Turtle tank setup resources

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Crashnt24

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So my daughter has caught my itch for glass box pets.. she wants a red eared slider turtle for Christmas.

I want to create a awesome turtle tank. With real rock, sediment, algae and other critters. Do any of you have suggestions on where to find info on builds? Somewhere like R2R where info and questions are in abundance?

How about anyone here? Anyone have a awesome dry/wet turtle tank to share pictures?
 
While I haven't kept turtles in several years I can help you out. There used to be a turtle forum, which does still exist but doesn't look too busy http://www.turtleforum.com/

Red ear sliders require big tanks. For one a 4x2x2 120 would be a good size for the kind of setup you are suggesting. If You're going to get 2 a tank longer than 4 feet might be a good idea. You can fill the tank basically right to the top and build an above tank basking area if you are up to that which you should like you are. The only other piece of equipment they must have besides warm clean water is a uv light.

I didn't have a crazy setup so I'm not going to dig for any photos. Compared to a reef or even a fish only they are real easy. Get a good quality filtration system and feed them high quality food and that's about it. Just keep in mind a turtle is a long term commitment of 20-40 years. When I wanted to rehome my last turtle, it took quite a long time to find a qualified person despite the fact I was providing tank, filter, uv ect.
 
So my daughter has caught my itch for glass box pets.. she wants a red eared slider turtle for Christmas.

I want to create a awesome turtle tank. With real rock, sediment, algae and other critters. Do any of you have suggestions on where to find info on builds? Somewhere like R2R where info and questions are in abundance?

How about anyone here? Anyone have a awesome dry/wet turtle tank to share pictures?

I have about 8 or 9 yo red eared slider in my old 55 gal. I have maybe 20 gals of water and 2 fluval canister filters that keeps maintenance low for me. I clean the filters maybe once every 3 months. Lol.

1C3116F1-CA94-4210-9469-D572C10650D1.jpeg
 
Sounds easier than i'm used to setting up lol. I guess with fresh water I can add any type of rock or substrate? Also is RO/DI too clean of water for a freshwater tank? Going to find some freshwater forums! lol
 
Sounds easier than i'm used to setting up lol. I guess with fresh water I can add any type of rock or substrate? Also is RO/DI too clean of water for a freshwater tank? Going to find some freshwater forums! lol
I just put in RO drinking water. Turtles are easy. Just make sure you have a basking rock with light for it. I got this turtle from my niece who didn’t take care of her. Used to sit in filthy, cold water with no dry place to bask
 
A soft shell or Razorback turtle would be a much better pet, they don’t get so big and are less likely to eat your fish. Me and my dad live on a lake so in the spring we used to go out and catch 2 or 3 baby red eared sliders right as they hatched and keep em until the next spring. We actually saw a couple deformed ones hatch out and kept those for a long time in a 210 until they either got too big, died of complications from the deformities, or we felt like they were okay to go back to the wild and acclimated them to the outside weather in the backyard for a couple weeks before putting them back in the lake.

We had a 90 cube which we planted with some Java fern, anubius, and moss, decorated with river stones & pebbles with a massive piece of African root we bought a floating turtle basking thing from petco and superglued some wood and fake leaves onto it so it fit better with the aquascape and put a UV heat lamp on that side. The water was warm, around 76-78 and the basking area was 88ish. We kept a couple small fish in there too like baby crappie we caught and a couple varieties of tetra and a pleco to keep things clean (now graduated to our 210 gallon cause he got big).

Just don’t put goldfish with them-the bioload is incredibly high because goldfish are nasty. Razorback and soft shells are less likely to eat any fish you try to put with them, stay smaller, and (imo) look a little better as adults. Baby red eareds are cute, but the adults not so much. We fed them floating turtle pellets, freshwater predator pellets, and the occasional bit of shrimp/scallop/mealworm/cricket because we had leftovers from our reptiles and predator fish tanks.

Good luck with the turtle! Post some pics of yalls setup and her face when she gets that turtle!
 
I built an above tank basking dock out of egg crate. It allows you to maximize water volume and gives a bigger basking area. I used play sand as a substrate, just make sure to rinse it really well.
 

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So my daughter has caught my itch for glass box pets.. she wants a red eared slider turtle for Christmas.

I want to create a awesome turtle tank. With real rock, sediment, algae and other critters. Do any of you have suggestions on where to find info on builds? Somewhere like R2R where info and questions are in abundance?

How about anyone here? Anyone have a awesome dry/wet turtle tank to share pictures?
I have a complete setup I will sell you 300 gallon 4 sliders and 3 filters
 

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