red eared slider qestions help

[oscaroo]

my sister got a 40 gallon tank for Christmas and a 8 inch red eared slider turtle i know we will have to upgrade in tank size but what size tank will we need i am pretty good with fish my biggest tank is 75 gallons so i know how to clean the tank and change the filter what temp do they need and can you give me some genarel info i am trying to help my little sister i will do a lot of the maintenance until she gets old enough to do it her self my dad might do some mantence to

i have lots of fish tanks

1x30 gallon tank
1x40 gallon tank
1x65 gallon tank
1x75 gallon tank

i only have 1 sick fish but i uassaly don't have sick fish he is not really sick but my catfish chased him so mush that he got really stressed. my most recent fish deaf was my female Betta and my fish do not uassaly die she died because was using my net in my 30 gallon tank and i acadently netted her and did not know it then the next morning when i went to use my net i found a dried up dead female Betta in there

i clean my tanks by myself but today my dad helped me set up the fish tank i got for chrismas he helped because it would take like 5 hours for me to do it by myself

i have been in the fish hobby for a little over a year so because i am experienced with fish turtles might come easy to me

thanks i usssaly post stuff about fish on this fourm but i thought i would get a little info on turtles oh and my dad says that we can upgrade to a bigger tank someday if me and my sister do not neglect it

 

[Maxime]

For an adult male you'll need about 90-100 gallon tank. (I've got a 120 tank).

For filtration, you'll need to get a filter rated for twice the size of your tank.

the water should be in the mid 70F.

Don't forget the UVB bulb for the basking area.

RES are excellent swimmers so the more water the better.

 

[Creek_stomper]

For an adult male you'll need about 90-100 gallon tank. (I've got a 120 tank).

For filtration, you'll need to get a filter rated for twice the size of your tank.

the water should be in the mid 70F.

Don't forget the UVB bulb for the basking area.

RES are excellent swimmers so the more water the better.

This is pretty accurate. I'll elaborate a little bit.

The ideal in-home setup is 10g of water for every inch of the turtles carapace. As such, an 8 inch turtle have around 80 gallons of water. Females should have 100g+. While this is the ideal, smaller tanks can be sufficient with heavy filtration, and only then.

It's common in the fish trade to get a filter rated for twice the size of your tank. For turtles, you want a filter that can cycle the volume of the tank five times or more per hour. We commonly suggest canister filters or wet-dry filters for turtles, most else just can't handle the job.

Water should indeed be low-to-mid 70's for north american temperate species like the RES.

A basking area should be provided where the turtle can haul out and get COMPLETELY DRY. Basking bulbs are used to provide two things: Heat and UVB. Heat and UVB both help the turtle metabolize food, and UVB helps it process calcium in it's diet, which is important to avoid metabolic bone disease. Note: all bulbs put out UVA. Only specific bulbs put out UVB, so don't just buy a normal ''basking bulb''. Basking temps should be around 90F for RES.

RES are indeed almost entirely aquatic from birth, and will benefit from as much water as you can give them.

Diet should be a quality turtle pellet, supplemented with green plant matter and occasional treats. Some examples in each of these categories follow:
Pellets - omega one, mazuri, hikari, aquamax, wardley's, reptomin.
Greens - romaine lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, dandelion greens, or aquatic plants like anacharis, hornwort, duckweed. Avoid spinach, as it is known to be a calcium binder in humans.
treats - krill, live feeder fish, boiled or raw fish. Try to avoid feeding anything terrestrial besides insects. Aquatic turtles metabolisms aren't made to eat fresh chicken or beef.

Hope this helps.

Josh H

 

[oscaroo]

This is pretty accurate. I'll elaborate a little bit.

The ideal in-home setup is 10g of water for every inch of the turtles carapace. As such, an 8 inch turtle have around 80 gallons of water. Females should have 100g+. While this is the ideal, smaller tanks can be sufficient with heavy filtration, and only then.

It's common in the fish trade to get a filter rated for twice the size of your tank. For turtles, you want a filter that can cycle the volume of the tank five times or more per hour. We commonly suggest canister filters or wet-dry filters for turtles, most else just can't handle the job.
Water should indeed be low-to-mid 70's for north american temperate species like the RES.

A basking area should be provided where the turtle can haul out and get COMPLETELY DRY. Basking bulbs are used to provide two things: Heat and UVB. Heat and UVB both help the turtle metabolize food, and UVB helps it process calcium in it's diet, which is important to avoid metabolic bone disease. Note: all bulbs put out UVA. Only specific bulbs put out UVB, so don't just buy a normal ''basking bulb''. Basking temps should be around 90F for RES.

RES are indeed almost entirely aquatic from birth, and will benefit from as much water as you can give them.

Diet should be a quality turtle pellet, supplemented with green plant matter and occasional treats. Some examples in each of these categories follow:
Pellets - omega one, mazuri, hikari, aquamax, wardley's, reptomin.
Greens - romaine lettuce, collard greens, mustard greens, kale, dandelion greens, or aquatic plants like anacharis, hornwort, duckweed. Avoid spinach, as it is known to be a calcium binder in humans.
treats - krill, live feeder fish, boiled or raw fish. Try to avoid feeding anything terrestrial besides insects. Aquatic turtles metabolisms aren't made to eat fresh chicken or beef.

Hope this helps.

Josh H

Can it fit in a 70 gallon tank. I know it is a little small but it is a male

 

[Creek_stomper]

Sure, it can. The gallon-per-inch rule is really just an ideal standard. Using that standard, you should just try to achieve as close to it as possible. I think most keepers would say anything above a 55g would be acceptable, just not ideal. Just remember that with less water, the waste builds up quicker, so you may have to do water changes a bit more or invest in a better filtration system.

Josh H

 

[oscaroo]

Sure, it can. The gallon-per-inch rule is really just an ideal standard. Using that standard, you should just try to achieve as close to it as possible. I think most keepers would say anything above a 55g would be acceptable, just not ideal. Just remember that with less water, the waste builds up quicker, so you may have to do water changes a bit more or invest in a better filtration system.

Josh H

Thanks we will upgrade to about 70-75 gallons!!!!

 

[andyjs]

75 gallons is a good size for a male. One other thing I would add to go with the "as much water as possible" thing is to look into a floating turtle dock (I think mine is made by Zoomed). This will attach to the glass and leave more swimming space under it as opposed to stacking rocks of something to make a basking area. For UVB, mercury vapor bulbs are great because they do heat and UV, but they are somewhat fragile bulbs and if splashed may break. If you get a powerful enough bulb, it could be high enough above the basking area to avoid this though. For whatever UV you use, make sure there is no glass between the bulb and the turtles as this will filter out a lot of the UV rays. Use a screen top instead

 

[oscaroo]

Wr have a small platform but we have to put rocks under it because he is heavy