Habitat - Indoor :: New Tank, New to the Turtle World

[JGoldinger]

We found a turtle on the side of the road, i am pretty sure some one didnt want her any more because she is pretty calm, and tame, eats pellets, and eats out of our hands.

We got her today a 40 gallon breeder tank, it has a Peguin some thing or another rated up to 80 gallons filter. We have LARGE creek rock in the bottom, and i got my handy father to craft a basking area. Pics soon to come. There is also a heater in the water, and i have two clamp lights set up for her as well.

Am i missing anything? Are power heads usefull? Do they need fast currents, or do they prefer pond like water.

Thanks!
Pics to come later!

[BullDog]

The only thing you didn't mention is a thermometer. You'll want one to make sure both the basking and water temps are correct. It doesn't hurt to have two thermometers to double check (I use one that sticks on the outside of the tank for quick reference and a digital one to make sure).

Powerheads are useful if there isn't enough surface agitation. Turtles are fine with either currents or more still water, but it's good to have a still spot for sleeping.

Can't wait to see pics

[JGoldinger]

Sorry for the quality, my mom is the only one with a macro len's... and it was working against us!

[BullDog]

Nice! I like your basking area!
My only comment is on the rocks. You may find that many rocks traps a lot of debris, and pollute the water very quickly. If you find your water getting dirty quickly, you may want to remove some rocks. I keep only about two dozen rocks in my tanks. They still traps some stuff, but I can stir them up so the filter can suck it up.

She is shedding quite a lot (you mentioned that in your other post). What's the water temp?
Since you found her, it's also possible that she was in poor water quality before. RES have been known to shed heavily after going from poor water to good water.

[JGoldinger]

Thanks, we were going back and forth on putting rocks on the bottom, or not, She wasnt swimming to well to begin with so thats one of the reason's they are in there. Now she is swimming amazingly.

I turned on her basking area this morning right before i left for work. And two minutes later i walked in and she was up there for the first time (or at least that i noticed)

I am going to grab some thermometers on my way home from work tonight, i have the heater set to 72 for her water.