Indoor Waterland Tub for RES

[yertle the turtles]

Hello all, I'm new to MFK and I have no idea how I have not already known about this site. In the past I have kept freshwater and marine aquariums, but their sizes have been limited. Anyway about two years ago I bought a couple RES hatchlings. I guess I chose to go with RES because they were readily accessible..

So now the two are about 4-5in and I finally took them out of the measly 35gal and now I know they must have been incredibly miserable.

i was on craigslist last week and this is what i found..a waterland tub, medium at these dimensions: 76 x 35 x 24"

as the water portion only holds about 65 gallons, I was thinking about filling the dry portion with water as well because that will add another 30-35gallons if my calc. are right.

I have heard RES really do not require much land area other than a spot where they can completely dry off and bask, then slip into the water when satisfied. Is this correct? As far as I can tell, neither of my RES are female..so egg laying won't be an issue. Any suggestions as to how I can convert this tub into a mini indoor pond? filtration, habitat, other compatible species? I would love to add some sort of sprinkler or fountain as part of agitating the water in the larger side and a waterfall that could also fill the smaller side to overflow into the larger area? Still trying to brainstorm what I can do with this rigid container..I kind of wish I'd scrap this and build my own layout but it's temporary so may as well wait for the real pond when I have a perm. place. anyway any suggestions are very welcome. It's a blank slate, ready to be fooled around with

I'm not in any rush as they seem to LOVE the huge basking area already after a day of settling in. They water area still seems to be big enough for them so any alterations I want to do precisely.

Though I do have to upgrade the filtration asap as I have an extremely insufficient Whisper30 on there..yeah as you can also tell from the horribly disfigured shell that the other guy hasnt been basking..The two used to alternate, but for some reason the one suddenly stopped basking. Yeah well needless to say the neglect is no longer an issue. Dont worry I never keep them in toilet water! I gave them water changes so frequently and manually siphoned out the poop every couple days..the substrate helped keep it down as well.

BTW I got this used but in practically new condition except a 1/2" hole drilled into the side of the land section. $150 on craigslist makes me satisfied for this overpriced hunk of plastic

Cheers

 

[Louie]

I saw those waterland tubs at a pet store and thought they were great. Well made not cheap plastic and nice water area.

I would leave it as is . It looks nice now and as important looks easy to clean.

I would add floating frog plant bit which they love if I was going to add anything and you could add a planted safe to eat plant or 2 in a clay pot on land area near rear.

If you have enough light over the water area dwarf hyacathin (spelling is prob wrong) looks great but if limited light go with frogbit.

A floating piece of driftwood adds a nice look .

"as the water portion only holds about 65 gallons, I was thinking about filling the dry portion with water as well because that will add another 30-35gallons if my calc. are right"

I myself wouldn't do that because they do like to bask and will use the land area. My experience with turtles has only been a couple of months with a Florida Cooter and Map turtle both babies. So no expert.

The Cooter will bask for long time and walk around on the land area. The Map rarely basks. You seem to have plenty of water area .
If you watch your turtles for awhile you will see the land area is probably left along. They will use it and again you have plenty of water area.

I would use something easy to clean on the land. Carpet of fake short grass should work and will look nice.

A weak filter if you do water changes suck up the waste from bottom of tub will work. Garden Plants LOVE that water.

How do you like that turtle heater ? I was looking at them online .

 

[shells-n-scales]

Waterland tubs are pretty durable, and you cant go wrong with them... enjoy.

 

[Z Trip]

Knowone else notice how deformed his turtles are?.....

 

[krzr3000]

I rarely go in big box stores, so these tubs are news to me. This would be perfect for my eastern painted....hopefully stores are still carrying them even though winter stuff is coming out.

Nice setup looks like a nice upgrade.

 

[EricIvins]

No need to mess wih perfection. Keep the water end watered, and the land end with substrate and you'll have no issues. I'd concentrate on proper husbandry more than complicating a simple, effective setup..........

 

[q_fish]

ya Z trip.. i notice the one on top of the slate shell looks weird.. it side shell curves up.. haha it doesnt look regular but it looks cool LMAO...

 

[mark23adams]

I second the fact that your turtles are very badly deformed. The shells should never look like that. What are you feeding them?

 

[snakeguy101]

looks like there is something wrong with the diet.

 

[q_fish]

soo sad!!! =(... it can be the diet, but i have a RB musk has shell deofrmation i dunoz why.. he eatting repto-min and mazuri.. i dink it either diet or genes!