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hello everyone.
i really need some advice .. when i was young i would often go over my grandmothers house who had a neighbor with a little granddaughter as well. They had a baby turtle & asked if we wanted it since the little girl didnt anymore.. i was prob 11 & didnt really want a pet turtle but my grandmother took the turtle in .. now over the years my poor grandmother took care of this turtle the best she could ... now being an adult i feel horrible for this turtle because she is very large in size and has not much room in her tank at all! last year i went to petco & they told me to buy the turtle tank kit which came with two lamps ... 1 for day time 1 for night and a tank with a fliter. At first i thought the tank was way too small but they asured me it was fine. now finding this site i can clearly see it is not just tiny BUT plain disgusting to keep her in this tank. she is about 10 years old & i have no idea how shes still alive .. now knowing what i know about turtles. she has no room to swim .. and barely any room to bask. we have two big rocks for her to lay on which she does all the time.
i want to make things right for her so i am going to buy her a tank .. not sure what size yet .. im really lost. do you think a 55 gallon would be big enough? also have no idea which fliter to look at!!! my next question is since she is so large .. how can i make her a large area to dry and lay on? i was thinking about finding some flat rocks and stacking them up to the top? where would i be able to find flat rocks? please leave me all the advice you can ... thank you

I think it's great that you're going to do something nice for this turtle... I'm going to watch this thread for replies.

What I did with mine, who was seven inches in a 55 gallon tank, is stack up plain paving stones (that were washed) along one short side (making sure they were sturdy). It wasn't ideal, but that's what I could do with what I had at the time. They also do sell those foam / floaty docks that suction cup to the side, leaving the tank more swimmable. I got one of those when I found them and I took out the stones. It got a lot cleaner in there almost immediately. If she's really big, she might need two, if they'll fit side by side, maybe.

The filter advice I'll leave to someone else because I wasn't very good at those.

Fluval FX5 is the best filter for your buck. Will keep the tank cleaned properly and work on a nice sized tank.
The turtle docks are a good start. They have ones that suction cup to the sides and also ones that magnetically hold on. I have heard and seen weirder though.. lego basking areas, PVC piping with a plexiglass top and reptile carpet. You can do just about anything with whatever is available and what your mind can come up with.

thank you both for the advice. i was thinking about getting this: http://www.amazon.com/Kordon-Oasis-Nova ... Ramp-Large
maybe getting two big ones and put them together but still not sure if its big enough for my turtle. & fluval FX5 sounds great but is there anything less money? or its not worth getting a cheaper filter? thank you once again everyone

As your turtle grows into an adult... the FX5 becomes "less money". Swallowing the price tag up front is less expensive than upgrading later esp as the price of the filters go up a bit each year. The next best bet is the Rena XP4, but for a few dollars more the FX5 will eat the XP4 for lunch.

I think those Kordons are pretty good, one is probably enough.