Red ear slider help please

[Darren179]

well a friend of mine had been keeping 2 nearly adult RES's in two ten gallon tanks now he did keep them well fed and clean but other then that not much was done for them but he had to get rid of one tank and he was gonna keep them in a ten gallon together but I convinced him it was no good and he was not keeping a proper habitat so I set them both up in a 65 gallon tanks I put about 60% water 40% land with a basking spot of about 89-91 and I am going to pick up a UVB bulb tommorow. any other suggestions?

[JeffT]

wow that guys an ***. Good job Darren, make sure they get looots of calcium and vitamins and check them over for any deformaties that may have happened while living in a tank that size.

[ReptiliansDOTca]

First off, I would like to commend you for your efforts. I would go through with your idea of purchasing a UVB bulb as well. Your set up sounds fine, however just to be safe I would provide some further details on the water. For instance, how deep is it? The turtles should be able to submerge from the water. The temperature of the water should range between 70-75°F which may be maintained through the use of a submersible aquarium heater.

As for diet, I am not sure what you are feeding or plan to feed, so I will include some details. Their diet should consist primarily of meat products, with approximately 30% of their diet being vegetable matter. Meat products can include, but are not limited to, commercial turtle food, cooked chicken, live fish and beef heart. Vegetable matter should be composed mostly of dark greens, including mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion, nappa and collard greens. A good practice is to feed them as much as they can in a 45 minute period on a daily basis. Any leftover food after this period should be discarded. Supplement food with a calcium and D3 powder available commercially for reptiles.

Obviously, water should be kept as clean as possible, and should be clear to the eye. To make your life much easier, and to permit a much more sanitary environment for the turtles, I would invest in a good water filtering system. Feces should be removed immediately upon deposit. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to ask.

[Darren179]

alright thanks for your help

[latazyo]

I would put as much water as possible in there, they are expert swimmers and love it, they do not need to reach their feet to the ground, so make the water a few feet deep (if possible)

I would hike your basking spot temp up to 100 if possible, that is what I run mine at

I've had RES for 13 years now and they are absolutely awesome
congrats on the acquisition

[ReptiliansDOTca]

The basking spot is fine, and I have not heard of too many people using basking spots of 100°F with this species. As for water depth, the bare minimum should be as deep as the shell is wide. However, I would recommend twelve inches or so.

[Wu-Gwei]

Good job Darren... how big are the RES. You said almost full grown. I suspect you are talking about males. If they were almost full grown female, I would say they would be 10-12" SCL. A full grown male can get up to 7" easy.

65G tank is a good start, but in the long term, a pond or stock tank for the duo would be recommended. I think you have everything under control. Good stuff.


Cheers,
JJ

P.S. What kind of filtration are you using for two big turts in a 65G? Need at least one Fluval 404 (or any other big canister) and regular water change.

[Darren179]

yah im picking up a 404 and probably a cheeper smaller one but what I was wondering is it possible to keep any fish or snails or anything that they wont eat like any sort of algie eaters or anything

[latazyo]

african cichlids are fast enough to be able to hide in the rocks that you use for ramps, etc...in my experience

I've also trieddanios, etc, but they usually don't know to stay away from the jaws

as mentioned, before long your'e gonna want a stock tank and get the turtles out of an aquarium, so try to think of good top viewing fish as well

edit: here's an example of the situation I'm working with, dual stock tanks and a piece of oak plywood and it's indoor aesthetic

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showt...threadid=32015

[Wu-Gwei]

Well, what I have found over the years is if you introduce a couple of fish (cichlids included), the RES will hunt them down, even with hides. But if you dump 2-3 dozen, the RES will mow most of them down and leave a few. These few have lasted forever. I have done this a few times with goldfish feeders and rosie red feeders.

I generally find any introduced fish which has not grown up with RES lose in the end. But maybe my RES were really good hunters.


Cheers,
JJ

[latazyo]

wu-gwei made an excellent point, perfectly written...I forgot to mention that I've only gotten fish to survive when introduced in large numbers (at least 12)

[Darren179]

I was readin that full grown oscars can make a good mate as long as the tank is big enough and that there is enough food provided