Habitat - Indoor :: 125 gallon and supplies

[chirp]

hello...we are setting up a 125 gallon for our adult female RES.

so far we have, basking area (rocks and soil with planted pothos and spider plants around the perimeter of the basking area.

we have a homemade turtle "access ramp" for the basking area.

we have two, double bulb 36" light fixtures/hoods.

We have a 100 watt heat lamp.

We want to make:

--a canister filter. we are going to use a five gallon bucket and we were thinking of a 4-500 gph water pump. we are following the directions to build one that someone gave on this site.

--A "blockade" around the portion of the tank dedicated to the basking area (the land is very close to the top, so we want to create something so that she cannot escape. so far we are thinking of just some plexiglass and plywood.

here are our questions...

how much light do we need?

Is one 30 watt (36 in) power sun or reptiglo 5.0 enough?

are there other kinds of light bulbs that work well for UVB.

are there any water pumps that you would recommend? Is the 4-500 gph approp. for our 125 gallon tank?

is this 5 gallon bucket large enough for this filter that we want/need to make?

what have you used to decorate the water portion of your tank? we have planted the land/basking area, but she seems to tear apart any floating plants that we have had in her water, we figured planted plants would suffer the same fate.

what's your substrate, if any? why?

any other suggestions?

[zoologist]

here is the link to the only bulb you will ever need. it provides both heat and UVB: http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-100 ... b-lamp.php

substrate: SAND! see the sand FAQ, it will answer everything.

you can use plastic plants to decorate, i've never had a problem with my turt eating them.

[chirp]

thanks...anyone else? we're just trying to make the habitat as best we can...we inherited the turtle from friends who just couldn't keep her anymore. She's already 8 years old and was in a 55 gallon tank. We bought her 125 almost a month ago and we are REALLY looking forward to getting her in it!

[Daniel3507]

i bet she is going to be happy with that. the best thing i can tell you is to read over the main site ALOT

[Chrisbarnett]

yep, just go with the MVB(mercury vapor bulb) that Jess linked to, It's both UVB and heat in one, just make sure you put it directly vertical over the basking area.

About the filter, a 5 gallon bucket should be plenty, you'll have a lot of space for media, thats for sure.

Whatever pump you get, you want it to cycle your tank water 5x or more an hour. I would get a 600GPH pump minumium if you could, or a 650 0r even a 700. You really can't overfilter unless it's a whirlpool. It'll just make less maintenance for you when it's all set up.

Are you going to make a "skippy" style filter?

[chirp]

what's a skippy style filter?

[Chrisbarnett]

Nevermind, I don't know what I was thinking, Skippy filters are for massive ponds, sorry about that,
heres a link to a skippy filter anyway.
http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

[untsmurf]

I have a 125 gallon. Here's a list of all the accouterments:
- 2 XP3's
- one 36'' hood lamp
- above tank basking area
- three airstones
- floating log
- 2 submersible heaters
- one underwater light
- underwater log hide
- underwater bridge hide
- 10-12 fake plants ranging in height from 6''-18''
- about 3 handfuls of river rocks
- 3 thermometers
- veggie clip
- sand substrate

quick pic, this was right after we put the sand in:

[Daniel3507]

i never noticed your basking area had a door. thats so cool. and you have an underwater light?

[untsmurf]

Yup! We come complete with locking door. I figured that we would want to have easy access to the basking area, so a door was our only option.

The underwater light is on the bottom left part of the tank behind the log. We have to get this power junction thing to hook up the second one we got, it'll go underneath the basking area.

[Daniel3507]

i like the door idea.
do you like how the underwater lights have worked? ive been thinking about getting some just for fun

[untsmurf]

They're pretty cool. I'm really excited to see how it lights up underneath the basking area, since a lot of light is being blocked out of that area now. If it works well enough, we're considering taking off the hood lamp altogether. It'll save a lot of electricity and we can wrap the egg crate in something to prevent evaporation.

[Daniel3507]

sounds like you got it all planned out! im pretty jealous of your tank. haha

[untsmurf]

It's taken a long time and not a lot of going out. It seems that all of our money/time goes to one of the animals.