Habitat - Indoor :: FREE-55-gal..Wooohooo-FREE

[Miss Tee]

After mentioning it to a friend that I've been looking for a tank for weeks (CraigsList, etc), she said, "oh we have one in the basement, you can have it."

So now I need to find a cabinet for the bottom. (Or take xfallwithme to Home Depot with me, LOL)

Here's my question: The cabinet I'm using now is 44" long. The tank is 48" long. Is it ok to have the tank hanging over 2" on either side? (I think I already know what you're going to say, here)

Can I set up the tank and just put it on the floor for now? Or must the filter (xp3) be below the tank?

Filter-check, tank-check, ABTA-check, lights-check...almost there!!!!

[VeipaCray]

LMAO @ take xfallwithmexo to home depot.

You can let the tank hang over only if you don't mind a broken tank and a bunch of water on the floor. A glass tank needs to be supported by the entire bottom rim. You can probably cheat and put some 2x4 braces that are 48" long under that stand.... so the braces over hang and transfer the weight of that tank down into the stand and into the floor. Your best bet is to get a stand or build one. There are some inexpensive 55G stands available from petco. (freight shipping on a stand is $$$ so you're probably best getting something local unless you can find free shipping).

The XP3 needs to be under the tank. It relies on gravity to create a siphon to bring the water down the tube and into the canister. The pump in the canister does not really have the force to suck water in. It has enough force to start a siphon. The pump's primary job is to push water out of the canister and back into the tank.

I'll repost this here for you as well....


Here's what I would reccomend for anyone with a new tank (no toxic chemicals being used here):
First 24 hours:
Run your filter with some carbon and as much filter floss as you can reasonably stuff in there. The filter floss will grab any free floating particles from the sand (assuming you used sand) and polish the water. The carbon will grab the chloramine out of the water. Any chlorine will just evaporate. Your heater should be running during this time and bringing the cold water up to temperature.

After 24 hours:
Ditch the filter floss and the carbon. Put your sponges back in. Put in a bag of purigen (or fresh carbon). Fill the rest of the filter with bio media. Happy turtling.

Don't use water conditioner in your tank.

Here's the MSDS sheet for API water conditioner. Almost all brand water conditioners use sodium theosulfate as the active primary chemical.

http://cms.marsfishcare.com/files/msds/ ... 122309.pdf

Here's a few excerpts:
"Harmful to aquatic organisms. May cause long term adverse effects in the aquatic environment."
"Very toxic to aquatic life"

[kriminologie]

I love this breakdown, thanks.

[Love of Animals]

Congrats on your new tank!

[happycamper]

Exciting, congratulations!