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Haven't posted here for ages, but wanted to share my new setup as it's been a LONG time coming and I'm pretty happy with it. My RES, Quickly, was a Chinatown turtle and I've had him for about 13 years. He'd been in a 45 gallon long tank for a few years prior to getting this new 180 gallon one up and running, and the upgrade was well overdue. Got the tank itself for $400, and my handy husband built the stand/topper and also did all plumbing. Sump is underneath, tank is fully plumbed and drains to basement so the only maintenance is a quick weekly sand vacuum and glass scrub to remove any algae buildup. We were a little concerned that Quickly would eat the fish, but after a couple of early attempts to chase them, he seems to have given up and all have survived so far (we're about a month in). Took him a couple of weeks to get used to new basking platform, but now he's up there for several hours ago. I like to believe he's a LOT happier than he was. Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Here's another angle showing Quickly on his platform. We had to move the basking lamp from its original spot, as he always prefers to sit in the spot where the sun naturally hits through the window rather than under the lamp itself!

That is fantastic looking! I think white goes very well with your decor! I'd love to see more pics, and details. I'd probably want to post this on our facebook page if you'd allow it

Thanks
As far as the plumbing setup, I'm embarrassed to admit I'm a bit clueless as to exactly how it all works, despite my husband patiently explaining it to me more than once. In one ear, out the other when it comes to stuff like that I'm afraid! If you have any specific questions I can ask him though! The filter itself is basically a pump and 2 plastic drawers that pull out of a unit that's sat in the sump. One contains these high surface area plastic bio ball things, the other has quilt batting, which collects the gunk and gets changed out every couple of weeks. Fresh water is constantly dripping into the tank to give a rate of approx 25% water change per week (I think) and drains at similar rate into the basement slop sink via a pipe through the floor.

The substrate is play sand, which took a LOT of rinsing until the water ran clear and it was good to go. No problems with turtle trying to eat it so far.
Driftwood stump and rocks sourced from local nature center and thoroughly cleaned before putting in tank.
Plants are artificial - may add a couple more. Would love live plants but know from experience they wouldn't last long.
Basking platform is slate tile we had leftover from when we did the floor in the room. It's sat on one of the heavy glass lid pieces that came with the tank. Driftwood stump leads up to it, and we added turtle's old basking platform as an additional ramp, screwed onto stump. Quickly usually sleeps with one or both back feet resting on the driftwood stump, just below the surface of the water. Oh and in case you're wondering there's a 2 inch air gap between the water surface and the underside of the basking area.
The topper is 4 pieces of custom glass, the front one being removable for easy tank access for cleaning etc. Except it's not that easy as glass piece is big and cumbersome to remove, so we may end up replacing that piece with plexiglass in the future.
Fish: 2 barbs, a dozen little guys whose name escapes me, and a red-tailed shark. We've put a bunch of snails in there to help with cleaning, but Quickly has eaten quite a few of them.
Sorry I'm a bit vague on some of the details, but let me know if you want more specific info on anything! Will upload more pics later.



Oh and absolutely post to facebook - didn't know there was a fb page, so thanks!

Do you have more pics? Maybe a wider view? If they're too big to post, email them to me

Wow! Very inspiring! What a perfect spot for it too!

Only problem I see is algae growing from the direct sunlight, but it may be worth it since it's so picturesque and lovely for your turtle

OtisDriftwood wrote:Wow! Very inspiring! What a perfect spot for it too!

Only problem I see is algae growing from the direct sunlight, but it may be worth it since it's so picturesque and lovely for your turtle

Thanks, yes there's definitely a fair bit of algae growth, but it hasn't got out of control so far. We put the snails in hoping they would help control it, but will have to rethink..

Steve: how do I email the pics to you? I saw how to PM you, but didn't see option to add attachments?

You can send it to redearslider@gmail.com

Thanks

steve wrote:You can send it to redearslider@gmail.com

Thanks

Pics sent. Thanks Steve.