Red Eared Slider Housing

After obtaining or purchasing your sliders, the first thing to consider is how to house them. You need to provide a place for them to swim as they are good swimmers. A place for them to land, rest and take sunlight is necessary. Since it's difficult to build it by yourself especially for beginners, it is recommended to use a glass aquarium. Glass tank has the advantage of easy cleaning and scrubbing.

The common sizes of glass aquariums are 10, 20, and 50 gallons. What size you choose depends on the sizes and quantity of your turtles. Less than half tank of water is OK. Keep in mind you build a turtle tank instead of a fish tank. If you put too much water, you will need to build a high landing area which may be difficult to clean. Tank top is optional as long as water level is not too high. Sliders will not be able to climb over a tank.

Lighting is important to sliders' bone formation. Without lighting, it may suffer shell softening problem. If your slider lives outdoor, sunlight is good enough. If it lives indoor, a full-spectrum light is recommended.

Here is a simple setup:

Step 1: A 10 gallon tank
Step 2: A foam from pet store
Step 3: Put them together. Add water, turtle, guppies, shrimps, and water plant. Then you have a ecosystem.
Two months after the setup, the water is still clean even I didn't clean at all. The guppies and ghost shrimps eat droppings from the turtle. The water plant and water filter provide fresh oxygen to the ecosytem.