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Hi there;
In October my 15 year old son decided to get a RES. As he was going through some difficult times I assisted him with the research and aquireing of the correct equipment. Well, shortly after he bought his turtle (I bought the second one because I didn't want it to be lonely) he left home. I am now the sole provider for Cheech and Chong and even though my son said he would be back for the turtles I have decided to keep them so that they are well cared for. They are about 7 months old, 3 inches across, both males. We have them in a 20 gal. with a large basking rock in there. I am hoping to buy a bigger tank soon, but they are doing ok for now. We had terrible water problems for the first month, but soon took out all the gravel and that helped immensley. What I notice most right now is that the water turns green rather quickly (3 days after cleaning) and that there is often a greasy film like oil on top of the water. I look forward to learning more about these little guys from all of you here.

Do you have any type of filter in the water?

Hi! yes, I have a submersible filter with two sponge containers and one charcoal container. I clean it at least once per week, and syphone 2/3 of the water out weekley. There is also a heater in the water. I should probably post this under general discussion to keep the forum decorum! Was really just introducing myself here...pm me if you have some further info, though.

Welcome TurtleGrandma. If the tank gets alot of sunlight, you could be developing algae. About the greasy film, usually having a filter that agitates the water will help with that, as others have suggested in other posts.