Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am about to build a pond for my 5 turtles (2RES 2Maps and 1 southern painted). The pond will be around 4-500 gallons and I don't know what kind of filter I should use for these guys. I have seen some that are pressurized and don't have to be above the water level to work...that would be what I would like to use but I don't know brands or size that I need. Also I would like it to have a UV in it so it will help with the algae. Another question is the spot in my yard that I am thinking about starts to get sunlight at noon and last till about 5ish...Is that enough time for them to sun themselves??

Thanks everyone for the help
Mark

I have a Western Pond Turtle and a RES sharing a largish pond with koi, crawdads and frogs. I have an above ground medium sized standard pond barrel filter with 2 filter pads and bio-balls. The pond has container and floating plants as well as underwater plants, so I do have to clean the filter regularly, but its pretty easy. I do not use any kind of water additives, uv filters, etc., other than barley straw. It works well for a natural environment, but I have no idea how hard it would be to be trying to have a crystal clear plant free pond. Doesn't sound very lively to me. As far as the sunning, my turtles sun even when it isn't sunny, as long as the air is warmer than the water. The WPT does seem to follow the sun when it's out, and moves around the pond edge, eventually sitting anywhere when there's no direct sun. I'm pretty sure they get enough uv even if the sun isn't beating down on them.
Good luck.