #1 (or near the top) priority is how your tank looks, an under gravel filter might be an option, because, at the end of the day, you can’t really see it.
• If your tank has a hood or is enclosed. Likewise, if your tank is hooded or is enclosed in any way, attaching a power filter to the side might be problematic. In this case, using an under gravel filter might be preferable.

The bottom line, however, is that under gravel filters simply don’t work with turtles, and as such, I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving anybody a good recommendation for one.

If you want to stay clear of more complicated canister filters, then just stick to a power filter.

My Recommendation: AquaClear Power Filter

The AquaClear 70 Power Filter is my choice for the best power filter for turtles. There’s a reason why it’s one of the most popular, and highly-rated power filters sold today.

For starters, it has mechanical, biological and chemical filtration.

And that’s not all:

• Comes in 5 different sizes, from 5-gallon tanks all the way up to 110-gallon tanks
• Very fairly priced, inexpensive
• Comes with a 2-year warranty, in case anything goes wrong
• Comes with a ton of different biological and filtration media, so you don’t have to purchase anything extra
• Easy filter set-up. Only recommend to clean twice monthly (instead of weekly for a lot of other commercial filters)

The filter is quite highly rated on online marketplaces.

Hopefully, this article helped you out. If so (or not), please leave a comment below and let me know!