Habitat - Indoor :: NEW TANK

[kiwiturtle]

Kia Ora all
I am upgrading my tank. I have had my turtles for a year now, and for the last 3 months they have been in the bath, as they have out grown the tank they used to have. just a couple of questions, for the tank, what the bigger the size the better, pretty much aye? i am looking at a big tank for them. another question, what filter is good for a big tank? i have a fluval 204 for the bath and i have to change the water every week, and the water smells. what are other brands that are good for turtles, i am going to spend a lot on them, so yeah, am making a sacrifice with money, have been saving to get them the best, so yeah.
any info will be awesome
cheers

[Spookster]

Yes the bigger the tank the better. At a minimum you should have at least 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. So if you had two turtles and each of your turtles were say 5 inches then you would need a 100 gallon tank. But you have to keep in mind that these turtles are going to grow bigger so it would probably be best to calculate tank size based on what they are going to grow to. Males will grow to be 7-9 inches and females 10-12 inches. Unless you plan on shelling out the money for a very large glass/acrylic tank you might want to consider an indoor pond or stock tank. I think I seen a link to stock tanks on the forum a few days ago and I believe there was a 300 gallon stock tank listed for under $200 US. You'd pay 4 or 5 times more for a glass tank that size. As for a filter it depends on what tank you get. The Rena Filstar XP3 is pretty good. I am using one on my 90 gallon. You might want more than one of those for a really large tank or maybe a pond filter. Just remember you want a filter that is rated for a tank 2-3 times larger than the one you have as turtles are messy as you know. Oh here was the thread about stock tanks

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2641

[steve]

Ideally, the wider (or is that depth?) the tank, the better. The height, specifically the water depth, should be the minimum length of your turtle's shell. So a fully grown female may be 12" (30 cm), so your tank's water level should be that high.

If you are handy, you might consider a custom made pond (made out of pond liner.) As with all ponds, you lose the side view.

[marisa]

For the tank, wider and longer is better than higher and not as long (more horizontal swimming room/surface area).

If the tank/container is going to be a larger one and will not be on the floor/ground, go with a canister. The XP3 is great for the money, but if you have money to blow, you might want to consider an Eheim (look at the Pro Series, specifically the 2028). One member here (Hammy) is using one and can speak about it. (Hammy, where are you....?)

If you're going to get a stock tank/pond, that will be on the floor, I'd consider a pond filter (this also assumes you're getting that bigger tank).

[Terrapin UK]

I can also comment on how good the Eheim Pro 2028 is. Erm... it's good!

It's ultra quiet too. In fact, I have to keep checking the spray bar to make sure it's still working!