Habitat - Indoor :: NEED HELP SETTING UP A NICE LARGE TANK FOR THE LITTLE GUYS..

[brianwatson]

My friend and I both share 2 little guys (red ear sliders), about 1 year old. They are in an older 40 gallon tank I had for a fish a while back. My local store has several in a large breeder tank. That is the type of tank I want to get then in, a stubby large tank – thinking perhaps 120 - 150 gallons.

Basically want them to be as cozy and happy as possible, something big enough they can live out most of their days in.


1) I live near Phila PA, (19026). I looked at Craig’s list – could not find a tank on their – anyone know where I can get a good deal on one in my area?

2) If I get them a really big tank will they grow faster than being in a smaller tank?

3) If they do end up getting really, really big – is there ever a time to put them out into the wild? I just want them to be happy.

4) I am currently using a Rena xP3 filter. My thought is to use that in conjunction with their larger xP4 for the 120 – 150 gal or so tank – however the tank is roughly three times the size and I have ONLY doubled the filtration, the 40 gallon tank only stays super clean for 3 weeks or so. So I am assuming I need more filtration, not less. What are my options? Is there some big pond system I can get? I WOULD RATHER SPEND $ NOW TO SAVE TIME DOWN THE ROAD.

5) Also, almost positive they are both males, but they keep doing that flirting thing – I mean they that a lot… normal???


Current tank (before several changes) when they were a bit younger… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N7eHLSDnmw



Brian
bwatson@btrholdings.com
267-516-0305

[gwennie]

I'm sorry I live in NZ so I can't advise you on where to get a tank in your area, but some of the other questions I can help with ^^

2) Turtles don't grow to the size of the enclosure they are in like some people think. If you're taking good care of them, they'll grow at a steady rate no matter what container they're in, so no, tank size does not matter in that aspect.

3) You should never release a captive turtle into the wild. Red Eared sliders get fairly large when they reach adulthood, especially females. If you don't want large turtles, you should've gotten a different kind If they get too big for you to deal with, please, please try to rehome them to someone who will love and care for them.

4) I don't use renas, so I'm not sure what their specs are, but I've heard several times of people with 125+ gal tanks that they use several xp3's on them at once and they work out fine. You might just need to get one more xp3 if you already have one plus your xp4? Someone else will come along to answer this one better than I can ^^

5) The flirting thing is called fluttering/fanning, and it's not really them flirting all of the time (or if they are both males, any of the time) it's probably more them trying to assert dominance over one another.

Hope some of that helps ^^ Good luck!

[TurtleKeeper48]

I clicked your thread because I'm researching large filters... so I have no experience, but from what I've seen online so far the "big dog" in the world of canister filters is the fluval FX5 - it does 600 gallons per hour and people seem to like the Fluval filters - at a similar price point it may out perform the Rena Xp4.

Your Xp3 does 350 gph
The Xp4 does 450 gpg

If you added the Xp4 to your existing Xp3 your right - it would be slightly more than doubled.

Good luck!