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I have a 20gal L tank with a Fluker's clamp lamp and a sun glo 75 watt basking spot lamp. Now the box says "stimulates natural behaviour through UVA rays", is this all i need for my RES? Her tank is in a room that gets natural light. And what brand/type of water heater should I get? what kind of thermometer? Is there 1 that measures air and water temp? I want to have the optimal habitat for optimal turtle health so any suggestions will help. Im planning on making an ATBA for her as soon as I get all my ideas 2gether. But for now I know im lacking on the necessities.

You still need UVB rays, and you can only get that through a special lamp or the sun. The sunlight will need to be unfiltered as glass will block UVB rays.

here's a pic of how the tank gets sun. should i keep the blinds closed?

There's a section of this site that talks about lighting requirements and habitat.


For your lighting, the Sun Glo 75 is a heat / UVA bulb. You need a second fixture and a second bulb that produces UVB light.
If you don't wish to have a second fixture, the self balasted mercury vapor bulbs (MVB) do all three heat, UVA, UVB. There are many threads on this forum talking about MVB. Most any petstore will have MVB in the reptile section.

As for the heater...really any will work. I would get one that is fully submersible in case your turtle decides to go exploring and knock the heater around. I'd also stay away from the very cheap store brand glass heaters... your turtle will be able to crack these. My personal favorite and the heaters that I use are the Eheim Jager. They are harder to find in local stores, usually have to order them from online pet stores. They are very accurate, very reliable, have a safety auto shut off if the water is too low, and can be calibrated.

STAY AWAY from the Marineland Stealth Pro heaters. They have been having issues with exploding heaters and heaters that get stuck on.

As for thermometers...digital are the best. small nearly indestructible probe in the tank, accurate and easy to read. Indestructible is key... inquisitive turtles like to chomp on things.

Sun from the window will actually do 2 things. 1 heat the water in the tank without the ability to control or regulate. 2 promote algae growth. I would close the blinds.

thanks u guys are great! i'll be going turtle shopping again tomorrow... i was thinking of the Jager bc I read so many post of the marineland brand exploding and i do not want that to happen! and the pet store does have the probe thermometer for cheap. will it be ok to leave the blinds open until i get the heater? right now the water is only about 70 (used my digital thermometer, not sure how good it is)

leaving the blinds open for a day is fine. 70 degree water is dangerous. The sooner you can get that heater the better.