Hi new boy needs help ,I want to start keeping MAPs and am well on the way to setting up my tank , Ive got a twenty gallon tank 2/3 full , a basking lamp that keeps the water temps. a decent fluval filter ,sandy bottom with a selection of rocks that break the water to make decent sized basking areas and some edible aquatic broad leafed plants but I need to know

1/ How much will a UV lamp cost me
2/ what power / size UV will I need
3/ How can I keep costs of the UV down (local pet shop said £80 way too much )
4 / how close to the basking turtle should my U.V. be
5 / Local pet shop sells MAPS & CHINESE soft backs , which of these are easier to keep or can they co habit if I got one of each
6 / what size basking lamp do you lot use ? and how far from turtles back ???
Any help much appreciated .
P.S. just been on E-Bay and put in UV lamp but kept geting stuff back for UV BULBS please note I need the full complete lamp , not just bulb
THANX.

do you mean the long UV tubes?? if yes then the tubes are the best part of £30 and the power things for them about 20-25

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When you say a 20 gallon tank, is that US or UK gallons? If it's US Gallons (which it most likely is as they are the only ones who use gallons these days) then that's only about 70 litres, 2/3rds full is 46 litres, which is only sufficient for a single 1" turtle.

Any turtle will outgrow the tank within a few months, so I'd suggest the first thing you need to do is to look at getting a bigger tank before you get into lamps and filters and stuff, because if you can't provide a big enough tank then the rest of it becomes irrelevant.

You should be looking at a minimum 200 litres of water to start with, that will last a single turtle until it's 5", or a pair until they are about 3.5"

Maps are much easier to keep than softies which are not generally recommended for beginners, both species require particularly clean water though and you'll need a large external filter rated for at least 600 litre tanks, turts are messier than fish and require much more filtration, and filters are rated for fish not turts.

Advising on which lamp to get it would be best to wait and see what size tank you can get, with bigger tanks there are more choices, but whatever you get you'll be looking at £50+.