I have, fortunately or unfortunately, come into possession of two red-eared sliders. I'd say they're about six months to a year old... not tiny newborns but about the size of a squash ball maybe? Anyway, It was one of those situations where someone at work heard from a friend of a friend that I have reptiles and starting asking me about these guys - told me they had gotten them for their kids, their kids weren't taking care of them, and that they were thinking about letting them go in the local reservoir So I said I'd take them if it came to that... and, of course, it came to that.

They came to me in a filthy exo-terra faunarium, one of the long flat ones, with about an inch of water in the bottom and a bit of aquarium gravel (I guess mom couldn't be bothered to clean the cage either). I scoured the cage down, removed the gravel, added a couple larger stones for basking, and gave them a few mealworms.. Luckily, I also had a couple left-over spot UVB bulbs that I had been using for the dragon before I moved to a ceramic heater and UVB strip, so they now have a nice basking spot and more water to swim in, plus they're in the reptile room which is heated to an ambient temp of around 80 degrees.

I know I can't keep them in the faunarium, it's just a temporary fix. I do have a 30 gallon aquarium I can clean out - I guess I'm looking for recommendations on the best filters, set-ups, etc etc for these guys? I haven't kept fish since I was a little kid, and even then my parents were the ones that bought the filters and equipment. I've been looking around and reading recommendations, but not seeing a whole lot of five stars out there. Sooo... looking for advice, and/or pics of set-ups folks have currently.


I seriously doubt I'll be keeping these little guys, but I know a lot of RES aren't kept correctly at all, so I'm thinking to put the set-up together and take my time to find a keeper that will take the whole kit-and-kaboodle and give them the care they deserve.