This post has elements of DIY and reptiles and plants, but this seemed like the most appropriate section to post in.
Some of you may have read about me having to break down my 220g tank due to potential future problems from its water weight.
Well I've decided to keep the tank, but I'm going to run it with maybe 8-10'' of water in it and push all the substrate, wood, and rocks over to one side to form some swampy land. I've got 3 young black mangroves I'm going to plant (I'll probably get more), and the main livestock is going to be some mainly aquatic turtles, which I'm planning on getting from theturtlesource.com. Probably gonna add some indian almond leaves for blackwater effect.
The tank is drilled on both sides, and I want to keep the sump running if possible. My plan is to drill holes into the plastic overflow panel on the right side at the height I want the water, and then to only run the pump that pumps up to the left side. This way the water has directional flow, but is slower than if both pumps were running. And on the left side, I'm hoping to find a large piece of driftwood to create a semi-waterfall type thing where the pump pushes its water down the wood and into the bog. I figure this will make it a bit quieter than the water just shooting out and falling down.
Would this work? Does the 1 side in 1 side out only running one pump thing seem doable?
Right now the tank has a large 6'' T5 lighting system with full spectrum and pink plant lights, and it produces a good amount of heat (plus the tank water runs around 82) so I'm not sure if I'll have to get some kind of additional heat/lighting.
Should I keep running pressurized CO2 in my water for the aquatic and semi-aquatic plants?
Lastly, I'd LOVE suggestions for what else to put in the tank. I'm going to try to get the PH pretty low, like down in the 5.5-6.3 range. So I'm looking for suggestions of plants and animals that I could keep in here along with (potentially pretty carnivorous and maybe aggressive) turtles. I'd love to try some carnivorous plants (of course I understand that the turtles will likely crush flytraps, but I kind of want to try putting them in an out of the way spot) and maybe even a snake or another reptile/fish if there are any that a turtle won't destroy.
Open to any ideas! Thanks! Trying to turn tragedy into something fun.
Some of you may have read about me having to break down my 220g tank due to potential future problems from its water weight.
Well I've decided to keep the tank, but I'm going to run it with maybe 8-10'' of water in it and push all the substrate, wood, and rocks over to one side to form some swampy land. I've got 3 young black mangroves I'm going to plant (I'll probably get more), and the main livestock is going to be some mainly aquatic turtles, which I'm planning on getting from theturtlesource.com. Probably gonna add some indian almond leaves for blackwater effect.
The tank is drilled on both sides, and I want to keep the sump running if possible. My plan is to drill holes into the plastic overflow panel on the right side at the height I want the water, and then to only run the pump that pumps up to the left side. This way the water has directional flow, but is slower than if both pumps were running. And on the left side, I'm hoping to find a large piece of driftwood to create a semi-waterfall type thing where the pump pushes its water down the wood and into the bog. I figure this will make it a bit quieter than the water just shooting out and falling down.
Would this work? Does the 1 side in 1 side out only running one pump thing seem doable?
Right now the tank has a large 6'' T5 lighting system with full spectrum and pink plant lights, and it produces a good amount of heat (plus the tank water runs around 82) so I'm not sure if I'll have to get some kind of additional heat/lighting.
Should I keep running pressurized CO2 in my water for the aquatic and semi-aquatic plants?
Lastly, I'd LOVE suggestions for what else to put in the tank. I'm going to try to get the PH pretty low, like down in the 5.5-6.3 range. So I'm looking for suggestions of plants and animals that I could keep in here along with (potentially pretty carnivorous and maybe aggressive) turtles. I'd love to try some carnivorous plants (of course I understand that the turtles will likely crush flytraps, but I kind of want to try putting them in an out of the way spot) and maybe even a snake or another reptile/fish if there are any that a turtle won't destroy.
Open to any ideas! Thanks! Trying to turn tragedy into something fun.
