Habitat - Indoor :: Square and tall tank versus rectangular long tanks

[KevinG]

So I've always had my turtles in the typical long rectangular tanks. I need to up the size of one of my tanks and I'm considering going to a taller, deeper, more square style tank as it will take up a smaller footprint. Any pro and cons to each?

[steve]

What are the dimensions and how big are the turtles? To me, I think length/width are more important than height. They are capable swimmers, so height/depth is not an obstacle though I see them go side to side more often.

[KevinG]

Thanks Steve. I think I'll try a more square tank and see how it goes. I also see that my turtles typically swim back and forth and not up and down. I currently have two turtles, about 10 years old. One is in a 125g tank and the other in a 75g tank. I need to getting a bigger tank for the turtle in the 75g tank so want to try the more square tank that takes up a smaller footprint in the house.

[steve]

I also have my turtles in separate tanks... a 120 gallon and a 90 gallon. I would like to get one long tank that I can divide... one can dream How much of a bigger tank are you looking for?

[KevinG]

One huge tank with a separator would be nice too. But the cost per gallon skyrockets when you start looking at tanks over 250 gallons. I tried putting my two together after living alone for 8+ years now. The shy one was being shy, then she got all aggressive. I ended that experiment promptly at that point. I'm going to upgrade the 75g tank to a 125 or 150g. They are common and affordable. Here's the tank I'm looking to buy, it's $650 at petsmark. I'll offer $400 for just the tank and stand.

https://offerup.com/item/detail/518498689/

[steve]

Yeah, I would also probably get it in acrylic and the costs are pretty crazy. But then I think I have had my turtles for like 15-16 years already, so maybe I should just go ahead

Anyway I kind of feel $400 is a bit high, but then again its not standard dimensions for a tank. One thing to keep in mind is that it will be harder to go in there and clean up, though you're probably taller than me.

[KevinG]

I never need to do cleanup. My bottom draft setup I posted years ago has worked perfectly over the years.

Don't the turtles scratch acrylic tanks?

Is this forum on tapatalk? I couldn't find it on there.

[steve]

Yes, acrylic can scratch much easier, I would want to line the interior with a separate sheet of acrylic or some sort of plastic film. We're not on tapatalk... most of the newer users migrated to our Facebook group page.