Thanks for the compliments! The entire setup is DIY, some ideas i picked up from here and there, some are completely original. The background is great stuff brand foam coated with brown silicone with coco fibers adhered to it. I have 6 tiny pots with organic soil that house the plants embedded into the background. The tank overflows into a sump that i run filter media and carbon in and then returns to the tank via a penductor. The penductor acts as a powerhead to keep detritus from building up in the tank. The backpressure also allows me to T off of the return to feed a drip irrigation system for the plants thats controlled automatically with sprinkler timer. It works well, the turtle waste in the water is great food source for the plants. The dock is made out of the same material as the background but hollow and filled with sand so it doesnt float. For lighting im running 2 48" T12 fixtures($9 at lowes) with one UVB bulb and 3 different spectrum daylight bulbs. These are also automatically controlled by a timer. The best part is, the tank only cost me $59! I made it from one of these:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10011055
The entire setup cost me about $200 to make including the bulbs, heater, thermometer, and heat lamp. Some stuff i had lying around the house.
The dimensions are really nice 65" long and 17" wide. It provides a lot of swimming room for the turtles. The really seem to like it, the only problem im having is that i cant grow the duckweed faster than they can eat it
ill get some more pics up this weekend if i have time. You can see Tuck flexing for the camera in the bottom right hand corner of the tank. It gives you a little perspective as to how big the tank is.
