first try at bulding a 40g

[latazyo]

well this is my frist try at building anythign aqua related

this is a 40g pond for my 10yr old slider, it is time for him to move up into a mansion (compared to where he is now, he is miserable)

anyways...any input would be appreciated

first I made the base for the dry land area out of egg crate with window screening atop it to allow water drainage, but to prevent rocks from falling through, I then siliconed the rocks down on the edge, so that the turtle won't knock them into the water when he exits/enters his dry area

I held the structure up with these quickly fashioned pvc legs (not pretty, but they'll never be seen, so they dont' have to be)...for added support, I drilled some holes by the egg crate and cable tied it to the actual bin

I used a piece of vinyl gutter cut down a lot for the path of the water, this won't really ahve the appearance of a stream, but will act as one...the water will come off of the waterfall and into this area where it will flow into the swimming area

and this is what it looks like so far...it is missing bottom substrate (remaining rocks from what is left of the dry land rock) and the waterfall (to be made from slate)

thanks for viewing, please offer suggestions

 

[Mcdaphnia]

I have some suggestions, but they are a little late. A stack of flat rocks in the center of the tub would work better. The turtle could not heave over the side and out as in your design. Turtles are high wear on anything, so rocks hold up better. Permanent installations tend to accumulate hot spots of turtle waste that can't be cleaned up. Rocks can be pulled out and cleaned and put back in with little trouble. Powerhead and its sponge intake can be buried in the rocks to protect it from the turtles, although protecting the cord can be a problem. My 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tanks have a built in bulkhead fitting. A stand pipe could be attached outside and the cord fed up and out.

However, I find that removing the equipment from reach of the turtle is a good idea. I use a floating piece of driftwood or a thick piece of styrofoam, no filtration, and simply drain and fill a couple times a week.

 

[Mcdaphnia]

Looking at your photo gives the impression that the PVC legs are siliconed to the bottom. Silicone does not stick to PVC. It may come loose if subjected to a little movement.

 

[latazyo]

wow...I am amazed

you are brilliant

and it is not too late to accomodate to those changes...one more thing though

can the turtle simply crawl from the water and escape (and my turtle is an escape artist, so I was already planning on building some sort of barrier (to be determined)

and yes, that is silicone on the pvc pipes

as for the rocks, woudl you suggest some slate-ish or flat rocks

and with my dimensions (36"x26") will he have enough room to swim?

edit: the powerhead is also being used as a waterpump because my dad wanted a very small waterfall/stream in the apparatus...to complicate things further

here is my best friend for the last 10 years that will be getting this new "mansion"

 

[Mcdaphnia]

I can understand why you would be so attached to this turtle after ten years. Since turtle lifespans are as long or longer than humans, your turtle may some day be inherited by your children or grandchildren.

If you are going to build a barrier of some sort, good idea by the way, here is my suggestion, make it sort of a play pen. The bottom of the playpen should be just higher than the 40 gallon vat. Cut a matching hole in the bottom of the playpen, and you can slide the vat in and out to clean it. Save the cutout, screw and glue some scrap boards sticking out over the edges, and it can be dropped in as a lid while you clean the vat. If you have a powerhead that does not need to be submerged, you can have the waterfall out of the vat, and save more swimming room.

My brother and I used to have a "turtle hospital" when we were kids. People would bring in turtles that had been hit by cars, lawnmowers, or tortured by dogs, and we would try to save them. We had many sucesses due to my brother's devotion to the turtles. In our area, they were nearly always box turtles.

 

[latazyo]

I did a similar thing with toads in the area....turtles were a rare Godsend in Montana

but I hope the turtle will be happy, which I can imagine anything will be a step up for him...he's jus tmiseralble where he's at now and this will literally give him about 4 times the room he has to move now

 

[latazyo]

alright, I'm finally done....and I took your advice very well

first of all: the white land mass FAILED pretty miserably, much to my surprise the turtle was unable to get onto it, and as you mentioned the silicone did not hold

so I did what you said....only stacking rocks in the middle provided very little swimming room

so here is the final version of my pond and I'm very happy with it and I think the turtle is too

here is an overall shot...sorry pics are big

and here is the rockscape that I did

underneath teh rocks I have the heater and close by it I have a submersible heater/powerhead which is aimed at the heater to circulate the heated water while at the same time, protecting the equipment from my destructive turtle

thanks for the help!

 

[Huyzel]

Wow, that looks awesome!

nice job.