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So, for Christmas I got a 300 dollar gift card for petsmart. The biggest tank they carry in my price range is a 75. Which I know is still too small for three turtles ranging from 2 inches to 5 inches, but it's better than their 55 that has a hairline crack on the side of it from moving furniture near it. But it doesn't come with a stand. It's just the tank. I also found a temporary filter to go with it. My only problem is I have no idea how I'm going to keep a 7 month old rambunctious kitten out of the tank and away from the turtles. Does anyone have any tips?
Also,I'm considering going with a bare bottom for the new tank, since I don't have enough sand to fill it and I've had bad experiences if I don't have at least a two inch layer of sand across the whole bottom. But, I don't know how to make the bare bottom not look bad.

Also, do you think I could find a way to use their old 55 as a sump?

Well, if that 55 has a crack, I wouldn't use it for anything water-related. How much would the 75 gallon tank cost? As for cats… I think egg crate would be a good way to secure the tank. Metal wire shelving as well.

See my build thread linked in my signature.... I had both of these challenges.

1. For the cat, you can get some eggcrate and make a cover for the top. I had to order from fleabay a 4x8 sheet of metal eggcrate (aka industrual light diffuser) because our cat broke the plastic stuff by jumping on it.

2. For the bare bottom tank, I spray painted the underside of the glass to look like sand.

I got the tank today. Wow, that was a TON of work. It took 8+ hours to get it to the point where I can leave it for the night. Turtles are in, new fish, new filter, everyone Is good. I rinsed the sand from the old tank really well and it looks good as new. It just doesn't cover with the 2" I wanted it to. I'll get some more sand probably Thursday. I tried to use chicken wire to secure the tank, but ended up using the glass tops that come with the tank. THey sit about 5 inches out from the back rim where the filter and lights are. During the day I pull the glass top out on the right a little so the light doesn't go through the glass, and at night the glass covers up the whole tank except for like a 4 inch gap between the rim of the tank and the glass. I've lost 2 fish so far, but they were sick at the store and I didn't want to tell the lady I thought they were sick. So, back to petsmart they go in exchange for new, healthy ones. I tried to get algae eaters because I get a lot of green algae, but she told me 'these are too aggressive for your tank, I would suggest waiting until we have our shipment of pleco's." I am in no way going back to having a pleco. Those things get huge and poop... Everywhere. Never really helped my tanks. Are there any good bottom feeder/algae eaters that aren't the generic "algae eaters"?
In the near future I'm building the turtles an ATBA. That way I can completely cover the tank without worrying about moving stuff every day. So now the planning for that commences.
Total cost so far: 291 including fish. I also opted for some bigger fish this time around, after having platys. Just because I feel like the turtles are less attracted to the bigger fish. In my past experience, fish like goldfish and guppies my turtles would go after, but once the fish got bigger they didn't mind them.

Here's a picture of the tank and a picture of my favorite fish ever right now. They have such a personality.





I feel like the tank looks super bare. I was thinking of going with a 'pond' theme for it since it is on the floor and probably will stay on the floor.

I like Chinese algae eaters. They grow fairly large and they are fast enough to stay away from turtles.

Kansasslider wrote:I like Chinese algae eaters. They grow fairly large and they are fast enough to stay away from turtles.

I'll have to he some when that lady isn't working there. She won't let me get any of them except the pleco. I may have to take a trip to the petsmart further away.

Well, its not up to her. Can you ask to speak with somoene else?

Kansasslider wrote:Well, its not up to her. Can you ask to speak with somoene else?

Usually that petsmart is low on employees. It won't take much to just either go to to the other petsmart or even petco.

Oh and one of the fish I thougjt I lost was really hiding under an ornament. So yay.


This morning one of the fish that had a missing fin was up and swimming around. I turned on the turtles lights this morning so hopefully they'll figure out they can bask. I set it up on the opposite side that their used to so hopefully they'll figure it out.

The turtles figured out they can bask. The four bigger fish spend most their time hiding unless it's feeding time.
I'm loving this tank so much...
Even though I know I'll have to upgrade to something even bigger eventually.

That's great. Just remember your fish could become dinner at some point.

Kansasslider wrote:That's great. Just remember your fish could become dinner at some point.

Yeah. My turtles don't really show an interest in fish, even the oldest one. But I think as Nemo gets older he'll start to chase them. If it comes down to it, I'll probably just have two tanks. One for the turtles and nonexpensive fish and one for the expensive fish.