Preparing our aquarium for a turrtle

Question
Hello Krista!

My family & I have an already establshied 29-gallon freshwater tank that we cleaned and re-set up a few days ago. Instead of purchasing new fish, we are looking into the possibility of buying a turtle for the tank instead. Can you give us some important do's and don'ts as far as the care of the turtle, i.e., What type of turtle should we be looking for? How nuch water should be in the tank? We have a flourescent light and thermometer right now, but does a turtle need something other than that? What's considered a healthy turtle diet? etc.

Any help / advice you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Answer
The most common aquatic turtle that are kept as pets are called Red Ear Sliders. They are very interactive and LOVE water. I have one and he is happy as a clam in his tank. For turtles you will need to have a screen top lip for your tank.  The turtle will need a heat/basking lamp and a light that emits UVB rays as they cannot produce their own calcium. That light will prevent them from getting a disease called 'soft shell'  Inside the tank it is optional if you want to put gravel at the bottom but that helps keeping things clean longer. An in tank filter is also a good idea for these guys as turtles tend to be dirty. As for food mine eats food by Tetra called Repti-sticks. If you can get them started eating these sticks it is very good, as the live fish aren't exactly the best thing for them to have all the time.  If you would like to give him a feeder fish as a treat you can as long as he is big enough...and the fish is small enough. I feed mine Rosie Minnows.  Also inside the tank you will need something that will allow the turtle to get out of the water easily.

Also the more water you can put in the tank the better. You don't want to cover the filter though and you want to make sure the turtle is able to comfortably get his head above the water while swimming.