Photo Gallery :: My New Setup

[Gorwooken]

Well I finally upgraded my tank from a 10 gallon to a 90 gal and I thought i'd post some pictures

I decided to go with a sand substrate, I bought play sand and man it took a while to wash it all to get rid of the lighter stuff. It takes a lot of force to kick the sand up. It settles pretty quickly if it does though.

Since I'm using a wet/dry filter all the water is filtered before it hits my pump so I'm not worried.







This is a picture of my 35 gallon sump tank, I just bought a Mag 9.5, so I'm cycling the water about 10.5 times per hour, The tank has an internal overflow box that you can see in the pictures above. I had to drill it out to lower the water level.



Here is the best shot I could get of my turt, he wasn't being very cooperative.

[ellman605]

probably not best to have sand in there, very hard to clean out. otherwise very good.

[Gorwooken]

Actually the sand is very easy to clean, its well packed and very heavy, its quite difficult to disturb and all the lighter waste material simply sits on top of the sand. Its easy to vacuum off.

[steve]

Looks nice! Since your turt has a huge tank for himself, maybe you can get him a hiding spot or 2

[Gorwooken]

Good point steve, whats my best bet for shelter? should I just silicone together some rocks?

[sonyj]

Some people have used flower pots turned on their side, etc.

Haven't I read somewhere on here where turtles can become impacted by eating sand just like gravel, or was I imagining that? I wouldn't think it would be as easy to become impacted with sand like gravel, but I guess the possibility is still there. Either way, just be careful, especially if you see him start eating the sand.

[TurtleBot]

Sand seems to me more natural for them. It should be fine!

[marisa]

Nice! I'd add a few more objects to the tank, though.

[mikey624]

what kind of sand is that? becuase i was looking for some good heavy sand

[missibsu]

Good point steve, whats my best bet for shelter? should I just silicone together some rocks?

I know a lot of people use those terra cotta flower pots and lay them on the side at the bottom of the tank. I have one of those, and I also have a piece of heavy duty pvc pipe that they love to swim through and hide in.

[Gorwooken]

I'm trying to keep the tank looking pretty natural so I don't really want to stick a flowerpot in there, I'll see what i can come up with.

I'm also on the lookout for a nice piece of driftwood.

The sand is from home depot its just called play sand, it goes in sandboxes and its around 5.99 for 50 lbs. The problem is that it has a lot of light stuff mixed in with it so you need to wash it really well or your water will be murky.

I think your best bet is to take it outside in a bucket and use a garden hose to agitate the sand and leave the hose in there until the water runs clear. All the heavy stuff sinks really fast and the lighter material will get carried out of the bucket by the water.

[ellman605]

they dont really use protection during the day, i bought a giant log for an aquarium for $20 at wal mart, and i didnt think they even used it! i came back during the night, and they sleep inside of it, probably what they would do in the wild.