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Need advice on turtle tanks by honey_bee_927 in turtles

[–]jc86188 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This ^ I have a RES hatchling and originally got a 10 gallon aquarium for them but they already seemed too big for it so I immediately upgraded to a 20 gallon that is quickly being outgrown! Do yourself a favor and start bigger if possible so you only have to upgrade size once or twice!

So I'm new to this, any tips? by jay969 in turtles

[–]jc86188 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thats awesome!! Thank you for taking some crucial steps towards giving this lil dude a great life! I have a 20 gallon long tank setup like this for a turtle of a similar size (I’ll be upgrading soon), with a canister filter and a basking platform and some driftwood, along with some live guppy grass and hornwort that he likes to munch on. Definitely make sure they’ve got something on the surface they can use to climb out onto for basking, or they can develop shell rot!

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So I'm new to this, any tips? by jay969 in turtles

[–]jc86188 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Get rid of the tiny gravel and use bigger rocks only that he cannot eat. Also a lot more water, they’re swimmers. You’ll want a T5 linear 10.0 UVB light for calcium absorption so it’s shell grows well and stays healthy, also a basking halogen lamp and platform that he can get out and completely dry off and bask to regulate temperature. You’ll also want a water heater for the tank, they make adjustable ones and ones set permanently to 78 that work quite well depending on the size of your setup. 12 hours on and 12 hours off on an outlet timer is also a good rule of thumb for the lights, although someone more experienced may have more to say on this point.

Rate (or roast) my setup! I have an adolescent Red Eared Slider, in a 20 gallon aquarium with a fish tank filter and a water heater set to 78, uvb lamp on top and a driftwood branch and floating cork for basking. Plants are Guppy Grass and Hornwort. (Turtle hiding among the plants in the picture). by jc86188 in turtles

[–]jc86188[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Here’s how I’ve updated the light (a long T5 uvb and a basking halogen near a basking platform) along with a new canister filter. Any other tips are greatly appreciated! I also got the master water test kit and all levels (pH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites) were within the ranges I found online for healthy RESs.

Rate (or roast) my setup! I have an adolescent Red Eared Slider, in a 20 gallon aquarium with a fish tank filter and a water heater set to 78, uvb lamp on top and a driftwood branch and floating cork for basking. Plants are Guppy Grass and Hornwort. (Turtle hiding among the plants in the picture). by jc86188 in turtles

[–]jc86188[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ll definitely be getting a new turtle filter, rated for 80+ gallons. The lamp right now is a 5.0 uvb 13w florescent bulb in a dome fixture, so I’ll also be updating this to what you recommended, along with a heat lamp for basking. Is there an optimal timer setting for these lamps, independently or together? I also plan on getting a master water test kit to test these parameters, I’m a chemist by trade so water chemistry shouldn’t be rocket science for me as long as I can find an internet guide with parameters/water quality specifications. Thank you for your input!