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Hi everyone!! Been coming to the site for a while now, but this is my first post! Been an owner for almost 2 months now. I ended up finding my RES in a local creek when I was out with the kids looking for crawdads.

Well here's my setup. It's a 20 gallon long...just big enough for him...for now. (2 inch shell) Got some money coming to us next month so I will be upgrading soon. Also, I've got a UVB coming in the mail right now.

He seems very happy. Loves his pellets...even eats them from my finger. Also, I tried the Turtle Jello Shots, and he loves those as well!! I've got some rosy reds in the tank with him, but he never goes after them. He avoids them totally and they are almost like his friends!





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Looks pretty nice and with that UVB coming it'll be even better.

He can't knock down that basking area on accident can he?

Looks pretty good! You may find all those rocks trap a lot of debris though, and they do take up quite a lot of swimming space. You may want to take some of them out in the future.

It's looks great! Just remember that they will grow and will require a larger tank. I had a ten gallon tank which I replaced within six months along with a new cansister filter.

Basking area thingy is fairly heavy for its size...sitting pretty secure on the rocks there. He's still small enough to not worry about it for now.

As for the rocks...I originally has small pea gravel in there, then once I started snooping around on the forums, I said "Oh no" and took it out right away. I haven't had to clean the water since putting the new rocks in, so I haven't seen how much of a hassle it's going to be yet when it comes to cleaning...I can imagine it will be quite difficult though. I do love the the natural looks it gives, and once I put them in there, he seemed to almost feel more comfortable...he would go down and just sit on the rocks for quite some time! Once I get a new tank, and a canister, the rocks will be spread out more, and there will be more room for water.

i like this set-up

i also have a 20gal long -- how long have you had yours? do you find that style filter to be working for you? i opted for one of the hang on tank, long tube waterfall style (obviously im not filter expert lol) and have found it isn't keeping me clean :[

Sra-tin You will need a uvb light. If you stay with the rules of the turtle rc you should be ok. You may want to add some calcium to the diet. Good luck! m.

Yeah...UVB is on it's way. By the way...never order from Aquariumgardens.com! Ordered it on friday 21st and they did not even ship it to me until last night! Hoping it will be quick and I'll get it by Saturday!

Second pic from the bottom, you can see his calcium chew. He loves that thing! I sunk it below that rock because I noticed him having a very hard time trying to get anything from it while it was floating around. And yes...the backing is peeled off

Awesome!!

I use a gravel-vac to get the debris from under the rocks. It's great for making water changes in 55 gallons or less. I have noticed though that gravel-vacs a huge pain in the butt to start up, but do their job once you get them going.

Very cute little turtle, look like he/she is getting ready to shed some of the scutes, too.

theartbook35 wrote:Awesome!!
I have noticed though that gravel-vacs a huge pain in the butt to start up, but do their job once you get them going.

Really? I've never had an issue getting one started, takes maybe 30 seconds to just get every thing in the right place but it was really easy...

Hah...I just use my mouth to start the suction. I've only mis-judged it once! >_<

And I was wondering about the look of the shell. It really has changed within the last month. Alot more spots of yellowish/lime greenish showing up. Does that usually mean shedding has begun?