Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a 55gal tank for my little RES (about 1.5 inch?) He's in a 10gal right now, but knowing he'd outgrow it in notime, I went ahead and got a bigger one.

Does anyone have any pictures of their setups? I want to make my new RES's home not just pleasant to the eye, but I also want it to be safe for my turtle.

What do you recommond putting in a large tank? Gravel vs. sand? Plants? Driftwood?

Thanks!

I have a 50 gal bin myself. I don'tt use gravel. It's mostly bare bottom.

O nthe basking end I have a huge 45 lb rock with a few water rocks on top of it. I found a long branch in a creek near my house. I cut t two 17 inch pieces off and striped the bark off. Then I bakes them. (Also baked the huge rock)

The logs eventually will be water logged and easily palced. But they'll float awhile. =(

I useto us gravel. It trapt too many food particles. Then I switched to water rocks. They are easier to clean off.

From my trial and error.. I would say go bare bottom except on the basking side. You could get your own water rocks fro ma near by creak and the wash and boil / cook them. Or buy large rocks.

this is my 125 gallon b/c my 55 gallon was not big enough

Wow, thanks! I really like your set up. What are you using for the bottom? Small rocks/gravel? And what is your basking area made of? Is it one of those hide-a-ways sold in stores or something you made/found yourself?

alright I use the smallest gravel i could find so if they do eat it then it is easily digested and I keep the tank clean with 2 canister filters and its way over filtered then for the basking spot I have found the easiest way ever just find a huge peice of cork bark and cut it to fit between the 2 sides of the tank just wedge it in and it takes up practically no space the only problem is finding the slab of cork, I got mine at a reptile show. Good luck

Heres my 120 Gal. I use really large gravel too big for the turtle to ingest. Its also a lot harder to vacuum. I built the stand, hood, and filter. I like to take full advantage of the water volume by filling the tank all the way up. I made the canopy hood with a slanted front window so I could see my turtle basking.

Heres a pic of the basking spot. Once the turtle got larger, I reinforced the ramp with a piece of plexiglass.


My Filter

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iturnrocks.com

Thanks!

I really enjoy your DIY projects, though I fear I don't have the time to put into something like that.

I think I'm going to go with larger rocks as well. Even if you say it's harder to clean, I think it would be best for my lil guy.