Ideas of upgrading my Red Earred Slider's tank..

[behyx]

I have 2 palm-size Red Earred Slider. They are currently housed in a 45 (L) x 30 (W) x 15 (H) cm plastic tank with a palm-size smooth rock. This is the largest plastic tank I could find, and every evening, my mum will bring them to the washroom to change the water.

We couldn't add another rock because of the limited space, thus they have to stack above each other to bask their shell. :cry:

Now I want set up an entirely new tank to solve the 2 problems - Upgrade their real estate and save the trouble of bringing them to wash every evening.

Is there any larger glass tank which can house them with a proper filtration system so we don't have to bring the whole heavy glass tank to the washroom to clean and change water?

Also is there any good way to do up the interior design of the tank to make life good for them (To eat and bask their shell)? And will they drown in the water if it's too deep?

It'll be great if there's an estimate prices to those purchases. Thanks!

 

[canonite_sg]

dont think they drown leh .. mine so far so good.. water abt 20 cm deep..

 

[ortega]

i added a soap dish (with suction cup) for them to climb on and bask

anyway for RES, must change water very frequently as they shed their skin and clog up the filter really quickly
and they grow really fast, so get a bigger tank

 

[goering]

they will not drown as they are good swimmers but they definitely need a place easy to climb up to land and bask - the more the better. ensure that you have a lighting lamp - like a fluorescent one - a good one in which your lighting emits enough light and even heat for them to bask

there are definitely bigger tanks around - can get from the shops. there are even bigger ones but these are hard to find. juwel has one but it's pretty expensive think its around $400. you can get the cheaper ones for $20+ to $50

for the filtration system i recommend the eheim - a good one costs $150+ or so. but even then, it would last only 2 weeks - and is a must to bring to the washroom as they dirty very easily. as ortega has said - they shed skin and their droppings and waste is a lot.

for decoration, add some sand (those sold in pet shops) to the tank - at least 6 cm thick. not only does it beautify the look of the tank - you can arrange it in a sloping arrangement for better visual effects, but the sand also serves a useful purpose for the terrapins to chew and aid in their digestive system. the disadvantage is that it adds considerably to the weight of the tank

Some tips i learnt over the years:

a) mount yr entire tank on a trolley so it's easy to bring to washroom

b) wash the tank by draining the water - by a siphon or manually using a contatiner to drain repeatedly.

c) for the filter, get those sponge material that are bio-freindly so that will keep the tank clear

d) do not overfeed - terrapins do not have an efficient digestive system and their waste clogs and dirties up the sytem very quickly