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Hello! My name is Liz. I'm a mother of one human, 5 whites tree frogs, a pacman frog, two cats and a husband. I have been keeping frogs for about 6 years and have always wanted a turtle.

I have a 6" ten-year-old male RES on "hold" at the local turtle rescue here in Maryland and I"m converting my 55 gallon fish tank into his new home, with above tank basking area (UVB included) and a canister filter. Need to do research to see if my filter is good enough for a turtle. I'm in the process of creating the ramp to the basking area as well as debating if I should have any substrate at the bottom. I know from herp keeping substrate can be an impaction risk, so if I did they would be large river rocks. I also need to fully enclose the basking area to keep my cats out.

Anywho, thanks for having a nice board. Best one I have found so far.

Hi Liz, welcome to the site! Congrats on the rescue, we'll be glad to help as much as possible.

Cork bark works very well for ramps and basking areas. River rock and sand are also popular substrates around here. Bare-bottom tanks are also popular.

This link has a list of popular filters and media options: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

Well, I did 10 minutes worth of research, and my canister filter, an Ehiem 2215 is rated up to 92 gallons. Not quite up to snuff. Do you think if I combined that with my 70 gallon over the side of the tank filter I would do OK? At least for the time being?

I think I'm going to try to find a piece of cork and somehow attach it to the basking platform that I'm making. That way if the water level drops a little, he can still get out. I need this tank to not only be functional, but pleasing to the eye, since it's in a high traffic area of my house.

Thanks for all the great ideas I'm finding!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!
Love the picture of your babies!

Awesome picture! love frogs. Avoid the topic about the one person wanting to feed frogs to turtles x.x

ugh, now I don't know what to do. I have a friend, marine keeper to be exact that studied marine biology in college and runs his own fish business, is insisting a 55 gallon is not good enough for this turtle. That he has never heard of a full grown male of only 6 inches. I want to do right by this turtle. I don't want to squish him into a home that is too small.

I have the rescue telling me one thing, and a trusted friend and animal keeper telling me another.

opinions?

I think you'll be fine.

Yes, you will be fine. Its a male so it stays smaller. Hes six years old already so he not gonna grow fast and put on alot of size. That tank is a good enough size for him. If you feel you need bigger down the road go for it. The fact is though if he does get bigger it isnt gonna be fast. You got plenty of time. Years.