New tank picked up, 180 gallons for turtle(s)

[Kaerey]

And crash goes the plans....

two cats went to the vet for dental cleanings today, 9 pulled teeth later...

Hopefully taxes turn up some surprises.

 

[paul112]

Sorry to hear that. I hope you manage to get the funds to rescue some turtles at some point soon

Just a note, I don't know how the humane society keeps their turtles, but don't mix species. You should be okay with a couple of sliders in that tank, 10G per inch is the ideal scenario, but aslong as the water is kept clean and they have plenty of space to swim and bask together, it will be fine

If you happen to choose something other than sliders, such as a softshell species, only keep one. Softshells are very aggressive towards each other and other tank mates, but at the same time very delicate and prone to injury. They are not communal species at all.

All the best, hope the cats are okay,
Paul

 

[Kaerey]

Sorry to hear that. I hope you manage to get the funds to rescue some turtles at some point soon

Just a note, I don't know how the humane society keeps their turtles, but don't mix species. You should be okay with a couple of sliders in that tank, 10G per inch is the ideal scenario, but aslong as the water is kept clean and they have plenty of space to swim and bask together, it will be fine

If you happen to choose something other than sliders, such as a softshell species, only keep one. Softshells are very aggressive towards each other and other tank mates, but at the same time very delicate and prone to injury. They are not communal species at all.

All the best, hope the cats are okay,
Paul

Thanks for the pairing advice. Pretty sure the only soft-shelled species they have right now are asian's that they say only need a few inches of water and like to bury themselves in the sand. that's not for us.

Cats are home and hiding. I get to find a way to fish them out from under the bed later to give them their pain meds. It came to almost $1900 bucks for the extractions and cleanings. Only good thing about the day so far is that my wife got the check in the mail from her football pool earnings ($183!!). She kicked my ass this season on our confidence picks.

 

[Kaerey]

Hurray Taxes!!! The Turtle project is back on!

Picked up lumber (left the screws at the checkout counter) so I couldn't put the frame together tonight. We bought some decorations, and are debating on what to use for substrate. So far I think we are going to do a pebble mosaic tile with some white sand in the gaps. that way, it's somewhat easy to clean, and the turtles can't eat the pebbles because they are attached to the tile matting!

 

[Natalie]

Hurray Taxes!!! The Turtle project is back on!

Picked up lumber (left the screws at the checkout counter) so I couldn't put the frame together tonight. We bought some decorations, and are debating on what to use for substrate. So far I think we are going to do a pebble mosaic tile with some white sand in the gaps. that way, it's somewhat easy to clean, and the turtles can't eat the pebbles because they are attached to the tile matting!

Sounds interesting for the substrate... good idea to stay away from small gravel or pebbles.

Have you decided for sure on a species? I'd be worried that two RES would outgrow that tank and look pretty cramped. They're not everyone's favorite, but my personal favorite are the smaller mud and musk species. You could fit a few females and maybe a male, and all would max out at maybe 6" shell length.

 

[Kaerey]

Sounds interesting for the substrate... good idea to stay away from small gravel or pebbles.

Have you decided for sure on a species? I'd be worried that two RES would outgrow that tank and look pretty cramped. They're not everyone's favorite, but my personal favorite are the smaller mud and musk species. You could fit a few females and maybe a male, and all would max out at maybe 6" shell length.

For Species it all comes down to what is available at the reptile rescue. If they have 2 male RES others have said those would work, if they don't but have two muds that would work, if we end up with only one, so be it. We are going with the rescue to give a good forever home to one or two reptiles in need. It's less about the species for us, and more about providing a good home to others.

 

[Natalie]

For Species it all comes down to what is available at the reptile rescue. If they have 2 male RES others have said those would work, if they don't but have two muds that would work, if we end up with only one, so be it. We are going with the rescue to give a good forever home to one or two reptiles in need. It's less about the species for us, and more about providing a good home to others.

Okay I see. Good for you, that's wonderful! Whoever gets a home with you will be lucky.

 

[Kaerey]

Here's some Pictures!

We finished getting most of all the supplies for the stand so I started putting it together, I'm missing 2 vertical supports in the front and back lengths, but other than that the frame is done, and we just need to decide on how to skin it and put some decorative borders.

I used the plans from http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1169964 to make the frame. We added two additional horizontal supports on the top and the two vertical braces on the sides. We have 5/8" plywood on the top and 3/4" foam insulation to put on top of that.

We are also making a 1 x 8 "hood," basically a square that sits on top of the tank and hides some of the lights and stuff.

In the pictures below, the one with the decorations on the stand shows the height of the tank and where we are putting some of the decorations that came with the tank. We've decided on White Sand I think and the UVA/B Light and Heat Lamp will be over the left side rock pile (still need to get a few more rocks to raise the height up a bit. The water level will be at about 1-2" below the top of the Mopari wood (15").

Our next things are to buy a Fluval FX5, with $60 in Amazon gift cards, find enough white sand for about 2" depth of 10.5 sqft base, and get some more larger rocks to elevate the left side basking area, and all the lighting.

 

[Kaerey]

wow, I need to clean the lens on my phone... lots of lint or finger prints.

 

[Creek_stomper]

I'd say fill the whole thing as far as you can, and figure out some sort of suspended basking area so you don't have to deal with the rocks taking up so much room. As it is, you're limiting the total amount of swimming room, and that matters a lot with any sizable turtle.