Sorry tablet acting up. I as trying to say you can go much deeper with the water as long as there is a basking area. The floating docks work well when they're that small. You are aware they can only eat in the water right?
get a different basking dock, I normally see people using the turtle dock for young turtles. The water needs to be deeper (probably about 4-6 inches for babies) you probably wont need a submersible heater right now though you should get a thermometer that you can check water temps. Also you should get UVB long not curly bulb. Red ears are omnivores so make sure you are feeding the correct diet. Also because he is albino he might have trouble seeing things more like food.
A different basking dock isn't necessarily going to make the difference. Other questions need to be answered first.
What is the water temp?
What is the basking temp?
What are you offering for food?
How long have you had the turtle?
How long has it refused to eat?
Questions like these must be answered before we can help. Also, what I think people are eluding to here, is the fact that your current setup does not make us confident that all conditions are right for the turtle at this time. No offense, but in order for turtles to want to eat, grow and eventually breed, sometimes their surroundings need to be just right.
Let us know the answers to those questions, and good luck
This topic really interests me as I have negative experience with baby not so long ago.
I don't know exactly what the parameter in Jwiediyanto, but I would like to assume he's in same country as me and there should be no issue with temperature as long as he doesn't put the aquarium inside an air conditioned room.
Not to hijack this thread, but what you guys think should be appropriate water level for RES baby? In my country, they always suggest to put baby RES in water level only slightly higher than the carapace, so it can easily reach water surface.
In my case, mine had difficulties to eat the food properly. Well, mine is not albino, but a caramel which should have much better eye sight than albino. And what would you think the eye sight of a caramel and albino? Do they really lacking the capabilities to see? Or in my case, is it a special genetic problem for the caramel?
The lighting is good but its to far away to do any good . He is a baby so give him some floating plants to hide in . Adjusting the water level where the heat from tge light gets his basking spot up to 90ºFahrenheit will get him basking . The floating plants will make him fill safe . In turn it will get him eating . You have to setup everything right and give him time to adjust to the new environment . You can also contact the sellers to see what they have been feeding .
Several things are wrong from the outset that I can see. The water should definitely be deeper. When my southern paints were hatchlings, I kept them in a fifty gallon tank filled to ten inches depth. One of those turtle docks can do wonders in a barebones setup, plus they don't trap filth like rocks do. Also, if you drop the damned thing, it won't destroy your tank. I've never used aquatic plants to promote hiding, though I have used one of those terra cotta rock caves to provide a little security during those first days in the new habitat. After the first water change, though, I removed the rock cave, given that by that point, the little turtles saw me as their food source and were no longer frightened. If you raise the water level, the light will do a better job of warming the little turtle.
Concerning temperature, the most important thing is use of a submersible water heater. I have found that older sliders can usually be rather adaptable when it comes to temperature, but the younger ones will die if the water isn't heated into the upper seventies, lower eighties. This is critical. A friend of mine who breeds yellowbellies made this fatal mistake with some of his first clutches. He now heats all of his tanks, and the turtles simply thrive. It doesn't take a lot to get these turtles, especially red ears, to do well, but you do need to cover all the basics to make it work.
I have never used water conditioners for any of my turtles . If I can drink the water they can swim in it . I was keeping my sliders indoors but its a lot of work . I have ponds with filters and change water every month . In winter I keep filters running but no water changes . They don't really eat much in winter . But the key is to have dirt or sand in the bottom so they can dig down into it . If its going to get down to freezing I will cover the pond but thats it besides cleaning filters and water once a month .
I've never used a water conditioner when it came to any of my sliders or cooters, but I also don't drink the water from the tap in San Antonio. Too alkaline. Now, this alkalinity is a problem for some species, especially northern ones like Eastern, Midland, and Western Painted turtles. These turtles tend to live in aquatic environments with a very different mineral content than that of the more southern, riverine species, but the principle difference that is of any consequence is that the water is more acidic. I see a number of keepers who use peat moss to add acidity to their water content. Use a screen container so that you get the benefits of the peat without the mess. This is actually the big reason I started keeping southern painted turtles, rather than any of the more northerly species. Southern paints come from the same environment as red ears, and as a result, they're more tolerant of water conditions here in San Antonio.