Setting up the Turtle Tank

Well I told you I would talk about setting up the tank. I was kind of disappointed when searching on how to set up my tank, because I did not find anyone that gave much in the way of visual help when setting up the tank. Everyone gave lots of written detail but I happen to love pictures. So here goes my set up advice with Photos.


Choosing the right sized Tank

The first thing to do when setting up your Red Eared Slider Turtle tank is to figure out how much room you need. Red Eared Sliders are aquatic turtles and they need plenty of space to swim. My Red Eared Sliders spend most of their day swimming around the tank and hanging out in the plants. Because of this the best thing to do is set up a fish tank for their home. The fish tank gives you the ability to make the water deep enough that they can really get their exercise.

Aquatic Turtles need the water length (side to side) to be at least 4-5x the length of their shell, the depth should be 2-3x the length of their shell and the height should be 1.5-2x their length. Also make sure that there is plenty of room above the water and land area so that they cannot escape. Trust me when I say that these guys are like little Ninja Turtles. They can and will escape, in very creative ways too. To learn more check out this “Reptile Housing Paper”.

I am able to get away with having a 10 gallon tank because my little turtles are only One Inch in length. You cannot buy a turtle less than Four Inches from the pet store so most of you will need to have a considerably larger tank than mine. Turtles grow really quickly as well so I know that mine are going to outgrow the tank I have for them right now.

Land and Water

The land area of the tank should not exceed 1/3 of the total length of the turtle tank. Remember that Red Eared Slider Turtles are aquatic and they not only need the space to swim but they want that space. As you can see in the photo bellow I set up a couple of rocks that served as the base of my sunning rock and use the base to elevate this really cool sloped rock. The bases also left plenty of swimming area and gave a nice little cave that the turtles could swim under. The land area needs to be close to the light as well so that these guys can get out and warm like they would outside in the sun.

If you are going to use rocks and other items that you have found outside make sure to clean them really well. You never know what kind of bugs could be living in the wood you pick up outdoors, or funguses. If you get rocks make sure you clean them really, really well. All the dirt on them will clog up your filter and make the water really foggy. Your local pet store (like PetSmart) will have all sorts of fake rocks and logs that you can include in your tank and not have to worry about cleaning them.

The water needs to be pretty warm around 75-86 degrees. This is defiantly warmer than room temperature so you will need to get a heater for the water and a thermostat to make sure the water is not getting to hot or cold. If the water is to cold your turtles will not eat, remember cold blooded animals need to be warm in order to be active. If the water is to hot the Turtles will be cooked and no one wants to turn their new pet into Turtle Soup. The water should take up at least 2/3 of the tank and in my opinion should be deep and wide enough that the Red Eared Sliders can really get their exercise.

Tank Accessories

1. The Heater: I bought a 25 watt “Marineland” submersible Aquarium Heater ($19.99). This heater was rather in expensive and was adequate enough for my tank considering that there was only about 5 gallons of water in it. Any large size of a tank and you would need at least a 50-100 watt heater. Put the heater in an out of the way place so that your turtles do not break it. I have mine behind some rocks in the back that give the heater plenty of water to filter through and heat but out of the way enough that the turtles will not get to it. Make sure that the filter can be fully under water. No part of it should be out of the water






2. The Filter: I chose a “Tetra” In-Tank Whisper Filter ($11.69) mainly because it was cheap and I had a limited amount of money to spend. I think if I could do it different I would go with an out of tank Power Filter for better cleaning and because it would take up less room in my tank. With the filter you need to make sure that the bottom portion of the filter is fully in the water otherwise you can burn out your filter.

If you notice I put a rock under the filter so that a.) the water did not make a loud noise as it flows back into the tank and b.) to keep the water from stirring up the gravel. The Red Eared Sliders love the waterfall, at least one of them will be under it at all times.






3. The Lights: I bought two different lights. I bought a 75 watt “Zoo Med” Repti Basking Spot Lamp. It was nice because it came in a two pack which saved me some money. The light bulbs are pretty expensive. I use this light during the day to keep them warm and sunny. I also use a 15 watt “Exo Terra” Sun Glo Deodymium Daylight Lamp. This little guy does not give off a lot of heat but puts out natural UVA rays. Not sure if these are the two best light bulbs but for now that is what I have. I am going to look into better bulbs here soon.



4. Thermostat: I cannot remember what brand thermometer I bought was but it was only $2.00 and it stuck to the outside of the tank. This is important because I could see how well the tank was heating. The ideal thing would be to have two thermometers because you could put one by the heater and see the warm side of the tank and then one on the opposite side to see the cooler sides temperature. My tank varies about 4 degrees from one side to the other.

The Food

Not quite sure what is the best food for the Red Eared Slider Turtles. I know that as juveniles they need more protein than they do plant matter. Adult turtles need more plants than they do protein so make sure you know what age your turtle is because that will determine their diet.

I put a few feeder fish in the tank and at first the turtles did not eat them, but when I came back into the office today (which is where these guys live) I noticed that they ate three or four of the fish. I think they might have eaten the light aquatic frogs I bought as well (that or they are hiding in a crack of a rock). When I first bought the turtles they were not eating the turtle food that I got when I bought them so someone recommended that I get the “Zoo Med” Turtle Treats. The treats are made up of Krill and it is a high protein treat. This is not what you want to feed your Red Eared Slider Turtles on a regular basis but it was a good way to stimulate their appetite.

I bought some mealworms as well but they did not seem to eat them. I might try the meal worms again now that these guys are eating regularly. They do not seem to eat the little green pellet food. I will give more on the types of foods in my next post.

I would love to hear from everyone and their thoughts on setting up their own tanks along with what types of food they have had success in when feeding their Red Eared Slider Turtles. But for now here are a couple more photos of my Red Eared Slider Turtles...More to come.