new turtle tank idea's

[inkslinger]

i got 2 new turtles from China town in Boston now i have an unuse 55g tank with 2 54w t5 lights mounted on my canopy, i aso have a divider witch is 49in long by 4in high it bows in the tank to make a land scape whitch i will fill with gravel but don't know what type i use #1,2,3 on my planted fish tank but i think that would be to small for them , i would like to add some moss and plants and maybe some froggs and newts , need some ideas on filter setup land scapeing ect:::

[Kyle]

What kind of turtles are they? If they are chinatown turtles they are probably Red Eared Sliders, in which case they could really care less about having land in the tank. The rule of thumb is they need 1.5x their length in depth for swimming happiness. They do need a place to bask out of the water, but they spend about 95% of their time in the water.

[juanBeegas]

Turtles need really beefy filters to keep their water clean, think 4-5 times the volume of water per hour. They also need UVB lighting to help them with their growth. You have to think in terms of practicality when it comes to designing their habitat. Any other living creature in their tank will become food, sooner or later. Plants will be eaten, or trampled. Also, a 55 gallon will probably last your 2 turtles for their first year or so before it needs to be upgraded. Red Eared Sliders can reach up to 12" fully grown.

[aanderson09]

yeah, but one thing, I've had red ear sliders in my fishpond, one grew to about 16-18" it was huge :P