Yet another update on Squirtle's tank upgrade*Update & Pics*

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Well, I was unable to get a hold of the person who knew the guy who was selling the 56 gallon cube tank, so I wasn't able to get that one. However, I found out that my neighbor has a 60 gallon tank they didn't want and they're going to give it to me for free!!! It comes with some stuff, but I won't be able to use most of it. It has a filter that is rated for a 30 gallon tank (the one who's tank it is had gotten it because his girlfriend insisted they have it because she wanted salt water fish, even though his mom had said no and it's just been sitting around since) It looks like the person who had it before had it only filled about half way with water, so the 30 gallon filter was probably usable for their use, but I plan on filling it up a lot more than that, so that filter won't work. It also has a heater, which is also rated for up to 30 gallons, so I'll probably have to get another one of those too... I have something that I can put the tank on, so I'm good there. biggrin I'm so excited! I probably won't be able to set it up though until Monday at the earliest because I have to get the supplies for it (I'll be getting the supplies tomorrow) and I work tomorrow and Sunday and my family is going out of town for most of the day on Saturday. I can't wait to get it set up and get Squirtle in it! I'll make sure I take pictures when he is in it and post them! biggrin  

[Vanilla eXee]

You can use the 30g filter in addition to whatever filter you buy, it's good to have a couple of filters onthe tank Just incase. Same with the heater, they say you should keep two heaters, one of them set a few degrees below your target temp, that way if the main one fails, the second one will kick on before the water gets too cold. >.> I use two out of necessity, neither of mine work very well.

Awesome find though! Squirtle is gonna love it, I'm so excited for you guys!  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

I'll do that, thanks for the suggestion! I'm sure he will! He seems so miserable in the tank he's in now. I too am very excited and cannot wait to get it set up and get him in it! biggrin  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

I got the tank and I've been doing a lot of work to get it ready. It badly needed to be cleaned and it needed new silicone. The old silicone that was on it was letting water through. I could tell that because when I moved it, there was water under it. I had to scrape off all the old silicone (which was a pain in the butt) and put on new silicone. I didn't pick up enough silicone, so I have to go out to get more today so I can finish. I also carefully scraped off the calcium deposits that were on it. I picked up a canister filter that will filter up to 100 gallons and a heater for 65-90 gallon tanks. With me having a filter that powerful, will I really need to use the one that I got with it? I also have found that the center plastic brace across the top of the tank is broken... Is there any way I can repair it or anything I can put on the tank to help keep the tank from breaking? I'm researching it now and I'm reading that it's there to keep the tank from bowing. So far, the only options that I'm seeing is to either replace the trim, though I'd need to know the manufacturer of the tank, and I have no idea what the manufacturer is, or to use aluminum or some kind of metal and use 2 part epoxy to attach it to the top of the tank where the brace is. I'm not sure how thick the glass is. I read that on older tanks where the glass is thicker, the bar is just there to hold the hood up, but in newer ones, it's also there to keep the glass from bowing in the center. I'm liking the idea of using aluminum on it but was wondering if there were any other suggestions.

Edit: I've decided on using aluminum. smile I'm going to be getting the supplies I need for that today too. smile One thing is certain, all this time, energy, and effort I'm using on this aquarium is certainly worth it! biggrin  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

I got the tank set up on Monday and put Squirtle in the tank on Tuesday! Squirtle is much happier in the bigger tank! He's been happily swimming around in it and I haven't seen him sitting around on his floating dock or just sitting around in the water like he had been in the 20 gallon long tank he was in before. I'm so happy I was finally able to get him a bigger tank! biggrin I haven't gotten around to uploading the pictures onto photobucket yet, but I'll be posting them probably either sometime later today or tomorrow! biggrin  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Here are the pictures! biggrin

Here's the tank after I had finished with all the work on it. I had already put the filter tubing in the tank so I knew where on the lid I had to cut so that I could put the lid on the tank (it's a screen lid). I wish I had taken pictures of what it looked like before I started working on it. It looks like a different tank. biggrin





Here's Squirtle after I had put him on the floating dock in the tank:



Here's some of Squirtle in the water:





And here's the set up:





I'll add some decorations when I can better afford to. Even though I didn't spend anything on the tank itself, It was expensive to get it fixed up as well as to upgrade the filter and heater... I also want to get him a bigger floating dock when I can better afford to.  

[Vanilla eXee]

Squirtle must be in turtle heaven right now! Awesome job!  

[CrissAngelLover12345]

Vanilla eXee

Squirtle must be in turtle heaven right now! Awesome job!

He is! Thank you! He doesn't know what to do with himself in there! It feels good to see him so happy! I hardly ever see him on his floating dock now during the day. Ever since he first went into the water, he's been staying in it pretty much all day and only going onto the floating dock at night to sleep. He's also very enthusiastic about eating again! He also swims as close to me as he can get when I go in my room and keeps trying to get closer when he gets to the glass!

When he was in the 20 gallon, he started to loose interest in food, and when he did eat, he wasn't very enthusiastic about it. He also had moped around, either just sitting/sleeping on his floating dock or sitting/sleeping in the water, hardly swimming around. He wasn't even swimming up to me like he used to. I could tell he wasn't very happy in it at all. I wish he had been in the bigger tank all along, but my parents don't usually do much research to find out how to properly take care of animals, and I couldn't afford a bigger tank. I could barely afford to repair this one and upgrade the filter and heater, but I'm happy I did. biggrin