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My manager bought 2 'baby turtles' on vacation which I'll get on Wed. So of course I have some questions...

-what tank size should I start with?
-is substrate necessary, and if so what type?
-is a filter necessary?
-how quickly do they grow?
-is special lighting required?

I'm sure I'll have more questions but these are a good start

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

What kind of turtles are they? Red-Ear Sliders I'm guessing?

They can start in a 20 gallon tank, but that will soon need to be upgraded. As adults, the bare minimum sized tank they can be kept in is a 40 gallon long. The bigger the better, of course. These are not small turtles, and they are best suited for ponds.

The tank will need to be furnished with rocks or one of those "turtle islands" where they can haul out and bask under a heat lamp. They will also need full-spectrum UV lighting. The water will need to be filtered, or else you'll have to change it like every other day. Substrate is not important.

When young they tend to be omnivorous and will eat just about anything offered to them (turtle food, fish, worms, veggies, etc). Do not feed them hamburger meat. As they grow they become more herbivorous, though they still will not hesitate to try and eat any fish you put with them.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

probably illegal size, so they should be very small.

if they are red-ear sliders: i had one female in a 30 long.

i left the tank fully aquatic, a couple of big rocks for land and basking. really nothing fancy. water about 2-3 inches for small turtles and an internal filter.