how much UV does my juvenile yellow belly slider need?

geckoskin

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Jul 6, 2022
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Florida
I have a 30 gallon aquarium that has been for fish only until recently. I rescued a young YBS (approx 3.5 inches long) crossing the street in a residential area, and picked it up with the intention of releasing it into the creek behind my house, where I have seen wild YBS living.

Instead of releasing it immediately, I decided to keep it in my 30 gallon fish tank for a while, until it gets too large, at which point I will release it again as originally planned.

The tank has a lot of living vegetation, a heater, and stays around 85 degrees in spring through fall, and a few degrees cooler in winter. To make the tank more suitable, I have upgraded the filter from an aqueon 30 to an aqueon 75 to ensure the water stays clean, and purchased a floating basking pad that is sitting at the top of the tank. It is only a few inches from the 24" LED tube light i currently have, which does not provide UV light. I am looking into UV options and I want to ensure it gets enough, but not too much.

As the tube is only a few inches from the basking pad, I keep it on 14+ hours a day, and the entire tank is illuminated, I am concerned that a UV tube like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQU8GF0/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 would provide too much UVB. From what I understand, YBS have relatively low UV requirements.

Would something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095Z2CZTS/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20 be more appropriate? I could put it right above the basking pad, on a 12 hour timer separate from the main lighting.

I understand that a more ideal environment for a YBS would be a half-full tank with a larger & warmer basking area further away from the light, more shade, cooler water, but I have what i have and i think it should be sufficient for several months to a year or so, depending on how quickly the turtle grows and whether it seems to remain healthy and happy in the tank.
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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Where in Florida are you?
I'm in south Florida and I have a variety of extra UVB light systems.
With that distance I'd reccomend a T5 HO 5.0 STRIP FLORESCENT UVB light.
(A 10.0 is usually used. But not at that distance)
 

MenagerieGrl

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Well I'm NOT familliar with YBS, but with "regular" Torts, a couple of hours UVB a week I believe is sufficient. Put the UVB light on a timer.
 
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