Habitat - Indoor :: Stock Tank questions - please advise

[April994]

Hi all,
After several leaky glass tanks and warped metal stands, I'm taking the plunge and going for a 70 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank for my RES. I'm terrified that I will have a disaster on my hands, so any advice would be helpful!

Background: My RES is a 21 year old female, 9.85 inches long, 6 pounds. She's been in a 40 gallon breeder for the last few years, in front of a window, with a custom clear ATBA. This is because she's on the second floor - I've been afraid to go any bigger.

ISSUE 1: WEIGHT: We are in a second floor bedroom of a house! Unfortunately this is my only option. I'm super concerned about putting too much weight on the floor. The stock tank would go against an exterior wall under the window. But there's already a lot of heavy furniture in the room. To be safe, I'm only going to fill the tank 3/4 of the way up. Is that pushing it? Thoughts?

ISSUE 2: Filter: I have a Rena XP3 and a Rena XP2. I can't build a platform/base for the tank since it'll just add more weight, so the water level will be just a tad higher that the top of the XP3. Will that work? I've seen pictures of people using Rena XP4s next to 150 Rubbermaid stock tanks, but I always thought the filter had to be much lower than the water level?

ISSUE 3: Heater: My current heater is an In-line Hydor (which I LOVE) - but that won't work if the tank is on the floor. I've never used a submersible heater before because my turtle is inquisitive, strong, and destructive. She's spent hours trying to claw her way through the aquarium wall, just to get to the Hydor's red light. Any ideas or advice about how to keep her from destroying it and hurting herself? I've heard good things about Aqueon Pro heaters. I had an idea to zip tie it to a submerged/weighted milk crate box so she can't get to it, but I've been advised that the heater might melt the plastic. (Plus not sure how water safe a plastic crate would be.) I'm at a loss as to what to do.

I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give me! I'm at my whits end with trying to find a good solution for my RES. Since February of this year: Tank started leaking (3rd tank in 3 years!), cracked the O-ring nut on the heater, broke the aquarium stand. The universe is telling me to get a stock tank already!

~April994

[Joddog]

Don't have advice about much there, but the heater. ..I've seen people get PVC pipe slightly larger than the heater and drill holes all over it. Then they stick the heater inside. It allows the water to flow around it and protects it.

[April994]

Joddog,
Thanks for your suggestion! I've heard of that setup before, but I was worried that the heater would be less effective if it was enclosed like that (even with holes). On the other hand, if I secured a long piece of pvc to the bottom somehow (so it's standing vertically, with the top of the tube above water level), I could also keep my turtle from messing with the cord...

[steve]

What brand tanks did you get? I think the Aqueon brand offers a warranty on theirs. A stock tank is lighter compared to glass tank and stand. You will want to elevate it, so a simple wooden stand or even ciderblocks will do.

[April994]

The first 2 tanks that leaked were Aqueon. I didn't pursue the warranty on the first one... I can't remember why. Maybe I lost my receipt/paperwork? The second Aqueon showed definite problems with the sealant curing process- they promptly gave me a refund because the stores in my area stopped carrying Aqueons in the size I needed. I was really happy with their customer service!
The most recent tank was a Tetra - that was the only brand I could find locally in a 40 breeder. They gave me the runaround with their warranty... it took forever for them to agree , to give me a small partial refund. I'm still waiting for the check, and it will only cover about 22% of the cost of a new glass 40 breeder. All my stands have been metal - pretty lightweight since the owner of the house is concerned about weight.

How high would do you think I'd have to raise the stock tank? I would really prefer to have it sit on the floor - the less weight I add with a platform, the higher I can fill it with water.

[angeles]

All my tanks are in the basement, but from what I've read you should be ok next to an exterior wall. You can always check with an engineer or something.
I would suggest raising the tank to work with any canister filter as well. You may have issues if you don't, it may only be some priming issues, but try it out for yourself to see if it's possible.

How come the Hydor In-Line heater won't work if the tank is on the floor?
I am thinking of picking one up, but would like to know what type of limitations it has.

I hope all works out for you.

