Habitat - Indoor :: My First Setup for a RES (Build Thread)

[Talking Turtle]

This is my first setup for a Red Eared Slider. I don't have the turtle yet, I'm trying to get everything ready first so it's complete when he/she comes home. I'm not going to be buying one, instead I'm looking to find one off Craigslist that needs a home or adopting one. If anyone knows someone in the Tri-State area that needs a home for their RES please PM me.

Right now I have a 75g tank setup. I picked up a stand last night and started setting it up. Here's a picture of the tank on the stand with sand in it:

Don't mind my cat Mika in the picture, all my animals are just as excited about this as me and want to be apart of it as well!

Here's the above tank basking area I built. I made it out of some plywood in my garage and some pieces of 2x4 to support the sides. I built the sides to 12" and I'm going to add egg crate to the front so he/she can't get out. I'm also going to paint it to act as a sealer against the water.


A couple more pictures of the basking area:




Here's Wolfgang...he thought the box was built for him.




Don't mind my lop-sided viewing hole - I'm horrible with the jigsaw.


Started filling up the water last night, added a couple decorations.


There's enough room for the turtle to swim around it without getting stuck.


My over-sized diy filter (I'll explain it later).


Another overall tank shot.


Trying to figure out how I'm going to position the light strip and the basking area. Also, before I forgot to mention I'll be filling the box with an inch or two of sand. I figure that's more natural and comfortable for the turtle to bask on then plywood.



And this is where I'm at this morning, the tank cleared up a bit.





Equipment
- Filter: Powerhead (for a pond/fountain) that flows 2000+L/Hour, I added a custom canister to it with sponge and bio balls. I also made a spray bar out of some tubing and PVC pipe drilled with holes in it.
- 300W Heater - 76*F
- Thermometer strip to monitor water temps

Not installed yet
- I have 2 clamp on style lighting fixtures that I have from a previous reptile. I'll be picking up a UVB 5.0 bulb and also using a standard household bulb. Also will be picking up a thermometer for basking area.
- Whisperer 60 w/air stone(s)

Question
- This is my main concern - I've read about pyramiding and all the bad things that come along with a poor diet. I'm concerned that whoever I end up getting the turtle from didn't know how to properly care for it. Say I get a turtle that's 3 years old or older and the owner was feeding it just pellets or pellets and live fish, etc. No vegetables though. How hard is it going to be to switch the turtles diet to at least half vegetables if it never ate any it's whole life? I know I'm going to have to gradually change it's diet, but I'm concerned that the turtle wont eat unless it's being fed what it's used to.



I'll update the thread as I get things done (hopefully daily, if not then every other day). Feedback and advice is appreciated especially since this is my first turtle, I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. Thanks!

[untsmurf]

Well, with any new turtle they could not eat at all for the first week. Generally, they take that time to get used to their surroundings. After that, the turtle should be pretty hungry. I would try offering veggies straight off the bat, before offering any pellets. You can judge from that how hard it's going to be. If they take it, great, if not there are some methods we can help you with to get it to eat veggies. I don't know of any turtle, no matter the situation, that out right refuses all veggies no matter what.

I'll post comments on the tank in a bit, but for short I like it!

[untsmurf]

Okay, for the tank.

My biggest concern is that the turtle might try and explore the filter and get stuck in it. I recommend making a little egg crate cover for it.

Next, you said you were going to put egg crate on the top of the tank so the turtle can't get out, right? That'll work great and you can put the tank light right on top.

The only thing I don't see in the pics is the thermometer. You said you had it, but I couldn't see it. Make sure you get a thermometer to go inside the tank for the water. Those sticker ones for the outside of the tank don't really work that well. Then, get one for your basking area. I've found that the digital ones with the probe work great for basking areas.

Other than that, I think it looks great. You might want to add some plants to it. Since you're looking at adopting a turtle, it probably won't be used to so much water and will need some resting areas. They're pretty cheap and make the tank look great.

Oh, and, I've found that adding an aquarium background to the back three walls really helps the turtle feel more secure.

[Linus]

Love the tank and ATBA, but I'm afraid your turt will climb the ramp and try to take of to the left or right since their is nothing stopping it, they're great climbers so watch out.

[Talking Turtle]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the response about the turtle and eating. I'm relieved to hear that. I'll definitely try what you said and offer vegetables the first time the turtle's ready to eat.

