Gravel, Plants, Hideouts
Gravel for turtle aquariums is not neccasary. But makes your turtle happier. Gravel is 2x harder to clean and requires more filtration. Gravel gives the aquarium a more natural look, which makes the turtle happy, but the work harder. But what ever makes the turtle happy is all that matters. Plants are the same as gravel they give the aquarium a natural look but aren't neccasary. Turtles love plants, fake/real. They like to hide by them and dig them out of the ground, scratch their shells on them, etc. Real plants are neccesary for the turtle health. Live plants give the turtle extra calcium which they need, but also bring in the risk of bugs, and parasites. So if you have live pets use chemicals that rid them, and check in the pits of your turtles arms and legs for bugs. Shelter is very important. If you have no place for your turtle to hide it'll usually go into the corner of your aquarium. Hideouts keep your turtles feeling safe. Turtles without them are usually always scared and panicing. Ways for providing shelter/hideout: caves, groupings of plants, pipes, wood, rocks, etc.