[Kansasslider]

I built my stand out of 2x8 lumber with 1/2" particle board on top. That raised the tank 8 1/8"

[April994]

Angeles,
The house is owned by my father, who is a retired mechanical engineer - he's the one who's most concerned about the weight on the floor. (To be fair, though, he also voiced his concerns about weight when I upgraded from a 30 gallon to a 40 gallon... I have no idea what the weight limit really is!) The Hydor in-line wouldn't work if the tank is on the floor because it needs to be placed in a vertical position between the top of the cansister and the top of the tank. The tank would have to be elevated in order for it to fit. I highly recommend the Hydor, though! I've had a 200 watt Hydor ETH running on a 40 breeder for several years and have been very pleased. I've never had a problem with leaks or anything and the temp is consistant. I over tightened the bottom O-ring nut last month, causing it to crack - Hydor USA sent me a 2 free replacement parts right away, even though I told them I was at fault and offered to pay!

Kansasslider,
How heavy would you say your stand is? Sorry if it's a stupid question - I have absolutely no idea how much something like that would weigh versus cinder blocks. Is your stock tank filled completely?

Thanks for your help, guys! I completely out of my knowledge base with all of this.

[Kansasslider]

My stock tank is not 100% filled. Maybe 260 gallons. That doesn't really matter because mine sits on a concrete basement floor. I'm not sure what the wood weighs? If you make the wood stand a little larger than the tank the load will be spread out over a larger area. Hope that helps.

[steve]

Were you allowed to keep the tank? If the glass is fine, then you just need to reseal it which is not a fun thing to do. I don't know why many store bought tanks are leaking... you figure they'd be no issues like that.

[April994]

steve,
I can't figure out why they keep leaking either! I must be doing something wrong, but I just can't figure it out. Maybe it's a case of "my turtle is just too big for this size tank"?
I have never been able to successfully reseal a tank. I just end up leaky, ugly mess. The big appeal for a stock tank is that the only silicone I'd have to worry about would be around the drain hole!

Amazon says my stock tank should arrive tomorrow! I think we're going to try to make a platform out of 2x8s and plywood... or something. Still trying to figure out what to do about a basking area - I see so many awesome ideas on other threads that I want to try - then I remember how heavy my turtle is and it's back to the drawing board! I want to give her as much room to swim as possible, but it's going to have to be an in-tank basking area for now.

[steve]

Unless your turtle is nipping at the seals, the seals are weakened by algae or something then it's their quality issue. For a basking area, maybe just an upside down bucket with rocks or tile over it?

[April994]

The stock tank arrived this morning!! 40 gallons of water reaches about 2/3 of the way to the top. There is a steady leak from the bulkhead (as I expected), but everything else seems good!

The basking area problem has been driving me crazy all day. A 5-gallon food grade bucket would be at an ideal height, but it would take up sooo much room in the tank. I'd still have to attach a platform to the top so my turtle would have enough room to turn around.

Still stuck on the milk crate idea. Home depot sells milk crates made of HDPE (which I think is safe??). It might work if I placed it at the far end of the tank, flipped it over (so the open end faced the middle of the tank - like a cave), and zip-tied a cutting board on top. I'd have to weigh it down with rocks or slate or something. I think I'd have enough room to stick the heater between the back of the crate and tank wall (since the side of the tank curves). No ideas about a ramp yet.

I wanted to build a platform out of PVC, but the tank is narrower at the bottom, and I can imagine my turtle constantly wedging herself between the PVC supports and the wall. ::sigh:: She is my problem child.

[steve]

That's weird, but I never had a leak with my Rubbermaid. I don't use the drain, but it's nice to have with outdoor setups.

If you do the crate sideways, you can add something on the bottom, rather than on top, right? Something with a good weight on top would help with the basking area.

I was lucky and I had a piece of cork that wedged perfectly between the two "columns" on the side. It won't help with a heavier turtle as it would easily come loose.

I did make a hanging bracket out of pvc and cork. However, my RES were to skittish when I tried it with them.

[Kansasslider]

I had problems with the cheap drain on my Rubbermaid tank also. Its a strange size so I just went and bought a new 2" and used a hole saw to cut the hole bigger. I can understand not wanting to use a bucket for the basking area. That's what I did with my 300 and it worked great. But my tank is really big. I wonder where Steve got that bucket idea from?