Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New RES Co-Owner

[gothgir1]

Hi everyone...excited to join this forum. I'm a new RES co-owner, my boyfriend and I recently moved into an apartment large enough to accommodate his ~5 year-old RES, so Harry (who it turns out may actually be a female) will be leaving behind her suburban life with the bf's parents to join us in the city. We know that Harry has been living in cramped quarters (20-gallon tank for 6-inch shell length) so we are looking to move her into a used 75-gallon tank we just purchased. If anyone has advice on canister filters (size for 75-gallon tank, recommended brands) or lighting sources (mercury vapor vs. fluorescent + heat-emitting) it is very welcome. Also, any general tips on space-saving setups would be great...thank you!

[megcornell]

Welcome!
What a nice change for Harry. I really like the Rena series canister filters. For a tank your size you could look into the XP4 or 5. You want roughly 3x filtration so look for something rated for a 150-225g tank. A lot of members on here use mercury vapor bulbs and get good results. Just make sure you follow the manufacturers instructions. I also believe they have to be hung so they face straight into the tank, I'm not sure though as I don't have one.
I know NYC apartments are tiny, so it's great you're willing to give Harry so much space. Make sure you put the tank on a load bearing wall- 75 gallons of water is a pretty hefty weight so you'll want to support the tank as best you can.

[bradmeisel]

I just got a 75 gallon and the fluval FX5. It is so quiet and works so well I can't recommend it enough. I got the filter on ebay. My turtles went form a 20 gallon to a 75 gallon and they are very happy little turtles. It seems you really care about Harry. He is lucky to have people who care so much.

Good luck with Harry and Happy New Year!!

[RESnTX]

Welcome! Glad Harry is getting a better/bigger home. Post pics soon.

[Clarkstons]

Great news to hear! Harry will be loving his new pad!
Welcome to the site!

[taurusgirl]

welcome

[gothgir1]

Thanks everyone for your words of welcome and for all of the suggestions for Harry's tank setup. We ended up going with a Rena XP4 filter, which works great and is so unbelievably quiet compared with the HOT filter we were using with the old tank. We set up the tank on a Home Depot shelving unit rated for something like 1000 lbs and then covered it in a homemade plywood frame in the effort to make it look something like a piece of furniture. It hasn't fallen through the floor yet, and came out looking a-ok so we're pretty happy. I'll post pics in the photo gallery soon!

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,I wish I could help but I have no experience with the canister filters.I've only used cascade filters.But it's great you got a good filter.Post pics!!