Guided tour of my pet turtle tank
Filed under aquarium, my pet turtles, photos, products, red ear slider turtles, turtle pictures, turtle tank, turtles
Here’s a guided tour of my turtle tank. It looks a lot different than it did when I first showcased it over a year ago in my 150 gallon pet turtle tank – as first set-up
The tank is a 150 gallon glass tank. I fill it halfway, so I have about 75 gallons of water in there. I know It’d be better to fill it up all the way, but I live in an old building and the structural capability of the floor to hold all the weight is in question.
I want to keep the pet turtle tank as clean and natural looking as possible. I don’t have gravel, because they get dirty very fast and they accumulate the dirt. All the basking areas are wooden and I use a lot of fake plastic plants
The white eggcrate divider is an eyesore, but I haven’t found anything that works as well and is big enough (I’ll need one that is 30″ by 24″). I could get plexi glass with drilled holes in them, but they won’t let the water flow through quite as well and all the future turtle scratch marks will make it look quite dirty.
Pictures of the outside of the tank:
On the front of the turtle tank, on the middle is a strip calendar. We use this to keep track of our turtle feeding. Since they’re not fed everyday, it’s easy to forget when they were last fed. This calendar and the conveniently attached hanging pen to mark it off is a great help.
The feeding calendar:
The turtle tank is divided in the middle by an eggcrate / light diffuser. I have a water aerator (bubbles!) in the center under the divider. I got it to help oxygenate the water for the many fish I used to keep with the turtles, before they all eventually got eaten. I don’t really need it anymore, but I keep it going because I feel like that area is a water movement dead zone.
Here’s a picture of the tank divider, the flexible bubble wand
The turtles basking areas are made of corkbark
This is Cinderella’s basking area, on the right side of the tank:
Here’s a close up of how her basking area is attached to the eggcrate divider:
This is Rex’s basking area:
Here’s a close up to show how it’s attached to the tank divider:
The lamps directly above the basking area are simply heat lamps, with ceramic heat emitters
Above the basking areas and forward of the heat lamps (not directly above them) is a two-foot long UVB florescent bulb. It’s positioned forward of the heat lamps so that my pet turtles get their UVB when they bask – the basking areas are not in the shadow of the heat lamps. Here’s a view of the UVB light from inside the aquarium:
My pet turtles also have wooden underwater basking platforms, which I detail how I made here DIY underwater pet turtle basking platform.
This is Cinderella’s on the right side of the tank:
This is Rex’s underwater basking platform, on the left side of the turtle tank:
Moving on to the top of the tank. Besides the UVB florescent lamp, I also have a proportional thermostat to control the temperature of the basking area. I set it to have the basking area at 89.5 F. No matter what the temperature in the apartment, whether it be 85, 60, or 50, it will automatically adjust the output of the heatlamps to get to 89.5 (or whatever I set it to). I love the separate UVB and heat controls – it will never overheat or underheat the basking area, I don’t have to keep monitoring the pet turtle’s basking area temperatures and fiddle with the distance of the lamps from the basking areas in attempts to control the heat – their UVB and basking heat don’t compromise each other.
Here’s the thermostat I use:
The top of the tank has a mini refugium which I also made myself, filled with the output of one of my filters, to help clean up some of the excess nutrients from the tank water. I have a small amount of plants in there including java fern, anubias, and Christmas tree moss. Anacharis has not survived successfully in there, due to either the lack of dedicated lighting or the high water turbulence. I hope to upgrade the refugium to a bigger size, add more plants, and possibly add some filter shrimp, like the Asian Filter Shrimp (aka the bamboo or wood shrimp).
DIY Refugium pictures:
Lastly, the top of the turtle tank opens up for full access.
Related posts:
16 Comments for this entry
Leave a Reply
- twurtles
''that dog sure likes watching me swim around''Pet Turtles And More on facebook"Follow Rex and Cinderella on Twitter
September 7th, 2009 on 2:52 pm
hi there
i got these “slider turtles” out of china town in l.a. for 5 dollars and a small tank. which is a dime a dozen down there. Now i hear they are small and water bowl must be changed every two days cuz they genearate salmanilla ? i know a tank with filters the best..but this bowl is HUGE. And…they are so very very small. I have small fake plants, rocks, leverages…i was told to make sure they are in the sun 30min a day…they seem to hate it and swim and crawl speratically…can you give me any advice about them? Especially “heat lamp’ or ’sun part’? they seem to not like it. they are eating well.-=c
September 7th, 2009 on 3:37 pm
Hi Chris,
Congratulations on being a new turtle owner and wanting to take care of them properly! I think they don’t appear to like the sun because either the sun warms up their water too much or there’s no shade for them to go to if they want.
Yes, you should change their water as often as possible – their waste goes into the water and it contains salmonella. Also, they live in and drink the same water, so keep it clean.
