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[TehTurtleNewb]

Hey internet people! I have a red eared slider named roll in a 55 gallon tank with a common pleco that I got a couple months back. The turtle was picked up and brought home by my mom because she was sitting in the middle of the road next to a larger turtle that had been ran over by a car. My mom picked up the pleco because people at the fish store said it'd clean the tank for us . I came by this site many times while I searched the internet on how to provide my turtle with adequate living conditions and decided it's time to join the community. I've got a Turtle Pier Floating Platform with UVB strip light and a rena xp4 filter. I haven't measured her shell and don't know how old she is quite yet but she moves well in her 55 gallon and seems happy. I've seen a lot of cool aquariums and vivariums for turtles and want to be a part of the club as my tank looks bland. I know in time I will need to upgrade the tank for more room so until then I want to have a good idea of what I want. Additionally why I've signed up to the forums is because I have another rescue turtle coming in a couple days that supposedly has had his growth stunted which I've heard nothing about. I have cycled tank ready for him.

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! Your turtle looks pretty good from the picture. Don't worry about bare tanks, both of mine are

The rescue will have his own tank?

[TehTurtleNewb]

That's actually sand substrate, but I don't know if I like it because my pleco will bury waste in it it seems like.. Or maybe It just gets kicked up and into the filter idk for sure the sand is relatively new. Yes, the rescue turtle will have his own tank. I might have to move him into the bigger tank for feeding though because I feel his filter won't be sufficient. The tank is only 20 gallons and has a filter fit for a 50 gallon but I still don't trust it . He's much smaller than my RES and much older too so I don't know how they'll get along. I'm going to get him tomorrow, I'll see how he does with a tank buddy.

[TehTurtleNewb]

By the way, have you heard anything about growth stunt turtles? I tried looking it up and found nothing but this turtle looks to be the case. I was told he is 7 years old and was kept in something like a fish bowl with barely room to turn around?.. He's been kept by a friend of mine in a 20 gallon by himself for a couple months and his shell has been shedding ever since. Really thick pieces are coming off, it's not pretty.

[steve]

It depends on what has caused the stunted growth, it's usually poor habitat/nutrition. A small tank will not keep the turtle small. Shedding could be a good thing, coinciding with a fresh start.