Hi everyone..just wanting to find out some answers before I get one or two....

For two babies:

1) Minimum tank size for a year?

2) What do they need to eat?

3) Heater temp?

4) UVB?

5) Filter size?

1) just for 1 yr? What are you going to do with it after that. It'll

Probally grow to 5cm in your first year so I'd say 100L to make it happy.

2) fish.. Krill hot house turtle food and the turtle pellets oh and plants

3) mines normally around 25C but for a baby I'd say 28C

4) yup you need a UVB bulb and a basking area so it can dry out.

5) well normally 2x the size of the tank. But mine has x3 and is much cleaner.

Feel free to ask anymore questions. Happy to help!

you might as well get a 300 liter tank, they will outgrow a 2ft or 3ft tank in a few years and its cheaper to do it once.

Filter id go with a external that can go that extra mile, they are filthy creatures so be prepared for weekly water changes of 100%

hot house is good, occasional pellet and blood worms for treats

temp 26-28 is good, make sure you have a heater guard as the tend to burn there feat by touching the heater element.

A good uv bulb that covers the basking area and some of the water, red eared tend to bask more than other turtle species a 2-3ft bulb will do the job nicely

they are wicked pets i have 5 snake necks and they are amazing

100% water changes. Providing you have enough filtration and enough tank room you will only need to do 20% weekly once the tank has cycled.

Get a big tank and big external filter based on the size they will grow to when mature. UV less then 300mm from the area they bask on and a heat lamp will encourage them to bask. THE uv is no good if through glass or plastic so it needs to be direct. Build the tank so it has a good volume of water (easier to keep water clean) and the basking area is low enough so they can't climb out when mature. Hence the need for a large tank. Another way is to build a netting frame over the basking area and put the UV on to that.

100% water changes. Providing you have enough filtration and enough tank room you will only need to do 20% weekly once the tank has cycled.

I would have to disagree with you, with the amount of food they churn through daily and the nature of the food i would have to recommend 100% water changes. They are filthy creature and i dont think allot of people realize this, I was amazed what two snake necks can do to a 300 tank in a week now imagine 5 of them going at it!!!

They are better off in a bare bottom tank and most of the solid waste can be siphoned off.

one weeks observtion of two snakenecks is hardly much to guage what theyre actually like.

once filter is cycled, and providing you dont overfeed. 20-50% wc a week should be heaps.

One week is enough to let me know how dirty they can make their tank, it's a observation not needing 40 years of exp to determine that turtles are messy little critters and no harm in doing large water changes. Infact it should be encouraged

100% water change is likely to stress the turtle. jmo

20-50% twice a week maybe. but i just do what needs to be done and for the water to be clear. things fluctuate, i compensate, animals look great :smln:

tbh i sometimes would do a waterchange every day (especially on hatchlings), but only to suck out excess food. upto 10litres then top up. that was fine for 30-40 hatchlings. miss a day or two and you know about it

I have a 200L tank for my turtle ATM. He is like 12cm long. I have 700L of filtration. I do

Possibly 20% 2x a week. When I siphon I syphon out the gunk. Water is crystal clear no algae ammonia 0ppm nitrites 0ppm nitrates <5ppm. I also believe you don't need to do 100% every single week. Maybe only if I go away for 1 month on holiday I will do a 90%+ . I know lots of people that have turtles and none of them do 100%. And if all of the water suddenly changes temp the bacteria will die.

I wouldnt do 100% water change per week. Unless you are grossly overfeeding or have too many turtles for the volume of water it shouldnt be needed. I vary from about 30 to 75 per cent, depending on size of tank and the amount of turtles in it. As Alan said, bare bottom tank is best and easiest and always get the biggest external filter you can afford. :thup:

Yup I actually love sand in my turtle tank. But then again I spend a couple of hours cleaning it and a couple more admiring it! Haven't had an algae outbreak in 2yrs?! :love: