cross posted on turtleforum.com
ive had my RES - trumpet - for a little over a month now. He's currently in a 50g tank because that's what he was living in when he was given to me, and i'd very much like to upgrade it and probably move him outside because the only place in the house where i can keep the cats and dog away from him is my room and it's on the second floor and idk if the floor up there could handle a heavier (100-150g) tank. also, im not allowed to keep him downstairs anyway because his tank is huge already.
we cant dig in our yard because it's all bedrock, so it would have to be an above ground pond. what i'm looking at right now is buying a metal frame family swimming pool and setting up a DIY filter with it. the pool im looking at specifically has a 16' diameter and is 4' deep. id like the bottom to be sand and to have plants (hornwort, anacharis, maybe some non-toxic and non-invasive floaters).
if he got an outdoor pond it would be directly beside the house where i can see him from the window, and where it stays in the shade for most of the morning and some of the evening. there are 2 kiddie pools out there in the area i want the pool that have had tadpoles living in them for several months so i dont think the temperature would change much daily in a much larger pond.
turtle questions:
-would one of these pools be suitable to house a single turtle? maybe someday id like to add koi or goldfish, but not anytime soon. the sides are thick vinyl and i think should be able to hold up to his claws
-since RES live here naturally, could i overwinter him in the pool? if not, ill keep a tank to overwinter him indoors
-in WV, when would be the best time to take him indoors to start overwintering him indoors and when would be the best time to put him back out? i dont want to have to take him inside every night
-do i have to build something around the pool to insulate it or to keep predators out or is it tall enough that the sheer sides could deter them? the only preds ive ever seen around the house have been foxes and dogs, and crows keep away hawks and the like but there are probably raccoons here as well
-what's the best way to put a basking dock in a pond like this?
-could i use milk crates as hides/caves for him to hide in?
-do i need to cover the pond with something? if so, what? would it interfere with basking?
-if i left a foot of space around the top to prevent escape, but put a ramp up onto some sort of walled in table attached to the side of the pool(probably filled with organic potting soil, with tile laid over part of it and a hide made out of half a pot and some plants ykno), would that make a good place for him to bask or would it be better to keep smth in the middle?
and some more general questions:
-how in the world are you supposed to keep the water temp stable when doing a water change? none of the websites ive looked at have answered this question
-is it really safe to not treat your water for chlorine before adding it?
-in the same vein, if i did maybe a 10% water change could i add water back with a hose?
-how do you plug in outdoor equipment? id just need to plug in a pump to run water through the filter but i have no clue how to go about doing that,,
if i cant use the pool for him for whatever reason (his safety and happiness is my priority), could i use a 150g or 300g stock tank and put it in the yard? i know i cant overwinter him in one of these, sadly, but i think it would be easier to build something around it where he could just crawl up onto something outside of the water and bask instead of having to put something in the water that floats or w ever