Good idea about the filter, I'll make a box around it so the turtle can't get to it. For the thermometer, mine is a stick on thermometer. It's there from my previous setup, I use those on all my fish tanks and never really have a problem with it, from what I see it seems pretty accurate to me. I have a few artificial plants I can put in the tank.

What do you suggest for resting areas? Like one of those zoo-med basking docks? I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but the big piece of driftwood sticks out of the water about 2 inches so I think the turtle should be able to grab onto it and rest up there. Or were you talking about in the water resting areas (sorry I'm not too sure what you meant)?

I painted the back of the aquarium black, I'll add a plastic background to the 2 sides to enclose it more.

Thanks again,
Keri

[Talking Turtle]

Love the tank and ATBA, but I'm afraid your turt will climb the ramp and try to take of to the left or right since their is nothing stopping it, they're great climbers so watch out.

It's not there yet because I still have to pick up egg crate from Home Depot, but in the original post I said I was going to build a box around the docking area in the front. It was in one of the picture captions so you might of missed it.

Like I said, the tank isn't complete or anything, I just started on it yesterday.

[Linus]

Oh, ok, perfect then.

Their's going to be one happy turtle!

[Talking Turtle]

I hope so, I really want to give a red ear slider a good home that maybe it didn't have before. I was originally going to buy a bigger tank 125 or 180g for my African Cichlids (mbuna) and combine 2 of my 75s. I was browsing through one of the forums I'm on and came across a video of someone's fly river turtle named Squirtle and I fell in love. Then I knew instead of getting another tank for the cichlids, I really wanted a turtle instead!

[Chrisbarnett]

Keri,
Great progress so far. gonna look sweet when its finished.

As for resting areas, I use a clear suction cup soap dish. My turtle rests and sleeps on the dock. Others also use the repti hammocks from Zoomed, yet I prefer the look of a clear soap dish. Looks much less obtrusive in the tank.

I'm interested in your filtration system. Care to elaborate a bit on how it all works?

[untsmurf]

fake plants are great in tank resting spots, which is what i was referring to. You can also add a hammock or a soap dish like chris said. other than that, that big rock deally should be fine.

[Talking Turtle]

Something like this for the resting spot then?
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... U=14675698
I would position this at the surface of the water right, not underwater?

For filtration...

I have a Hailea HX-6540 powerhead, it flows 2880LPH to be exact. It's a really strong powerhead, you can use it in a pond or for a fountain. I had it laying around so I decided to make a diy internal canister filter out of it.

Here's a picture for comparison next to a Aquaclear 30 powerhead :


I grabbed a empty plastic container that used to hold fish food. It's best if you can find a container that's screw on. I drilled a hole the size of the inlet on the powerhead into the plastic containers cap.

Then I hot glued the cap to the inlet: Some people think hot glue isn't safe in the aquarium, but it is I've been using it for over 5 years without any problems. If you feel uncomfortable you can just use silicone instead.




The I cut out a hole on the bottom of the container I'm using as a canister.


Add some sponge at the bottom.


Then some charcoal.


Bio Balls


Then just screw the container into the cap on the powerhead.


Because the current on this powerhead is so strong I made a spray bar for it. I picked up pvc pipe from home depot, drilled 30 holes into it. Then hot glued the end of it and at the other end hot glued the tubing into the pvc that goes to the powerhead outlet.


Then I ziptied some suction cups to the pvc pipe/spray bar so I can mount it.

[PcBuilder14]

Looks like you are doing great so far!

[Arisu]

Regarding the resting spot, the soap dish works fine. Place it an inch or two (depending on how big your RES will be) UNDERwater. They like to be in the water to stay warm (the ambient air may be too cold) and be able to stick their little nostrils above water to breathe. Generally, place it where its just enough for your turt to be fully submerged.

[ScrewZoo]

Awesome setup cant wait to see a turtle in it!

[Talking Turtle]

Thanks guys.

Someone I contacted on Craigslist just got back to me so hopefully I can pick him up soon. The turtle's 2 years old and about 3 inches. I asked about diet and the owner said he eats vegetables and pellets/sticks. I can tell from the Craigslist ad that he doesn't have much swimming room, so hopefully everything will work out and I can bring the little guy home!