General Care Discussion :: The right setup???

[insanejstr]

Hi I'm thinking of acquiring a RES. Should I buy just one or is it better to have them in pairs. I have a 60 gallon tank with a underwater heater, cannister filter, a heat and uv lamp. I have to get a basking area, but what else am i missing?What do you put on the tank floor i have heard sand,river rocks any pros/cons?Are there any reputable dealers in NY that anyone can point me too?

[coreyvht]

well i cant give u a dealer but you will also need a uvb bulb um i like sand cuz it looks good dont put gravel in there if u whant 2 turtles get them at the same time its hard when ther older (aggression resons} other than the uvb and basking area your good

[BullDog]

Welcome! It's great that you're doing your homework before hand!

RES do much better on their own, so you'll be best just getting one.
Sounds like you've got a pretty good setup (and perfect for one RES). Sounds like you've got pretty much everything covered.

For the bottom of the tank, bare bottom is the easiest to clean.
I use about 20 large river rocks in my tanks. Give the turtle something to push around, but still pretty easy to clean.
Sand look really nice. I've got sand in my fish tank, and it's easy to syphon debris off the bottom. Only thing to keep in mind is that the turtle can kick up the sand, so you'll want to make sure the filter intake is a little ways above the bottom so you don't get sand in the filter.
The only other thing with sand is that some sand (particularly play sand) can take a while to clean initially. But the good news is you only have to do that once

[insanejstr]

Cool Thanks For the help