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Hello,

My husband FINALLY agreed to building a pond for my two RES turtles. YAY! I had them in a 100 gallon stock tank before, and now we are ready to create something for them outdoors. We live in Arizona, highs being 105 F mid July and low being 35 F mid December. I've always had a basking area, a submersible heater and a petsmart filter. I think I am ready for the real deal. I've look around this site and it looks like ALOT of people do DIY options for filters. What is recommended and how do I start? Pinterest gives me ideas but its hard to find a good turtle pond example.

Cleaning has been tough in the past because the filter has never been good enough. A lot of the forums with ponds here don't talk much about murkey waters. Why and how?
Do I need to have an outdoor electrical outlet built for them for a filter and a heater?

I just really need the necessary things to make sure my turtles live in heat or cold, but also have their own living area, not just my husband's garage space. We have a one car garage now, so it's time to make them a new home.

If this has been answered in the past, I would love the link to read it all. I appreciate all the help!

Awesome that you're building a pond! I guess the main questions would be what are the turtle sexes and how big of a pond can you make? The other answers will probably depend that situation.

vivalateeny wrote:Hello,

My husband FINALLY agreed to building a pond for my two RES turtles. YAY! I had them in a 100 gallon stock tank before, and now we are ready to create something for them outdoors. We live in Arizona, highs being 105 F mid July and low being 35 F mid December. I've always had a basking area, a submersible heater and a petsmart filter. I think I am ready for the real deal. I've look around this site and it looks like ALOT of people do DIY options for filters. What is recommended and how do I start? Pinterest gives me ideas but its hard to find a good turtle pond example.

Cleaning has been tough in the past because the filter has never been good enough. A lot of the forums with ponds here don't talk much about murkey waters. Why and how?
Do I need to have an outdoor electrical outlet built for them for a filter and a heater?

I just really need the necessary things to make sure my turtles live in heat or cold, but also have their own living area, not just my husband's garage space. We have a one car garage now, so it's time to make them a new home.

If this has been answered in the past, I would love the link to read it all. I appreciate all the help!

Congradulations on your new pond ! To me it sounded like a hard decision or semi hard for the hubby to go on and agree with. I maybe wrong though. I think it is a wonderful idea (except during those winter months of course). But you seem like you have everything in your favor.

steve wrote:Awesome that you're building a pond! I guess the main questions would be what are the turtle sexes and how big of a pond can you make? The other answers will probably depend that situation.

Great point on the sexes and size of the pond. My only thought in addition to the size is how deep the pond will be with a estimated gallons of water that will be provided that will like you stated here Steve on the situation itself. It can determine everything from the heating needs to the filtration and more.

One thing to note and it seems contradictory but territorial behavior might come up after moving into a larger tank/pond. I think it sometimes there needs to be a significant bump up in space.

steve wrote:One thing to note and it seems contradictory but territorial behavior might come up after moving into a larger tank/pond. I think it sometimes there needs to be a significant bump up in space.

Steve, you have mentioned territorial behaviors in a larger pond. Do you think that this would be a issue if these turtles are compatible where they are now and are used to living in the same domain?

It is interesting that you brought this issue up as a possibility and I can see where it can happen though. More room " King of the area" sort of speak in territorial and dominance.

That's the issue... they are get along (I wouldn't say compatible) but once something changes and aggression starts, there doesn't seem to be a way to stop it.