720 Gallon Plywood Build

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
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Again sorry for the hijack inert1a, but heres the pic she just sent me, Can you tell from this if its "Timmy" or "Tammy" ? lol shes called him Timmy all these years.
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i would bet that is a female. Also males are extremely territorial and will preform a display of dominance called "fluttering" or "fanning" where they basically take their front claws and vibrate them back and forth. My turtle does this constantly to a large river rock in the tank lol.
 

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
44
45
36
36
Again sorry for the hijack inert1a, but heres the pic she just sent me, Can you tell from this if its "Timmy" or "Tammy" ? lol shes called him Timmy all these years.
.
.
i would bet that is a female. Also males are extremely territorial and will preform a display of dominance called "fluttering" or "fanning" where they basically take their front claws and vibrate them back and forth. My turtle does this constantly to a large river rock in the tank lol. Also, if the turtle is indeed female, even without the presence of a male, she will still require a place to lay eggs when gravid.
 

jdjn13

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 30, 2017
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3
32
Looking forward to seeing how this build progresses. I'm wanting to do a similar project when I get the space!
 

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
44
45
36
36
Small update: Progress has been slow due to me hurting my back trying to hang dry wall by myself. Lesson learned lol.

Roughing in bulkheads for plumbing. two 2" returns.


two 2" drains and one 2" emergency drain


my plan is to have the two 2" drains run into a 50 gallon trickle tower, then flow out into a 150 gallon sump/refugium. im hoping to get about 4500 gph turn over rate out of the filtration. Im also planning on having a land area attached on the backside of the tank with a water fall/ stream that leads back into the tank. i plan on having tons of bio filtration in the spillway for the waterfall. im open to any suggestions with filtration as this will be my first sump. im planning on making the trickle tower out of one of those Brute Rubbermaid trash cans and filling it lava rocks, or some other type of porous material. Any suggestions on return pumps?
 

Reedmaster16

Piranha
MFK Member
Oct 13, 2005
652
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Ohio
By trickle tower do you mean filled with some type of bio media, or are you using it as a mechanical filter prior to hitting sump? You want to have the water hit some sort of mechanical filtration to catch it and keep from getting into bio and building up.

Ponds normally use bakki shower/trickle towers for biological filtration prior to the water returning to pond after multiple stages of mechanical.

I would add at least another 2" drain/overflow. More is better with overflows/drains in case flowrate plans need to be modified in future.
 

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
44
45
36
36
By trickle tower do you mean filled with some type of bio media, or are you using it as a mechanical filter prior to hitting sump? You want to have the water hit some sort of mechanical filtration to catch it and keep from getting into bio and building up.

Ponds normally use bakki shower/trickle towers for biological filtration prior to the water returning to pond after multiple stages of mechanical.

I would add at least another 2" drain/overflow. More is better with overflows/drains in case flowrate plans need to be modified in future.

yes the trickle tower will be filled with bio and topped with a layer of mechanical. im going to be building the sump this weekend so i should have some pictures by mid next week.
 

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
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45
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finished framing out the sump. measures 72x24x24. the two inch drains will flow into the rubbermade trash can which will have a layer of mechanical filter floss, and tons of bio media, then flow out into the sump.




i will also be filling the gaps with insulation to help hold heat in the winter.
 

inert1a

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2017
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so i think im going to backtrack on my decision to use acrylic. my original plan was to use 1" thick acrylic. the more i think about acrylic and turtles, the more i realize that its bad idea and get scratched pretty bad. ive been playing around with some calculators online and getting varying results. for acrylic is was saying i needed 1.3 inch for my current dimensions. some glass calculators are saying i could use 3/4 inch, while others were suggesting 1.5 inch. with a water depth of ~30-32 inches, would 3/4 inch starfire glass be sufficient? whats yalls opinion?
 
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