Habitat - Indoor :: My tank - Jake, Elwood, and Granite

[geekyturtle]

I posted these in the welcome forum, but figured I should show them off here too! I've ordered a new basking platform and a ReptiSun 5.0 UVB lamp that I'll install and take new pics of soon.

It's a 20 gallon tank, and the window location was the only place I could put it in the house. The background is outside the tank, with a piece of styrofoam behind it to help insulate it from the sun. The windows have plastic covering them to eliminate any drafts. I know the filter is small for this tank (it's a 2-10g filter), but I don't want to invest in a new filter until I sort out some personal issues and the possibility of a larger tank.

Jake is the fat one and Elwood is the skinny one. The fish is called Granite because it's black, white, and orange speckled. And if it has such a tough name, maybe Jake & Elwood won't eat it!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Seems like a good set up, for now at least. I'd recommend getting as much of the natural sunlight blocked from as many directions (both sides, back, and top) as possible to inhibit the growth of algae. You could probably get a thick towel or curtain that would do the job. And as most people say, don't get too attached to the fish! He's cute though!

[marisa]

At some point Granite will be toast. I'd give him his own home and let the turtles have the feeders.

Cute RES. Did you get your RES at the same time? If so, Jake looks like he's growing quite a bit more than Elwood (the seam/line in between the scutes is much wider on Jake)? Does Elwood get the same amount of food as Jake and do you actually see him eat it?

If the tank remains there during the summer, how warm does it get? I'd cover more of the back---have the background actually wrap around the corners to keep more light out. Curtains or blinds would help as well.

[geekyturtle]

I got them at the same time. For a while Elwood wouldn't eat anything, even when I fed them separately. Once I put them in this tank he started eating normally again, and I make sure Jake doesn't eat Elwood's food.

I don't mind the fish being eaten and can't really afford to deal with two tanks right now anyway. I got the fish knowing it'll be toast one day - it was only a few dollars. I bought some plants too, but those only lasted about a day!

I'll most likely put it somewhere else in the summer, once I can put my plants outside and free up room elsewhere in the house. I did some updates to the tank this week and will post some updates when I finish.

[geekyturtle]

I put styrofoam around 3 sides, added the UVB bulb, put some styrofoam above the tank to block the UVB for humans (styrofoam blocks that right?), and put in a new basking platform.

The last thing to do is to add some plants. I saved the leftover bits from the first batch of plants and am hoping they'll grow back.

Oh, and one of the goldfish disappeared since the last set of pictures.