Turtle Care
 

Warning: the above picture is an ideal setting, like a model home.  It is difficult to set a tank up exactly like this and your pet turtle would just rearrange the furniture to his/her liking anyway.

Above is a good summary of the essential elements needed for a healthy turtle environment.

Aquarium Set-up

Izzy endured a 8 hour road trip back to San Antonio, where we introduced him to his first home: a 10 gallon tank we bought at Wal-Mart that night (it was the only place open that late).  We didn't even have a filter or water heater for the first week or two.  We thought it was normal behavior for the turtle to burrow, but later found out that the water was too cold for him and he was trying to hibernate.  Originally we only had a couple of inches of water in the tank, but we found out that Izzy was an aquatic turtle, so we added more room for him to swim. 
 

We started with a 10 gallon tank from Wal-Mart for about $20.  It came with its own hood and light source.  We also purchased gravel and a fake log with fake plants for visual interest.  Izzy often swam over and around it.  We bought a sucker fish to keep the tank clean, but soon realized that he needed much more. 
 

Advice for present and future turtle owners:
Do not put any fish in the aquarium with your turtle unless you want them to be killed or be eaten. 
We bought this sucker fish to help keep the aquarium clean and since he was too big to eat, Izzy killed him.

Behind the aquarium is a proud turtle owner

As Izzy got larger, he needed even more room.  We bought this 20 gallon long tank at Pet Smart for about $35. Underneath the gravel is an old tupperware bowl partially filled with water to give some height to the site of the tank that he suns on.  We also added a stick-on thermometer (bottom left) to monitor the water temperature.  We got a 90 gallon per hour combination submersible filter and underwater heater at Pet Smart for about $40.  The water filter has since become one of Izzy's favorite spots to hide under.  When he was smaller, he would sit on it and even fall asleep on it.  (Another use for the filter outflow valve: turtle back massager.)  Other expenditures: turtle food pellets, antibiotic/ calcium supplement, and water cleaner. 

Eventually we added a basking light and rock for Izzy to sun himself on.  The light bulb is a special UVA light to help his shell develop properly.  It gets extremely hot and needs to be mounted on the side of the tank carefully so that it does not have any contact with the water.
 

New additions to Izzy's tank include a larger basking rock and some new fake plants for visual interest.  Occasionally, he tries to eat the fake plants, but he hasn't succeeded in removing any leaves yet.  We tossed the old fake log with attached plastic plants because it was getting moldy.  We also upgraded to a 120 gallon per hour submersible water filter with combination underwater heater.  I also recently removed most of the gravel to reduce waste buildup and make tank cleaning easier.  The large basking rock is perched upon the clear, plastic container that we used to take Izzy home when we got him.  Behind it is Izzy's old basking rock, which he uses as a stepstool now.