Habitat - Indoor :: Newbie upgrades!

[Sealya617]

Let me just say that II’m super thankful for this site/forum! I’m a new turtle owner and it’s been invaluable. I’m glad there’s still a few people active and have shared their knowledge. (I’m sure it gets old answering the same questions over and over)

So I started with a bare bottom 50 gal breeder half full, a crap pond filter that used no carbon or bio rings. 10.0 Long tube uvb and a ceramic heat lamp. Couple pet store floating turtle docks. Unaware that I was Overfeeding him(?)

Now that I’ve done enough research I think I’ve graduated I might be in kindergarten now lol

I’ve added sand. (With a genius idea! I’ll post in the stickied sand thread) Driftwood (soaked in hot water to wash out some “wood tea”). One of which floats haha, but he’s still little so I kind of like it for him to rest on. I wedged in some cork bark for a basking area, which my pet store actually carried in bulk! I got a big piece for $8. Also got a sweet deal on a submersible LED light stick so the tank won’t be dark I’ve ordered a mega Ray bulb with a new fixture that I plan to hang over the tank. Ordered a cascade 1000 canister filter. They should be here in two days, my sand should be settled by then I think? I’ll have to watch some YouTube and get familiar with installation. Ummm, I think that’s it? Oh and have an EHEIM jagger heater on order.

There’s a 1 3/4 hole drilled in the top back of the tank that I need to plug. I think I need a 1inch bulkhead, and I’ll plug both sides. Then I can fill it a bit more. Find a background to hide cords...My son has some rocks and shells he wants to help me add tomorrow, I’ll post more pics soon

[steve]

The sand and wood look so nice in there! $8 for a big piece of cork is a steal. I was going to suggest a background, but you're way ahead of me

[VeipaCray]

Lookin' good! If you want a very low maintenance solution - paint the back of the glass with any enamel paint. It will not move or pop off the glass and no chance of crud or calcium deposits from the water creeping in front of the background. If you ever grow tired of it 5 minutes with a razor blade will scrape the paint off.

[Sealya617]

That would be a good idea if I didn’t already have the tank set up. Maybe if I’m feeling ambitious one day and want to empty it and convince hubby to move it haha.

So I did a few things today. I set up my new pen plaxx 1000 filter. (After putting the hoses on backward.../facepalm) I opted for the spray bar to start since the tank was crazy dirty after having no filter for 2 day’s and new driftwood/sand. That sucker is strong! I turned it down some so it wasn’t spraying out of the tank. it is fixed pretty close to the top of the tank though so it’s not under water yet. Which is part of why it was spraying everywhere. And it sounds like a horse is peeing in my living room. I finagled the intake hook to raise it up higher as to not suck up sand. I guess I’ll have to play with it and check filters to find the sweet spot. With it being extra dirty I used what I had on hand and your recommended temporary media chart. I have floss in the bottom tray. Floss then black sponge in the middle. Black sponge then carbon in the top. I’ll get some bio rings from the pet store and set up with just two sponges, carbon then bio in a day or so.

Water heater is running now. I’m aiming for 78 degrees?

Still trying to decide what to do with my hole....I got a bulk head today. And a metal plug. It’s not pretty, but I could hide it. Or I was tossing around the idea of trying to put my spray bar outlet through that hole instead of over top of the tank. It would fix my submersion problem until I build an atba. However, I’m not positive if those pieces would all disconnect and fit

Also I need some egg crate to fashion a new top. I’m terrified of him escaping, and I hear the screen tops reduce uvb.

And Benny has been loving his new basking spot and tank accessories. He’s remodeled rocks and shells already. And dug a nice hole under the driftwood. Im thinking about attaching some suction cups or magnets to my cork bark basking dock to keep it in place and more sturdy. It’s just wedged in there right now.

[Sealya617]

Oops, figured out how to add images.

[steve]

Yes, mesh screens could block some UVB. 78 is fine, could even be a tad lower with older RES.

[Sealya617]

He’s less than a year old. I’m worried about the calibration of this heater. Water is up to 79.1 according to my probe. I turned it down to 77. Maybe I’ll go one lower overnight. Praying I don’t wake up to turtle soup!

[steve]

What kind of probe? Those $5 digital ones are pretty inconsistent.

[Sealya617]

Yes I think t was fairly inexpensive at the pet store. It’s a yellow digital tiny thing suctioned to the outside of the tank and a probe cord inside. It does seem to have stabilized.

[steve]

Pick up one of those sticker-lcds that go on the outside of the glass. Not super accurate, but pretty consistent as a backup and only about $2. If you want more accuracy, get a infrared temp gun. Around $12-15, but they are useful for a lot of purposes.

[Sealya617]

I didn’t even think about that. Hubby might already have one. Pretty sure I recall him making jokes about using it for checking for fevers on the kids haha

[steve]

Yeah, lots of uses lol. Great for checking basking temps too.

[RES_TED]

That would be a good idea if I didn’t already have the tank set up. Maybe if I’m feeling ambitious one day and want to empty it and convince hubby to move it haha.

So I did a few things today. I set up my new pen plaxx 1000 filter. (After putting the hoses on backward.../facepalm) I opted for the spray bar to start since the tank was crazy dirty after having no filter for 2 day’s and new driftwood/sand. That sucker is strong! I turned it down some so it wasn’t spraying out of the tank. it is fixed pretty close to the top of the tank though so it’s not under water yet. Which is part of why it was spraying everywhere. And it sounds like a horse is peeing in my living room. I finagled the intake hook to raise it up higher as to not suck up sand. I guess I’ll have to play with it and check filters to find the sweet spot. With it being extra dirty I used what I had on hand and your recommended temporary media chart. I have floss in the bottom tray. Floss then black sponge in the middle. Black sponge then carbon in the top. I’ll get some bio rings from the pet store and set up with just two sponges, carbon then bio in a day or so.

Water heater is running now. I’m aiming for 78 degrees?

Still trying to decide what to do with my hole....I got a bulk head today. And a metal plug. It’s not pretty, but I could hide it. Or I was tossing around the idea of trying to put my spray bar outlet through that hole instead of over top of the tank. It would fix my submersion problem until I build an atba. However, I’m not positive if those pieces would all disconnect and fit

Also I need some egg crate to fashion a new top. I’m terrified of him escaping, and I hear the screen tops reduce uvb.

And Benny has been loving his new basking spot and tank accessories. He’s remodeled rocks and shells already. And dug a nice hole under the driftwood. Im thinking about attaching some suction cups or magnets to my cork bark basking dock to keep it in place and more sturdy. It’s just wedged in there right now.

Great feedback. We just purchased a Pen Plax 1000. It's strong and a great deal for the money. Turned down the flow a bit as it seemed very strong and seemed to be annoying our turtle.

[Sealya617]

New 75gal upgrade and basking area loving it and so does Benny! I might try some snails or a sucker fish now that it’s decorated more. He seemed pretty uninterested in the last feeder fish I put in there. They got too big and pooped more than he did so i gave them away lol

[the-turtle-Girl]

oh wow that looks awesomeee !!!