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I thought I'd experiment with the sand, and so far, no issues.



Here's Mikey, enjoying the "sun". Yeah the photo's fuzzy. The camera didn't want to agree with the lighting.



The basking platform is homemade. My dad and I made it last week, from a idea I had from a link someone posted. Here it is,
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/How%20to%20Build%20a%20Driftwood%20Basking%20Platform.htm

And here's the platform out of water.



It's just driftwood I got from a river just up the road. I love the horizontal
piece on the bottom, its all beaver chewed.
This is a 30 gallon tank with about 20 gallons of water in it. The sand on the bottom is all-natural volcanic sand, because I couldn't find river sand anywhere, but the effect is cool. There is two bundles of Anacharis in there and a bubble wall that Mikey loves to float in it. The water is 82 degrees, basking is 92 degrees and because of the basking set up, he's got a range of temperatures to his liking. At some point I'll put some Rosy Reds in there too. There's a fully submersible Whisper 30-60 Gallon Heater that's brand new today (8-27), and a long UVB bulb, rated 5.0. I'm planning on making a custom screen top for the tank, because one, I couldn't find one the right size, and two, I need special places to run cords through and I want a door on the top.
When I put him in this morning he thought he was in turtle heaven! He swam around the whole tank, and dug in the bottom for awhile and uprooted some of the plants, generally being a very happy turtle.

He sounds adorable
That basking platform is very creative

That platform rocks! Sooo cool!

As for the sand substrate...I would nix that idea... It will clog up your filter and your turtle for that matter. My girl is gravid and I was keeping her for a couple hours or so daily in a nesting box with sand and she was pooping major sand! And it sure makes a mess in the water! Just a few plain river rocks, hanging plants and a couple decorations and keeping the tank clean is TONS easier!

JMO! Good Luck!

I think the sand is fine. Your setup looks realy cool! Nice job!

XSavingSaturdayX- Thanks for the compliment! Mikey agrees with you.

Camee- Thanks for the compliment with the stand, Mikey likes to sit on the very peak under the basking platform, with his head way out. But, the sand doesn't bother the filter at all, It's so heavy, when its kicked up it sinks right back down, thats why I chose it, I was being really picky when it came to looking for nice heavy sand I was sure wouldn't float. That and river rocks can hide debris that can toxify the water. I've had many experiences with this with fish tanks. Honestly, the sand's really more of a aesthetic thing than anything, plus Mikey likes to dig and kick up the sand.