Hi Everyone!
I have a step-turtle - she's (we reckon she's female) a 2-ish year old RES andI signed up to learn how to care for her correctly. I was in Petsmart looking at other stuff and saw a pamphlet for a RES rescue that made me immensely sad that they are one of the most inappropriately cared for pets. I've had fish a decade age and have some idea about light and filtration when out comes to them, but less so about turtles. Hoping to learn from everyone and hopefully not mess up. Right now the turtle lives in a 40g tank with a 150w heater, UV 100 26W light and a 100W basking light. The filter is a Marineland Penguin 350 (the tank has a cut-out on one side). She has a basking rock, but seems to be outgrowing it, so I ordered the Pen-Plax floating basking dock. Does this sound right or am I messing something up? Oh, and we feed her Hikari sticks. Is this setup acceptable? I'm planning for the day she moves into a 75 or 90g tank with a big external filter (FX5 / FX6) in the next year. Do I need to put in plants or sand? Thanks!