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So I just picked up a heater and a bag of pool filter sand for the new 36 gallon bowfront tank. It's my first time setting up a tank this big, using a canister filter and sand. Any last minute advice or tips to help with the process? I'll definitely post some picture once I get everything set up!

Rinse the sand forever. Then rinse some more.

Put some of it in a five gallon bucket outside. Stick in a hose and swirl. Let the water carry off the dust. Keep at it.

You are going to start a new tank cycle. Anything you can bring from the old tank will help. Decorations? Don't scrub them clean before moving. That gunk is beneficial bacteria that can help start your new colony.

What filter do you have now? If you have biomedia or sponges from it, put them in your canister, preferably upstream from your new media.

Expect your turtle to freak out. Most don't like change. It may refuse to bask or eat for a few days. That's normal.

Thanks so much for your advice. The water was clear the second I put the sand in. He does seem a little overwhelmed with all the space but he's already climbed up on his basking dock. That filter was a pain to get going! They make it seem like you just have to press the button to prime it a few times, I had to pump and pump and pump. I realized I had a bruise on the palm of my hand from it this morning. Lol anyways, here's the result. Gotta get some more plants and stuff soon, it's looking pretty simple but I'm excited!

Looks great! He looks so tiny in there. What filter did you end up with?

pool filter sand is pre-rinsed. No pebbles and pre-rinsed is the attraction for using it.

I ended up with the Marineland C-360 canister filter. I've also added a couple more fake plants and a plastic soap dish suctioned cup just under the water line where he likes to chill when he's not basking and exploring. I want to get a nice piece of driftwood and I would really like to add some live plants but I'm sure they would be mutilated.

How often do you clean your filter and change out any media?

Here's a picture of the progress. It's not the best quality but I was trying to get the filter in the shot.

How often you need to clean it depends. Normally, I would say once a month to clean the pads but you can stretch that with partial water changes. I normally clean it every 2 months. I would probably go longer, but I need to replace the carbon and regenerate the Purigen.

Just a little update, I think I found a teeny tiny piece of hot pink gravel in the bottom of the tank that Donnie may have pood out. He has been in his new tank almost a month. He was in his previous tank a few months and only had gravel in their for a very short amount of time before I knew better. It was hard to tell for sure because of the position of the little pink speck being close to the front of the tank and with the bowed front it's hard to focus your eyes on tome thing that small. Most of the stuff in his tank is new and the few things that were in his old tank didn't really have any crevices where small gravel could have been hiding.

I just thought this was crazy. I've heard other people tell of similar stories. He only had gravel in his tank for a very short amount of time, think of the damage it could do over a long period of time! I never noticed him snooping thought the gravel either where I thought he might be eating it.

Glad you caught it! I wish everyone would just stop using it.. so many better options

And it was all thanks to this site! And he's shed four of his bigger scutes! I saved 2 so far and I just noticed 2 more on the bottom of the tank I'll try to get when I clean tomorrow. He's shed a couple little ones right behind his neck and there's some just hanging on by a thread by his tail. *sniff sniff* my little baby's growing up so fast! ;D

Sounds like he is doing great. We'll need another picture update soon.