Hello

I recently came across the IUCN Red List and wanted a fun way to discover the species on it, especially the ones close to extinction or already gone. So I made AnimalsMasters, a free card game that runs in your browser.

You open booster packs (a free one arrives every 15min) and collect cards of real animals: each one has its photo, facts about the species and a map of where it was observed. The rarity of a card follows the Red List, from Least Concern to Extinct, so the rarest cards are the species that are closest to disappearing. You can also trade cards with friends.

The data comes from iNaturalist, Wikidata and Wikipedia. I'm not a professional, so if you spot a mistake in a species page, please tell me and I'll fix it.

https://www.animalsmasters.com

Which species would you want to see in the game? Do I miss some?

I’ve been in the aquarium hobby for a little over two years (since June 2024), this is my second planted tank ever. Up until now, I’ve been a ghost on Reddit, Instagram, and the forums. No content creation, no YouTube channel, just quietly reading threads, absorbing information, and building in silence.

My journey started with a 40G grow-out for a baby turtle, where I incorporated live plants and community fish to see what worked. The only rule I brought from a brief attempt 15 years ago was that turtle tanks need oversized filtration (I ran a Fluval 207 on that 40G). What I learned there became my Version 2.0: a 75-gallon high-tech ecosystem where a Mississippi Map Turtle, community fish, predatory fish, oddballs, and delicate macro-inverts live alongside each other.

Why I Built This

1. To build a living window for my kids: I wanted them to learn firsthand about nature's balance, ecological zoning, and the responsibility of caring for animals.

2. To challenge the "dirty destroyer" myth: Turtles have a reputation in the hobby as toxic, plant-shredding chaos machines (which for some pond species is true). Most advice says keep them in bare glass boxes. But that just didn’t work for me.

My theory was simple: instead of stripping their environment bare. Lean into the chaos. Engineer proactive filtration, establish biological enrichment, and match the turtle species to the ecosystem. With the right planning, the right turtle doesn't just survive—he thrives as the focal point of a planted display.

The Execution

I’m an electrician by trade, not a biologist or professional aquascaper. I took my research on male Mississippi Map Turtles and tried to anticipate potential points of failure—heavy bio-load, plant damage, territorial aggression—engineering solutions directly into the framework of the tank rather than scrambling later.

After nearly a year of continuous operation, the tank is thriving. Because this is a highly technical setup, I’m dropping the full breakdown (filtration loops, water chemistry, plant care schedules, and full stock list) in the first comment so this main post doesn't turn into a wall of text.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What else might we be dismissing too quickly?

Meet Greg.

They were just getting onto the asphalt on a relatively busy cycle path here in Indianapolis. I moved him to the other side in the direction they were heading so he didn’t get squashed. I nearly missed them as it was so small, and I’m always on the lookout for them. Couldn’t imagine a cyclist seeing them.

Wilbur makes my day every time I visit the local reptile store, I hope he makes you smile too :)

It sounds like she’s breathing through a straw. Does this mean she’s sick?

Just a cool soft shell I found on land the other day. There were some Nest spots nearby so I wonder if they were just looking for a place to brumate or hibernate. I'm definitely not an expert on soft shells or even most turtles but I definitely love the soft shells! She let me pet her and I only did so to make sure she was alive. She looked dry went to get her some water and she was gone when I came back lol

Hi! I could use some advice re my African mud turtle, Swim Shady. He hasn’t been basking, is eating a bit less, and I haven’t noticed his post-eating stink in at least a week and a half. He has a basking dock, appropriate lighting, his water is at 78 Fahrenheit. I’ve had him for over a year and he has had basking issues in the past, but the rest is new. I do have a local vet I could take him to.

Eastern painted turtle, male or female

Not sure the gender of my eastern painted turtle. Killy is 6 almost 7 years old. I always assumed it was a female because my male slider had much longer claws than her but upon further investigation I’m kinda stumped.

(New Jersey bred, hatched in May 2020)

My brother has three turtles that he won’t take care of and wants to just abandon them outside, I don’t want the turtles to die and I don’t know anywhere else we can take them. All three of the turtles are healthy but needs a resupply on food, I don’t know much about turtles or what to do so any thing helps.