My pair Romeo and Julliette were given to me a while back, they needed some special care... now that we are all through most of that, and are down to just some retained scutes, we are ready to come out
the whole shebang.
with the lights on
now i know how you guys feel about smaller rocks and gravel, but these guys came with these, and Romeo goes nuts without them, like he lost his marbles lol. Shows no interest in eating them or i would not put them back however much he begged.
which brings me to Mario
and Romeo making sure hes there
new heater came today, 300 watt fluval m, i live in houston texas, more days than not, i think about putting icecubes in my sump to cool the water down more than i have to think about heating it up, my old top fin was doing the trick, but its a hang on that i kept in my refuge before my sump (more on that later). but we have hit a bad spot of cold, and my refuge is out, so i went ahead and got a heater new for 15 bucks. Buillt a gaurd and buried it a bit
The Crate is coming out as soon as weather permits me to get outside and play with silicone. I have a piece of bronzed glass cut for a shallow water platform, and some posts for it. It is cut like the left side of the basking area...
that window has a piece of solacryl in it, because these 2 had no uvb when i got them, i figured every bit couldnt hurt. There are plans in the near future to replace that left wooden panel with more of it , when i can get it ordered for a decent price, or a job has more scrap.
Right side of the basking zone
i have another set of lights to put over here, just havn't had time , and it seems that you are supposed to spend time with your family or something.
not to mention my ballast showed signs of blackening, so im not putting it in yet for my uvb lamps.
That is the Ramp up. It is a piece of pvc melted to the shape of a log, then bent under with feet... they love it.. I still need to cover this and my heater gaurd to make them look more natural.. but one thing at a time eh.
Romeo chasing the camera
Julliette chillin
I do have a 35 gallon that fits in the stand as a refuge, but i took it apart to fix a clamshell chip in one corner, I sealed it back together and it leaked, some tree crud fell in my silicone.. I cut it back apart and right as i was cleaning the glass, it started raining and hasnt stopped yet. So soon i Will have it back up and running.
Right now this tank runs through an overflow into a 40 gallon tub under the house with my filtration,With the refuge taken out of the loop. which is then pumped back up by use of a 1000 GPH pond pump, but accounting for the loss im getting about 500 gph.. Has been 3 weeks no water changes, just replacing for evaporation (though the rains kept that low) and my water is still doing well. I was worried that i would have some issues taking that much water out of the system, but my kids keep there rooms fairly clean.. and my home made polisher keeps up with the mess they leave on the bottom.. and the Minnows help with that too. Will have my DIY canister back up soon too after some tweaks.
Will post more on my filtration when i can get down there without having to swim:P rains been bad.
pretty sure many more changes to come... im never happy with it for long.. Any questions or advice welcomed
P.S. sorry about the grammar, spelling and punctuation, my android auto correct is kickin g my butt tonight!
sorry about the pic quality too, cell pics arnt all they are cracked up to be!
