Habitat - Indoor

Ok so I plan on getting two 1-2 inch RES and I have been doing all the research I can and I still have questions.

My Tank is a 50/55 Gallon tank
[Measurements 48In Long, 21 In tall, and 13in wide]

I was thinking about using a kitchen back splash for the back of the tank [Impervious to water]
- http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?lan ... cId=detail

I plan on making an above tank basking area out of these materials
- Tile base
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?lan ... cId=detail

-Siding
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?lan ... 3&cId=list

Now as far as tank care/maintenance this is what Iv come to the conclusion of
-Filter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MH3 ... XO2O1MQQUG

-Heat lamp + bulbs [I get confused when it comes to bulbs, Are there separate bulbs for UVA and UVB?]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003F6 ... YVOYFCMZGY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00101 ... PDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002A ... HLMXRLPQLV

And finally what should I do as far as a tank heater goes?! This is the best Iv come up with myself.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042F ... PDKIKX0DER

Everything total is so far $235 [Not including heater]

So my biggest question is the heater. Also are moss balls ok for RES?

Welcome to the site!

You need to be prepared to separate them incase one or both are males. Females can also sometimes fight.

As for your links...

Any reason for tile? There are nice wet applications for tank backgrounds. Tile and acrylic are fine for the basking area/ramp. What is going to support them? Tile is kinda heavy, and you don't want any accidents with it in the tank.

SunSuns are OK, but you have plenty of options. This is an arguably better filter: http://www.aquatraders.com/Aquarium-Can ... /42051.htm

Any bulb producing light will provide some UVA. The UVB is OK, but I would avoid the ceramic heat emitter. I have not used that Aqueon before, but it looks good. I normally go for Eheim Jager heaters.

Moss balls are OK, but be prepared for them to tear it apart.

I plan on epoxying the tile to the tank, it's 8mm thick but I can get thinner kinds as well I just think it looks nice. As for the tile for the basking area I'm going to epoxy that to the top of the tank.

I'll also get the filter you suggested then. And the tank heater

Is that dome going to work and is the bulb I chose worth it? And If I don't get the ceramic heater bulb what can I do about keeping the above water temp warmer?

I'm thinking of going with pool filter sand for the bottom

I have not had much luck with epoxy, would it work well with glass and acrylic? I don't think that dome will work with the emitter as they are pretty wide. If the bulb will not be too close, a regular incandescent will work. I use long neck halogens (PAR30L), I think these are similar: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Turtle-Sp ... B000KHBT12

I was thinking 2 way epoxy should work fine as far as sticking the tiles on the backdrop and the tile on the top for the basking area. [Iv had no issues with epoxy and glass in the past for other things]

A dome would probably be best because the basking area will be on top of the tank I can get a dome that isnt a a double dome, I just want to make sure I provide the proper lighting as far as uva/uvb's go and I am very confused as far as that goes, the zoo med one says uva only so what about uvb's? What do I do about keeping the above water temp level higher?

Do you think the epoxy could harm the water?

The bulb package has to say it produces UVB. It will produce UVA as well. There is water-safe epoxy, I guess it depends on what you get.

Zoo Med Combo Aquatic Turtle Lighting https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CYDE7D2/re ... pub0DJ4XHJ

Yea I'll have to look into which epoxys are turtle safe

That tile looks like it will be very difficult to clean algae off of it

Yea I think I may go with glass tile . Is it nesecsary to change the water often or %25 a week?

How will the side of the basking area be supported? How much water % you have to change depends on the filter, water volume, and turtle(s) size. Generally, the more water you have, the less % you have to change.

The basking area will be on top on of the tank and will consist if a tile and acrylic sheets

Ah, that clears things up for me. You might want to hang the lamps from the ceiling, if you haven't thought about that yet.

Yea that's my plan, what should I do about water changes?

Maybe every 2-4 weeks for 25% should be fine.

Habitat - Indoor :: RES Tank build -I need some help and opinions-

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