Res turtle tank....go bigger?

Welcome to MFK!

The rule of thumb for active water turtles is usually 10 gallons of tank per inch of turtle. Without knowing the size of your turtles it's hard to say if the tank is already too small or not.

I go 10 gallons per turtle when they are juvinile 20 as adults. I have 4 of then 2 RES and 2 ouachita maps. you can see pic of the 30 gallon setup here.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...-start-up-a-convo-about-your-fish-tanks/page3
post # 25

I keep the full grown RES out side in the summer in a bathtub. if you I can post pix of him a.d the setup. She was a rescue that lived in a 10 G tank for 15 years and is a 12 inch turtle.
They thought that if they kept it in a small tank it would quit growing. (sad very sad)
They did have a UVB and feed it top quilty food so it had that going for it.

Poor thing had skin fungus when I got it. but I cured that rather quick.

Nice thing about the tub is I hit the drain and the water is out.
Over filtration is a must on turtles or you will have health problems. For you and the turtles.

Shelby ( the gal in the tub) has gold fish in with her, she only eats pellets.
the RES and maps in the house have a brown knife, sens dino bichir, common pleco, and 10 guppies. also live plants.
They will eat the plants also.

If you don't want your RES to eat fish you better keep it well fed, and with fast fish. Even a 3 inch turtle will attack the fins of a 12 inch fish and kill it with stress. I've had it happen. I kept 12 and 14 inch rainbow trout once and put a RES in with then he killed them all by letting them drap him around the tank by their tail.

ETA:
I change the tub water for Shelby every other day and the 3 in the 30 g get a 5 gal change every other day also I have a HOB and sponge filter in the tank with live plants.
For the ones in the house. no filtrastion on the tub outside as it gets a 100% WC. Yes the gold fish survive the untreated tap water.
There is NO TURTLE TANK SMELL between the filtration and the WC in the house.
Biggist mistake was putting them next to the couch we watch them more then the TV LOL

Rich

20 gallons is far too small for any species of turtle as an adult ReptileRescued... To the OP, yes, you will need a bigger tank. Or multiple tanks. Males shouldn't be housed together.

Should have been more clean on that 20 gallons thing.
It should read 20 gallons per inch so a 12 inch turtle needs a 240 or better water space.
That's why serious turtle keepers keep them outside in a pond. or alot of time a 125 G will work if that's all that is in it. (one turtle)
One of the reasons you see so many turtles up for sale/trade. people get them when they are little and think they are adorable then the turtles grows up and are a lot of care or smell like a "turtle tank"

reptilerescued said:

Should have been more clean on that 20 gallons thing.
It should read 20 gallons per inch so a 12 inch turtle needs a 240 or better water space.
That's why serious turtle keepers keep them outside in a pond. or alot of time a 125 G will work if that's all that is in it. (one turtle)
One of the reasons you see so many turtles up for sale/trade. people get them when they are little and think they are adorable then the turtles grows up and are a lot of care or smell like a "turtle tank"

Click to expand...

Ah, that makes more sense. 20 gallons per inch is certainly favorable, and if it can be provided it should. 10 gallons per inch is only to serve as a bare minimum, not as an ideal tank size.