The bowl may seem big, but the best guideline is to have 10 gallons of water for every inch of turtle shell. Assuming you have two 1″ turtles, that would mean you have two inches of shell – ideally you should have 20 gallons of water.
The slider turtles should have a full days access to direct sunlight – not through glass or a screen so they can get UVB light. There should be a shaded area so they can go in and out of the light as they please. Take care that the light doesn’t overheat the water, which is ideal at 75F.
In lieu of the giving them direct sunlight, you can also buy special UVB lamps made for turtles and reptiles. The heat lamps I have is to heat up their dry basking (land) area to 90F.
Lastly, if you turtles are eating well and taken care of properly they’ll grow in soon and you’ll need to upgrade to a larger aquarium.
Please let me know if you have more questions!
November 21st, 2009 on 9:46 am
The UV bulb is pretty far away from the basking area. Considering they are only beneficial within 5 – 12″ of where they lie. Especially if its a lower 5% bulb. Also i agree with what your saying in regards to size of tanks… but to say that you are going to need 10 gal for 1″ shell size. You would end up with a monster tank at the end which is not really needed. Yes its best to have the most room you can give them. But you would end up with a 240+ gal tank for 2 sliders. Thats a tank in the region of 8 foot by 3 by 3. Which is overkill. Keep up the good work though.
November 30th, 2009 on 3:36 am
my UV lamps are acually 11″ inches from my pet turtles basking spots.
The general rule of thumb is 10 gallons of water for every inch of turtle shell and half that for every additional turtle after. It isn’t a hard rule, and it does seem like overkill, but aquatic turtles really do need a lot of water given how much waste they produce. A smaller tank can certainly do, but it would mean more water changes to keep the water quality good and is also less space for the turtles.
February 1st, 2010 on 10:08 pm
Nice tank quick question. My basking area is getting extremely dirty from the lamp. Its the only area in the tank that is getting dirty…. What do you recommend, I have a 30-40 gallon tank with about 6 inches of water and a basking area etc? It’s come to a point where I don’t even turn the light on anymore because it get really dirty in that area.
February 2nd, 2010 on 9:36 pm
Hi Angela, I recommend that you don’t turn the lamp off. Your turtles need to receive UVB light to remain healthy – so it is better to clean the tank every week or so from dirt. How big are your turtles? It’s possible the dirt is turtle waste and not actually lamp byproduct…
February 9th, 2010 on 3:57 pm
i hav 2 red eared sliders and i am seeming to notice they are not active and they refuse to eat veggies. i am positive they are healthy. they are shy, and i have had them for 2 years. they fight over the heat lamp,too. they dont like square tanks but they are getting too big for their tiny round tank. can u help me?
February 9th, 2010 on 11:21 pm
I don’t have enough info. Have you tried feeding your pet turtles something else? Also, if you know they are getting too big, please consider getting a larger turtle tank.
February 10th, 2010 on 9:09 am
i have put them in a larger tank- its square- they seeem to be acting alright and im feeding them reptomin so i dont think thats the problem…. i REALLY want to make them happier…. do you have any advice for that? thanks.
February 10th, 2010 on 6:31 pm
how big is your larger turtle tank? A large tank with lots of water to swim in (at least 10 gallons per inch of turtle shell), a proper setup with a completely dry basking area with heat & UVB, a water heater, strong filtration, and regular water changes are all essential to caring for red ear slider turtles and keeping them happy.
I would also try to give them a varied diet with occasional (1x/2x a month) treats such as live fish/shrimp/insects.
February 10th, 2010 on 8:18 pm
it is a 15 gallon tank. i do have a basking light and area, and filtration. he keeps going under the basking spot,too.thank-you for the idea of the live animals,too.ive found some other sites ,too with info. i think i might have everything now…THANKS:D he’ll love it.
February 10th, 2010 on 11:33 pm
you’re welcome!
Your tank is small, btw – ideally you should have a BIG tank, about 75-120 gallons for one red ear slider turtle.
February 11th, 2010 on 8:02 pm
my res is only about 1 1/2 in. though.
February 11th, 2010 on 11:16 pm
ah, then your tank is perfect for now!!
If you’d like to share your pictures, please send your pet turtle picture here.
August 10th, 2010 on 5:47 pm
So I (my 6 year old son) just got a turtle from a fair. I have no clue what kind it is but it’s only about 1 maybe 1 1/2 inch big. It seems like he’s not eating either(wardley Reptile sticks). I did get em a 1 gallon Corner aquarium but I only put about 2 inches of water in it with some rocks on the side. I NEED HELP! I have no clue what to do with this new pet in my life!
August 10th, 2010 on 10:47 pm
the first thing you should do is to properly identify what species or kind of pet turtle it is that you have. Then read up on all the care sheets for that turtle that you can. Either way, a 1 gallon turtle tank is way too small