Question
Hi Robyn, I want to set up a 25 sq. foot turtle pond with an average water depth of 1 foot in Miami Beach, FLA.

A conduit from a rain gutter will provide a 'water change' at every rain storm.

I have a Laguna Pressurflo 1400 UVC filter, that I bought for the project.

The pond will provide a drinking/bathing area for Box turtles, wood turtles, and other terrestrial and semi aquatic turtles and tortoises, and will be inhabited by aquatic turtles, crayfish, shrimp, and limia vittata or other small livebearer fish for mosquito control, and water hyacinth plants.

Compatibility and predation will not be a major problem as I will provide numerous hides for the fish and crustaceans.

My question is about cycling the pond for the fish, and keeping the water quality high at all times after that.

Any tips on starting, or accelerating the cycle, and water quality maintenance?

Luis, Miami Beach, FLA

Answer
I suggest making the pond deeper than one foot.  In Florida, you don't have to worry about freezing but added depth will keep the pond cooler in the summer and allow the turtles to hide should predators come around.  Since you also want turtles that are not aquatic, be sure to have lots of ways for turtles to get out of the water should they fall in.  A variety of depths should suit everyone.    Even with places to hide, predators will take various animals.  My ponds have places to hide but predators get a lot of my animals (not turtles, none in there).  The pond will also be easier to mature, cycle, and control algae if it has some areas a little deeper.  The more volume and depth, the easier things are (unless you have animals that can't swim in which case you might put a grate over the deep area to keep them in the shallows or something).  A 25 square foot pond if it's one foot deep is about 180 gallons which isn't that big but also not tiny.  If you add just a few animals at first, cycling shouldn't be a problem.  It's only when overstocked that a new pond will even have a visible cycle (meaning readable levels of ammonia and nitrite).  Turtles will make keeping the pond clean more difficult so a good filter is a must.  Pond care is too massive to cover in this message so check out my web site.

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turtles/turpond.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/chem.htm
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pond.htm

Good luck!
Robyn