Hi all I am new here and I found a turtle on a 4 lane road near my house. I have always stoped to move turtles but this was one that I had never seen before. So I brought it home to try and find out what kind it was. I Ended up in contact with a biologist from Marshall University he belives it is a river cooter but I am still not sure and really he wasnt either. So I ended up keeping it and buying a 55 gallon tank for him. Now for a few questions. First off can anyone tell me what kind of turtle he is. Second what is the best filter or something that will keep his tank clean (he #2's alot) and third can I put a pleco in the tank with him to try to keep some of the waste down? Thanks for the help and any advice would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few pics of "Cecil" my wife named him!

Joe

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I can't help with the species but I do know a few things about aquariums. You want a filter that is at least twice the suggested capacity. In other words a 120 gal filter for the 55 gal tank. Turtles do put out a lot of waste and in aaddition to the filtration you are going to have to do massive water changes. Solid waste isn't the only problem.
The Plex will not reduce the amount of waste. They are algae eaters and scavengers but they do not feed on turtle wastes. In fact they will add to the waste load of the turtle.
Thats assuming the turtles doesn't eat it!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

honestly, I would set it free. It will thrive in its natural environment.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks for the help guys but I found out what it was on another forum. Its a melanistic red eared slider which was more than likely someones pet due to the purple sparkels that were on his shell

Depending on the size of the pleco, it will probably get eaten. I recommend at LEAST twice the filtration needed, even three times as much if you can as already mentioned. And although the pleco won't clean up the turtle poop, it will clean up left over food. My solution is simply to get crayfish (A local bait shop has them real cheap.) It serves two purposes. They eat up left overs, and also provide the turtle with a source of life food. Plus they're pretty cool to watch.

UGH PEOPLE! I swear.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I know!

I'd a used sequins.

I'm partial to watercolor paint, myself. Pretty on the shell, and prettier in the water.

On a serious note, Joe, it's good of you to take the RES in. Make sure you do some research on them, though. I don't have any myself, but I've read that they can get large in adulthood and have specific care requirements. Making sure you can afford proper housing and care now is a good idea.

I hope everything goes well with both of you. I'm sure he's happy to be away from those other people and with you now.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.