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Now that I've figured out plumbing (thanks to the amazing help of others on this forum!), it is time to figure out what exactly I can put in my tank.

I have a 72bow that will (more than likely) have an FX6. I hope to eventually build a canopy to sit above the tank for basking but won't for now, if that makes a difference at all.

So for that size... what are my options? I was thinking of two map turtles and a handful of fish. My finace fell in love with the Ouochita map, but I'm unsure of the other, maybe a Texas map. I have an Mbuna Cichlid tank and have videos of people with tanks of map turtles with cichlids or other fish onlne, so I thought that might be a good route. I wasn't sure if that was possible at all though, since you can't really always trust what you see online. Two of the videos are these (though there are many more if you look) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04cd0MQgoiY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04cd0MQgoiY

So... thoughts? And thanks in advance!

Their care will be similar to RES, so you need to be careful when getting a pair or just stick to a single one. For fish, maybe add a pleco in there as well.

Female maps get about the size of RES and would outgrow this tank.

If you bought a male (just 1!) it would be fine. The tank would be a good size for musk turtles though.

Thanks for the replies. I might just go with one (or maybe upgrade to a bigger tank, the fiance really wanted two!).

Assuming I only go with one in the 72g - what all could I have with it? What tank mates work well? Thanks!

Fish become food.

Mbuana Cichlids like really hard water. Most turtles won't like it.

Chinese suckers do well in turtle tanks. And they are cheap and that's a plus just in case they did get eaten.

I've had several cichlids with my turtle. With no probs at all the only issue is finding cichlids that will get along with eachother since over populating is not a good idea with a turtle. Any fish or tank mate you put with a turtle has a chance to be food. Big snails are usually safe with turtles. Turtle don't seem smart enough to flip them over to get to the soft gooey stuff.
I have a peacock eel with my turtle which is a cool pet the turtle thought he was spaghetti for about 5 mins when the eels dodged him about 5 times the turtle lost interest and hasn't looked at him since.

I bought 16 ghost shrimp thinking they could easily dodge the turtle but instead my cichlids are most of them and the turtle got the rest.
It's always going to be a slight trial and error I think though.

Brought my cichlids back to a pet store today. One was starting to get aggressive with my turtle and my turtle was a wimp and would just run away.
Nows its just my turtle, some giant snails and a peacock eel.

Peacock eels is freaking cool but a pain to feed.
Getting bloodworms to the bottom of aquarium before my turtle eats can be difficult

Unless you remove your turtle while feeding fish it is going to get a snack. I have found that snails don't last long in my tanks.

So I decided to buy a second peacock eel. Put him in today and in less than 1 hour he has vanished off the face of my aquarium I'm pretty sure even my second eel is looking for him

Food! Turtles will eat anything that's not a large stone!