Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I took over responsibility of my RES turtle because my GF's little brother is not capable of taking care of a turtle. Turtles are a lot of work. If you are planning on buying this tank and you have yet to get your turtle I would hold off and do a lot of research on what your turtle needs and how to maintain their tank requirements. Turtles are awesome but require a lot of knowledge, fine tuning and cleaning. I knew nothing about turtles when I took over mine, but I know a lot now. This tank is good for amateurs starting out, but your turtle will soon out grow this tank. The basking platform is too short to allow enough water for most turtles to swim in. Turtles require 2 inches of water for every 1 inch of body length. If you have a 3 inch turtle you will need at least 6 inches of water in the tank, which will submerge your basking platform and raise your water higher than the max water line for the filter. The turtle needs to completely dry off, so a half submerged basking platform will not cut it. The turtle I have is currently 3 inches long so I bought some river rocks and stacked the basking platform and the filter on top of them in order to keep the filter above the max water line and the basking platform above water. Depending on where you live you might need a water heater as well to keep the water temperature above 74. PLEASE do your research. This tank will not be suitable for a turtle that is over 3-4 inches in size. If you are serious about turtles, you will be better off spending the money up front for a 100 gallon tank which you will eventually need as the turtle grows anyway, rather than upgrading tanks and stands every other year. I see a lot of pictures on Amazon with turtles that are way too big for this tank. Don't be that person. Do your research and figure it out.