Habitat - Indoor :: My 240 gal build

[steve]

Those using sand here have light colored sand. It contrasts nicely with driftwood and throw in some dark river rock.

It's generally easy to care for, especially if you opt for pool filter sand. Have you seen the sand thread?

[Starscream]

Yes, I am still trying to get through it all.

[Starscream]

Okay, got it all read, looks like black pool filter sand it is. And I will need 3 - 400 pounds to do 2 - 3 inches.

[Starscream]

Okay, can't find black for a decent price so I am going mystic white II. I will need 250 - 300 pounds. Diameter is .49 - .8 mm, is that ok or should I get it larger? The last question was mainly geared toward the health of the turtle.

[steve]

You might want to start off with less and see how the turtle reacts. If it aggressively eats it then it might not be suitable. Larger grains are better, though I don't know what people are choosing.

[Starscream]

I agree, I think that I will throw a 50 pound bag in their 50 gallon tank and see how they do with it. That was a good idea.

[Starscream]

Okay, I looked it up, with that grain size, that would be considered a medium to a coarse sand.

[steve]

Sounds good, let us know how it works.

[Starscream]

I will.

[Starscream]

Yay, it's up and running, not perfectly yet.



All together.



Begining to fill.



Full about 45 minutes later.



Good to go, before we put the turtles in. The turtles are in thier new home and are trying to adjust to having 5x the water area.

Warning, the ehiem jager 300 watt heater is not capable of heating my 240 gallon even though the package says that it can do 264. After adding hot tap water to assist the heater in heating the tank and bringing it to 77.8 degrees, it has been losing a tenth of a degree every 2 hours or so. I have ordered two more, should arrive mid week. As far as I can tell, the jager is still the best 300 watt available, it just won't heat what the package says it will. Currently it is at 75.4 degrees.

The 55 gallon looked very crowded with the turtle grass and a rock, this tank still looks very bare.

The Starfire ( low Iron) glass is amazing. I paid 276$ to upgrade 3 sides to that glass. It is worth every cent. The glass is so clear that you can actually see the green tint in the back piece of glass.

[steve]

Looks great. Be very careful when adding hot water to the tank - I usually add it into some water in a 5 gallon bucket. With that much surface area exposed, I'm not surprised it's cooling faster than why the Jager can heat up. Don't rely on those probe thermometers to be accurate. Their readings can be very off. Nice to hear about the Starfire glass, defiantly something to consider in the future.

[Starscream]

Thank you, when I added the hot water, nothing was in the tank except cold water.

[Starscream]

Here is a good sign, it is Lea basking in the new basking area. It is pretty bare for a few weeks, but I have a lot of plans.

[Into_the_Mystic]

You need more turtles

[steve]

Wow, so tiny in there. Looks like she's already enjoying it!