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I have a 200 gallon stock tank in my backyard that's doing nothing but collecting dust - so I thought it'd be a good place for my 2 RES to spend the summer. My only concern is will the water get too hot for them? I'm in Central/West Texas and we're probably going to see at least 2 months of 95+ temps. Any advice?

TIA!

Can you dig a hole and put the tank partially underground and shade most of it? A 200 gallon tank would be a great place for turtles

Lucky turtles...Try to make sure part of it is shaded. If the water temp gets really warm, you might have to take out some and add cooler water. Are you going to run a filter on it?

I think I've found a good spot that gets only partial sun. If I do set up the tank for them I'll get a pond filter for it.

Also, is chicken coop wire a good choice to put over the top? I don't want any birds coming after the little ones while basking.

chiken wire should be fine as long as the holes in the wire arnt to big, so that birds and other animals can get through.

I use hardware cloth with 1/2-inch holes. As long as predators can't get in, though, they should be OK.

1/2 inch hardware cloth is what I am going to use on my pool setup when I build the permanent pool enclosure.

gonna be nice. post pictures ok. perhaps at one end you could install a fountain or something moving water is cooler than still water. my brother puts a water hose with the water just barely on during the hot part of the day. we are located in Fla. so we also see HOT days. shade trees are sure messy.