Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok i have the turtle in a 55, with a turtle landing going to get a turtle dock soon also.... while i was in the pet shop getting the turtle landing the sales girl was telling me i should only have about 2 to 3 inches of water in the tank, because the turtle could drown???
but in the six inches of water he seems to be doing fine.
also she told me when he gets bigger i need to start feeding him gold fish, arent they bad to use as food?
please shed some light on the way my tank should be set up.... i was planning to put about 25 gallons of water in the tank and a turtle landing and turtle dock, along with some bacopa and anachris...... and a better filter than what i am currently using?

have you been postin gon another site too(that i helped you with)? i have had hatchlings do great in a foot of water, they are WATER turtles, they are made for it so they will be fine. live foods should be avoided due to the risk of introduction of disease and parasites. a variety of pellets is the best thing you could do. some species become more herbivorous with age and will appreciate things like dark lettuces, and a variety of fruits and other vegetables. red ear sliders are one of those species.

no this is the only turtle forum i have been on, but you have helped me a great deal here and i thank you for that...
the whole 1 inch of water didnt sound right to me, to begin with, the girl said that if the turtle flipped in deep water he would drown..... i would think in 1 inch of water he would be more prone to drown because he would have a harder time flipping, at least in deeper water he could swim back around??? i sort of didnt pay much attention to her after the comment about feeding the gold fish...... plus she "claimed" reptomin was the best on the market, but i did take your recommendation and got the hagen brand, i already had 3 or 4 brands of turtle pellets, my friend who was with me just shook his head and said the turtle has all the four food groups and dessert groups...LOL
i bought more food, because the turtle doesnt pay much attention to the hikari, or the pretty pets brand..... i figured once i get him eating good i would keep trying with the hikari and pretty pets..... i also keep snakes, and i try to feed different colored frozen mice as to not get them stuck on one color.... i guess i am saying i dont want the turtle stuck on one brand of pellets.....what i wanted to do was put in another turtle dock, and raise the water level about half the depth of the 55 gallon tank..... but was concerned that might be to much at first, because i have read so far to start them oout in a 20 gallon long aquarium.....i just felt the bigger the better and maybe like with fish bigger is easier to keep???

i havent had any problems starting in smaller tanks, as long as they are upgraded before they are stunted. when did i recommend hagen? but yeah that is my favorite. reptomin is the lowest quailty food in my opinion, it says for all aquatic turtles and newts and other stuff, how can it be complete for animals of such varying diets? i feed 4 different types of pellets, one of which is hikari cichlid gold fish food, it has calcium and vitD3, but probably not in the concentrations of a good turtle pellet. what lighting do you have? what filter? i love the turtle docks, the only thing to avoid is a good dry area NOT under the proper lighting, they may hang out there and not get the correct lighting. what type of turtle and what size?

on the 55 i have a spot light for the basking light, the uvb is a repti sun 5.0
currently i am using a fluavl 303 internal filter, but i would like to fill the tank to half full, and get possibly a turtle filter 501?
the turtle is about 1.5 to 2 inches. the girl who gave me to turtle said he was a yellow eared slider, because he has a yellow mark where a res has the red mark. but im thinking mayybe he is a yellow belly slider........

if you could post a pic that would help identify it, there is no such thing as a yellow eared slider. i havent used the turtle filter 501 because it doesnt look like it would do any good. i use whispers. they are the best by far, even better than any canister filter including fluval. maintenance that can take an hour on a fluval, takes about 30 seconds on a whisper. they are also much easier to tell when they need to be maintained. whispers hang on the back, but now they have a line that suctions cups inside the tank for any water level above about 2". in a 55 with 6" of water i would go with one 40i. the 40 means up to 40 gallons, which means it can really handle about 20 gallons. a half-full 55 will probably need 2 40is. i use a whisper 5 (which they dont make anymore) on my 40 breeder and the water is filled to the top almost, and crystal clear with no smell. for me the only option for filtration on a turtle tank is a whisper. they are pretty cheap, and more than worth it. sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch.

I reccomend having as much water in the tank as possible. The hatchling below did just fine in 120 gallons. I had a friend bring over a RES that had been living in inches of water, and was not eating. It took him about 2 hours to adjust to living in deep water and he was clumsy at first, but he adapted and started eating immediately. Shallow water for aquatic turtles is like having a fish out of water, its just not right.

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iturnrocks.com

i agree. i keep hatchlings in a 30 breeder with a foot of water. what types of fish are those? native? i have a snapper with my turtles as well. nice setup. i didnt see anywhere for them to get out, but you have one, right?