Habitat - Indoor :: Best way to filter

[atagtmeier]

I have a 40 gallon terrarium.... Yes I know, not the best. It currently has a little under 20 gallons I am thinking. I have a filter that came with a starter kit I bought and I believe it was rated for 44 gallon/minute. It is fairly loud and the tank sits in our living room. I was looking around and saw canister filters. IS it ok to use a canister filter for this amount of water? I am hoping to buy a regular 40 gallon tank in a couple months. And what is the best type and size of canister filter to purchase? I have seen several reviews but I dont really trust product reviews all that much.

[BullDog]

There is smaller canister filters you can buy from almost all of the brands that sell the large canister filters. You could also go for an internal tank, but being a terrarium, you're already short on swimming space, so you may not want to take up more room with the filter.

I would recommend skipping buying a 40 gallon regular tank and go for as big as you can afford. Your RES will outgrow a 40 gallon tank in about a year (assuming he's currently a hatchling). A 55 gallon tank will last him/her at least a few years, and a 75 gallon tank will last for many years (and may or may not be suitable as a "forever" tank).

With whatever tank size you end up getting, you'll want to make sure you have a filter rated at least 3x the gph of your tank size.

[atagtmeier]

My concern is the floor in my apartment. About how much does a 75 gallon weigh when full? I think I may have to get the ok from my land lord. My apartment is on the second floor of an older house and I would hate to wake up or come home to a huge hole in the floor. Right now my RES is about 4 to 5 inches I think. I will have to measure when I get home. No clue how old he is. Bought it at pet smart and they didn't know how old he was.

[seanwb]

If full - 621 lbs + weight of tank + weight of stand

[bover907]

I am using a Rena Filstar XP3 on a setup nearly identical to yours. I'm willing to bet you a pet store person told you to buy that terrarium because your turtle only needed 4 inches of water, right? Did you go to the Wilkes-Barre PA Petsmart? (J/K, lol).

That's what happened to me, anyway. Unfortunately, since I wasted so much money on this lady's initial advice.(At least $250 wasted!!!), Squirt has to do with this setup for at least a year. He's 5 to 5½ inches, so I am technically 15 gal tank size too small, and it sucks that I've only got it half full.

With that said, I maximized my tank space by making a cork bark basking area that he can swim under, and the XP3 keeps it sparkling clean since it's such overkill, and I suspect it will do just as well on a 75 or 90gal tank when I get it next year.

For now, squirt is healthy and seems happy since this setup is lightyears away from what he was in at the pet store.

http://bover907.com/bover907/images/IMG_0817.JPG

http://bover907.com/bover907/images/IMG_0818.JPG

http://bover907.com/bover907/images/IMG_0819.JPG

http://bover907.com/bover907/images/IMG_0816.JPG

The lighting doesn't do the pics any justice, the water is sparkling clear and totally odor free. Only thing you can smell is the cork, since I only put it in last week. It has a sweet smell.

[atagtmeier]

That is about what the petsmart guy told me. lol. Aparently not all that smart. That is about the setup I got. Instead of a cork bark though I have a plexi shelf. Seems to work out pretty good.

[bover907]

Yeah, and a 40 gal breeder actual aquarium has the exact same dimensions and the glass even looks like the same thickness. The lady at petsmart told me I should get the terrarium though, because of the locking screen lid which she told me I could just rest my uvb light on. That'd make the uvb light useless. I wish I'd found this site two days earlier, because I'd have taken the terrarium back and gotten the actual aquarium because it was only $10 more!

I almost bought a 75gal tank last week, but it looks too narrow vs length compared to the 40 gal (48x12 where the 40 is 36x18... it just seems bigger and gives more 'turnaround space'). Since his enclosure is already marginally small, I figured it'd be best to stick with that until I can get or custom build the tank with the dimensions I want.

[atagtmeier]

I hear ya bover. It was a spur of the moment thing for us. Me and my girlfriend hopped online the next day and found this site. A day too late. Oh well. Have to make it work for now. I asked my landlord about the 75 gal tank and he gave a very fast no. lol. Have to wait untill I buy my own house.

[Mech Cb]

Same thing happened to me. My local pet store sent me home with a 15 gal terranium and told me only enough water to go over his shell is all he needs. On top of that, I didn't know that the screen would block UV's, so I had my light above it. I'm fortunant enough to not be rich, but still have enough income that I've already upgraded to a 40 gal aquarium and a better filter. Next month, I'm going to buy another filter though(or upgrade again) and upgrade my lighting setup. I may even buy some bigger rocks(I'll be pulling the current ones out this weekend).

[francinemarie]

wow i love your cork bark basking area! where di you buy your cork bark?

[bover907]

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=229266#229266
In that post, I put a link to the ebay store where I got the cork bark, as well as a youtube video by a girl named Patsy, which is the video I got the idea from. She shows exactly how to set it up.

BTW... thanks, for reminding me, It's been a week and I didn't feedback the ebay seller! their service and price were great. You actually end up buying the actual pictured piece so you know exactly what piece of cork bark you're getting.

[francinemarie]

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=229266#229266
In that post, I put a link to the ebay store where I got the cork bark, as well as a youtube video by a girl named Patsy, which is the video I got the idea from. She shows exactly how to set it up.

BTW... thanks, for reminding me, It's been a week and I didn't feedback the ebay seller! their service and price were great. You actually end up buying the actual pictured piece so you know exactly what piece of cork bark you're getting.

oh i looked into them before, thanks . did you have to do anything to the cork bark before you put it in the tank?

haha & you're welcome

[bover907]

She didn't in the video, but I wanted to be sure it was sterile, so I put mine in a 200°F oven for about 45 minutes to make sure it was sterile and nothing was living in it. It took a good while to cool. Cork bark has a sweet smell, and the whole house had a sweet cork smell while it was in the oven, lol.