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i have a 55 gallon tank with a 5-6 inch turtle, with a basically empty tank. its boring looking. all i have is a basking dock from cork bark and a fake plant attached to the left side of the tank. i want it to be more decorative, i have some river rocks, but those algae up quick.

Ye, try using sand plus some driftwood and silk plants.. Even a few lighten up the tank. And the turtle would spend time digging and snooping around, instead of just swimming randomly.

A background and some Mopani wood made a big difference in my tank (same size as yours.)

Also inside my tank are 5 moss balls, a faux-coral plant holder, a fake tree stump, and a bunch of fish, which also make it a lot more interesting in my opinion.

Before


After

Seriously, what is the turtle supposed to do in an empty tank all day? Try imagining you in a completely empty room with just some food and a lightbulb.

I like to throw in feeder fish... makes it interesting.... Which reminds me I only have 3 fish left in there... gotta go buy some more!

Also, having sand as a substrate also made it a lot more interesting than the barebottom, it's just that the barebottom is a lot easier to clean.

vear wrote:
Also, having sand as a substrate also made it a lot more interesting than the barebottom, it's just that the barebottom is a lot easier to clean.

Yes, that's true but if you don't have many rocks or driftwood sand is easy to clean too.

Sand is amazingly easy to clean, and I found some silk plants with suction cups that my turtle loves to hang out it.

Put a few fake plants or even real plants that they can eat. A bubble wand can be interesting to the turtles. Sand is also a good option but if you have a turtle like mine and eats almost everything in his tank then you might want to avoid the sand, if he eats large amounts of it it can cause compaction.

A nice naturalistic background, some river rocks and more greenery would be nice for starters...

Meta wrote:i have a 55 gallon tank with a 5-6 inch turtle, with a basically empty tank. its boring looking. all i have is a basking dock from cork bark and a fake plant attached to the left side of the tank. i want it to be more decorative, i have some river rocks, but those algae up quick.

Many people like to keep bare bottom/plain tanks to keep them easier to clean. That's very true, but what's the purpose of having a turtle tank if it doesn't look cool??

Search the web or take a ride to petco/petsmart and get some cool stuff like river rocks, driftwood, artificial caves, and fake plants.You will have to silicone the fake plants to the bottom of the tank, let cure, then refill the tank, or the turtles will keep pulling them out of the substrate.
Make sure to bring $100.00 or more. The cheap stuff just looks cheap. I've posted pictures of my tanks plenty of times. Do a search and something will def come up.

i had the same thing as you (kinda)
now i have rocks on the bottom with a DIY under-gravel jet system hooked up ti help keep it clean, i have plenty of fake plants and a fake stone archway that looks nice. a little sunken ship and a nice rock. there is a lot you can do. it may take a little more maintenance than what you have now but just like jozzep said, whats the point in having one if it doesnt look cool?

i dont wanna take a lot of swimming space away

my set up doesnt take up a lot of swimming space, my turtle can smach through the plants if (s)he wants to.

id say some river rock would be a good start. Also some fake or real plants. Drift wood is a good idea but also can take away swimming space.

On a good note about driftwood provides great hiding areas and my 3 turtles love to hide when not basking.