General Care Discussion :: Heater

[iltier]

Hi everyone i have a two gallon acrylic tank for my res and I just want to know if it is ok to buy a 50 watt heater for it because the weather is already getting cold here in China and my problem is that I cannot find those mini heater. Do you think my res will get cooked if I use a 50 watt heater for a two gallon tank?

[flutterby]

First, your set up is extremely inadequate. I suggest that you read this:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_habitat.html

Secondly, I highly doubt that heaters are recommended for tanks smaller than five gallons. If you have a heater light over the basking area plus a heater as well that will make turtle soup.

Other than that I don't know what else to say, so instead of saying something nasty and even more critical I'll go.

[Shavannah]

How big is your turtle? Shell measured length without the curve? RES love water, and rule is 10 gallons per inch of shell. Does he have a basking area and necessary lights? To prevent shell problems and other disorders, they need the correct lighting. I'm pretty sure you can't use a heater in that small of a tank. Can you upgrade him to something bigger soon? If you're new to turtle care, read up on the information in the main care page and the 'stickies' located at the top of each topic in the forum. Keep us posted, and ask more questions. We'll help if we can.

[iltier]

My res is just 3 inches in size and its container is 2 ft. in lenght, 1 ft. in width and 1 ft in height, it have a 40 watt incandescent light bulb as a basking light and a separate 7% uvb compact light. And definitely when my res gets bigger I'll definitely transfer it to a bigger container. Please don't think that I don't care enough about my res by putting it in a small container I'm just waiting for my res to get a little bit bigger before buying a bigger tank.

[flutterby]

Like I mentioned before, read whats at that link. Keeping your turtle in that small of a tank is unhealthy for it.

[missibsu]

Your turtle should have at least 30 gallons of water. Like flutterby has mentioned, keeping your turtle in less than andequate conditions will affect the health of your turtle.

I'm not quite sure what you are waiting for...if your turtle needs a larger set up now, then do it now. Don't wait for her to become even more cramped. The best thing you could do is buy a set up that is larger than you need, and then you won't have to upgrade again soon. If you just get a 30 gallon tank, she's going to be too big for it in a very short time. Then you'll be right back where you are.

Don't forget that you can use rubbermaid containers for short term homes. Doing that until you get the tank is better than nothing. Oh, and by my calculations, your tank holds about 14 gallons of water, not 2. That is if the measurements given are correct.