# red eared slider



## yz250 (Dec 29, 2013)

Hey guys, was wondering what size tank would be ideal to keep a red ear slider turtle. the wife has been wanting to get.one for a while now lol


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

That would be a combination of factors with budget being top of that list I guess. The more the better is my rule of thumb on it.
Petco now has their $1 per gallon sale going on so a 40 breeder tank might be a possibility of being reasonable to get.
Loew's has flexible clear plastic tubing in several diameters you can get to use to siphon with sold by the foot. That makes
siphoning it into a 5 gal bucket easy. But you might want to wash it well after each use. And a size of 1/2" or more is best
for turtles. If you clean up after they mess you can do a water change less often using this size or bigger.
Here is a link to a site which makes turtle tanks. They might not be in the budget, but idea's of theirs are easy to copy.
Glasscages.com - Glass Turtle Tanks / Acrylic Turtle Tanks (Turtle Aquariums)
Feel free to P.M. me about any and everything you might want to know about this as it used to be part of my hobbies.
I believe I still can contact someone in Mississippi that sells baby box turtles (Gulf Coast and Three Toed species) but I
do think he may or may not still do this.
And welcome to the forum...


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would do either a 40B or a 50B. The breeder tanks have less height to them. Not really needed for a turtle tank.


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## yz250 (Dec 29, 2013)

Raymond S. said:


> That would be a combination of factors with budget being top of that list I guess. The more the better is my rule of thumb on it.
> Petco now has their $1 per gallon sale going on so a 40 breeder tank might be a possibility of being reasonable to get.
> Loew's has flexible clear plastic tubing in several diameters you can get to use to siphon with sold by the foot. That makes
> siphoning it into a 5 gal bucket easy. But you might want to wash it well after each use. And a size of 1/2" or more is best
> ...


awesome info thank you! i cant imagine it will be to hard to take one.or 2 of their designs and put together my own tank! exactly what i was looking.for thank you. ill probably be pming.you in a day or 2 about it some more lol


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## Botiadancer (Dec 30, 2013)

We have two 13 year old red eared sliders in a 55g (just measured it 48x15x18) Their shells measure approximately 8 or 9 inches long.

They started life in a 10g (they were 1" long) before being moved to a square tank designed for turtles/reptiles. I believe that tank was 24x24x15 and they were in that tank until 3 years ago.

We were using a canister filter but big turtles are SUPER MESSY! Have to pop open the canister way too often. Now we are using an Aquaclear 500 (now called the 110-mine is over 15 years old!) on it with double sponges and it is much easier to clean. They also like to sit under the waterfall return -water level is about 6 inches below the Aquaclear return

I made a land area for them out of pvc pipe and egg crate (light diffuser). See this youtube video ( How to make a cheap and pretty basking area for a turtle. - YouTube )for an idea of the possibilities. I use bare egg crate with no cover - the turtles don't seem to mind... they like looking down. For smaller turtles, just pile large rocks and gravel on side of the tank to make a land area. Check out BauriBob on youtube - he has some amazing stuff too!

Use a strong glass heater - I use an eheim jager and they haven't broken it yet. Or use a heater protector. I'm guessing there are turtle specific heaters out there.

I keep saying "I". I don't actually take care of them - I'm just shouting across the room to their keeper to get answers - though I did make the pvc island!

Hope this helps.

Yikes! It actually put the video in. Is that ok??


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