Need advice & Ideas for new 55gal RES/Sideneck Setup

[Saucy Slider]

Hey everyone, this is my first ever forum, its exciting to be here! So hey, i have 2 yearling RES and one new yearling African Sideneck and i have just bought a new 55 gal tank that i plan to move them into by next week. I have everything to get started except for a decent clue of how i can cater to both the turtles needs while creating a mezmerizing & inticing display! My original setup in a itty bitty 10gal was solid and fun to look at but since i now have a sideneck who isnt a great swimmer and likes to stay out of the water i need to do something different with this new setup. Please please plaseeeee gimmie a hand here fellow turtle friends! I am also interested in learing how to make my own homade filter and or tank orniments, thanks again!?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Voted for sand because my turtle ( stinkpot musk turtle) loves digging around in it. Also the debris lay on the top of sand and won't get down into it like it would pebbles. Who likes a bare bottom tank? They are no fun.

Let me know if you need any other help and nice turtle pictures in your profile

 

[Saucy Slider]

Hey man could you read through my thread and put your two cents in on it?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

You just need to put a lot of thought behind what you want. I almost made mine to where I would have built a platform for the turtle to get completely out of the tank on the backside. Then added sand and plants and made it look realistic. That way the turtles would have had a ton of in water space and out of the water space. Instead I built a 3D background where it goes up on the back glass but has a platform on the top of the background. Just try to imagine something or a couple somethings and put it on paper then do your best at trying to do it. is this what your looking for answer wise? Another thing that helped me was doing goggles searches for pictures to get ideas.

With the filter do a YouTube search as there are many build videos to teach you how to build a filter. But I've never tryed any of them other than just running a DIY sump.

Hope this helps

 

[Horsegirlmaddy]

Trial and error is the name of the game. Sand bottom is a must, and of course some land area to bask. But just lay out all your decorations, and fiddle around until you figure out a setup you like the best! I love the look of the turtle terrariums that exo-terra has on their website, so that might be a good place to get some ideas!