Habitat - Indoor :: Need opinions on new tank

[Shorty's mom]

YEAH!!! I just won a 125gal tank on ebay last night. I can't wait to pick it up tomorrow! I was hoping to get some opinions on the setup though. It comes with a heater and lighting(which I will have to change to mine). I had planed on putting a dock(plexi glass) in one end of the tank that would be sealed to the aquarium. Shorty is too heavy for the floating docks so thats all I could think of to do(hubbie not crazy about one on top because of our cats). I plan on put a nice amount of plants in there for her, her rocks on the bottom, and her bubble stone. Any other suggestions?

Also for the filter I had thought about the XP3 but that is only rated for 175 gal tanks. So any help on the filter area would be great! Currently in my 29gal tank(I know way to small for her but was working on getting this size), I have a Whisper 20 to 40 gal filter. Which I clean about once a month. It does a fabulous job for her so I wonder if maybe the XP3 will work for her then?

Thanks for all help and suggestions!

Here is what my tank looks like:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/ ... c/df_1.jpg

[Gracie8899]

Sweet-yeah you!

[marisa]

Congratulations on the tank! What you plan on doing sounds good. How much water will you have in the tank? The XP3 would probably work, you can always use more than 1 filter, though. Eheim and Fluval have also recently put new filters on the market that are made for even larger tanks (check for them at www.bigalsonline.com or do a search).

[fishandcandy]

Another suggestion for a dock is to build a stand out of pvc pipe and lay a tile or whatever on top. Having a dock permanently attached might make it harder to clean the tank. You could also use those little milk crate boxes as a stand. I'm not sure what sizes they come in.
That's a great looking tank.

[Spookster]

As far as putting the basking area on top you can make it fully enclosed so the cats cannot get to the turtle. Take a look at my setup. The link to my photos are in my signature.

[Shorty's mom]

Thanks everyone! I have some great new ideas now for my basking spot and I will deffinately go check out the new filters(I'll probably have three filters going till I get my new one). I hadn't thought about the cleaning aspect of puting in the stationary dock. Glad someone else did!:)

Also does any one know if I can put Riccia in the tank with her? I was thinking of making her a cave like area and covering it in Riccia. If you are unframiliar with Riccia you can see it here: http://tinyurl.com/r9av7

[sonyj]

I looked at the link you provided for the Riccia and also some other links for it. I've heard that any aquatic plant that is safe for an aquarium is safe for your turtle. I'm not 100% positive, but I'd say that goes for the Riccia as well. I wouldn't think it would hurt to have it in the tank with her.

We all will love to see pics of the new setup as soon as your done with it!

[Shorty's mom]

Thanks Sonyj. I was thinking it should be ok. I've been researching it some but haven't found anything about it and turtles.

I will post picks probably next week when I get it all done! OOOOOH I'm sooooo excited!

[Turtleboy]

yes post pics!

[Vivi]

nice good looking tank. cant wait to see pictures when its done.

[marisa]

Riccia is commonly know as Crystalwort. Any of the worts--hornwort, moneywort, etc. are fine for you turtle.

[Pugness]

will the turtles eat the riccia and if they do is there any nutritional value in it??

[Shorty's mom]

Thank you Marissa! I can't wait to get it set up now!

[marisa]

Some turts will probably eat it, some won't. My RES likes anachris, duckweed, and water hyancinth but not Amazon sword plants or cabomba (fanwort). If it's not eaten, it most likely will just be torn up (turtles like to trash plants).

I think the nutritional value would depend in part on the environment it was grown in (the water and the nutrients in it).