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Hey! I made this basking area, but I don't know if the turtles will be able to figure it out and use it properly... please help me!

Looks very cool. What kind of wood and substrate is that?

steve wrote:Looks very cool. What kind of wood and substrate is that?

The wood I got from lowes, its just normal wood that I cut, drilled holes through, and strung them together. The walls around the ramp is plexiglass I cut and bent myself. Do you think the turtles will eventually figure it out? To go up, then down and around into the light? I'm worried they won't..

Also, is the tank big enough?

Oh.. SUBSTRATE! It's black rocks... they've never tried eating them. got them from the pet store. They have been in there ever since they were little.

The tank looks big enough now, but they will quickly outgrow it. Regular wood is not good in water, you might need to look into a different material.

The rock in there takes up a lot of room, you might want to remove it. RES like to squeeze into tight areas, so it could be a potential drowning hazard.

Gravel can cause impaction. Either get black or colored sand or use rocks bigger than their head.

I think they can figure it out, not sure if they have enough grip and it's a bit steep. The UVB and heat should be positioned over where they will be basking.

The red lamp is a UVB lamp i know. The lady at the pet store said sand will increase the PH level in the water too much if I use it on the bottom? They have enough grip since I've set them on it and they've walked up and down both sides. I set them in the sand area and one managed to find its way back over on its own, the other needed to be set on the actual ramp and it climbed up and over. I just have yet to see them go to the basking area on their own.

Never seen a red uvb lamp. Are you sure its uvb? What brand? Sand will be fine in your tank. Many of us have it in our tanks. I would be surprised if they use that ramp. I don't think they will like the steepness but you never know..

joeturtle1 wrote:The lady at the pet store said sand will increase the PH level in the water too much if I use it on the bottom?

There is aquarium sand for saltwater aquarium that is designed to increase the water hardness. That may raise the ph.

However, freshwater sand is mostly silicone dioxide aka quartz, which is what the aquarium glass is made of. It won't affect ph.

Nope, there is no red UVB lamp. They might be marketed as night or infrared lamps but they produce no UVB.

steve wrote:Nope, there is no red UVB lamp. They might be marketed as night or infrared lamps but they produce no UVB.

A red uvb bulb would have been a new one on me.

Turns out it's just an infrared. The lady at the pet store said leave the white UVB bulb over the water since they spend most of their time there...? Is that good advice? I've had issues in the past with trusting the pet store people.. Also, working on a different basking area, pictures to come soon.

Your uvb light needs to be directly over the basking area. Don't know what to tell you about the red one but it would go in my trash. I just use incandescent bulbs for heat. But that's just my opinion. Your doing the right thing. Asking questions is how we all learn.

Okay, good to know. Yeah the red one is just for heat I guess. Next time it burns out I'll just use incandescent, but supposedly the red is for night time.

The red one doesn't have to be restricted to night time hours.