Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yes I'm finally going to get a new tank! After 6 years my turtles have more then out grown my 30 gallon long tank. I had to simplify the tank so much by adding one of those floating islands and just 1-2 bricks so they could get up to it. And I nearly raised the water to the max just so they could have enough room to swim

I have 2 male RES that I got in 1997 when they were a baby so I'm guessing their nearing maturity. One's pretty big about 7-8 inches length wise (the shell only) and the other is about 6 inches.

So I have a question, I read a lot about RES and how big the tank should be. But when I read it - it says stuff like take the inches of the turtle's shells length and multiply if by 5... but they don't mention a thing if there is more then one turtle!

Right now I'm thinking of a 100 dollar 4 feet in length tank. Is this 55 gallons or 75 gallons? I believe it is about 13-14 inches high and 13-15 inches wide (and like I said 48 inches in length). Would this be enough? It's right in my price range and the only one I'm thinking of right now. I want this to last at least 6 years

Thanks

The minimum you should go for is a 100 gallon tan, 60x18x24. But ideally you probably would want to get something bigger.

you have one 7 inch turtle and one 6 inch. That's 13 inches. I'd get a tank that can hold a minimum of 130 gallons of water (one inch to ten gallons), and still have room for your basking area and such. A tank this size, hooked up with undergravel filtration and one or two large cannister filters will take almost no maintenance at all. You'll have to clean it yearly and every other month clean one of the cannister filters. Every few months you can vaccuum the gravel a bit. The volume of water (ten gallons per one inch of turtle) lets the water get to a state of balance with it's bio filtration.

Feed your turtles outside the tank in a separate container and you should do well this way.

The 4 foot long tank you speak of is a 55 gallon. its 48"Lx12"Wx21"H. Thats what I keep my hatchlings in.
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