Posibly inheriting a 150 gal tank may be 125 cant remember

[Jessie Nicoletti]

my aunt is a teacher and has a turtle tank she is retireing and she is geting rid of the 2 turtles so i may be able to get the tank back ( a regular 150 with some plexiglass and silicone i built it myself) now id have to get the stand and i guess id have to upgrade my filtration ( protien skimmer rated for 200 gal should be enough) my wet dry is about 2 ' x 16" it has blue bio balls i may need to upgrade it or dose anyone think i can get away with just adding a new powerfilter to the back if i get it ( aquaclear 110 i have 1 already) i may also need to add a 3rd heater not sure about that yet. now i can take that 90 gallon tank and turn it into a new sump i guess but i can also use that tank as a sicktank/quarentine tank if i get the tank.

i figure i can transfer most of the watter over , shit i think i need to get a new light though unlessi take the light and it covers 48 " of the tank and maybe get a pendant halide for the 2 feet?
tank is 72x 18x23 ( thats a guess)

[Jessie Nicoletti]

can anyone see an issue with useing a tank taht had turtles ?

[Flyboy450r]

How good of a builder are you? Makes me nervous that amount of water in a home built tank. But honestly I cant give you a honest answer I do not know. I wouldn't do it if it was me. Something about it I just wouldn't trust i'm not sure if there is anything that can be transferred from turtles to you reef tank you might be able to clean it with bleach. Id do alot of research before you do anything. And good luck.

[gregony]

Was the tank full of water or did it just have a bit of water at the bottom like most turtle tanks? You said you built it yourself, did you fill it full of water and let it set for a couple of days to make sure it will hold water?
As far as lighting, you can ghetto out and do one halide and put all the light sensitive stuff under it. If I was going to go that cheap I would probably try a cheap 72" fixture like aquatraders and just make sure I don't put anything flammable near the ballasts (although I hear their quality has gotten better), but if you can afford to run a 90g sump (or qt), you should be able to get a decent fixture. How tall is this tank? If it's not that tall, you can probably get away with a T5 fixture.

[Parrothead]

Was the tank full of water or did it just have a bit of water at the bottom like most turtle tanks? You said you built it yourself, did you fill it full of water and let it set for a couple of days to make sure it will hold water?
As far as lighting, you can ghetto out and do one halide and put all the light sensitive stuff under it. If I was going to go that cheap I would probably try a cheap 72" fixture like aquatraders and just make sure I don't put anything flammable near the ballasts (although I hear their quality has gotten better), but if you can afford to run a 90g sump (or qt), you should be able to get a decent fixture. How tall is this tank? If it's not that tall, you can probably get away with a T5 fixture.

I agree with Greg, how much water was actually in the tank, secondly, look at the T-5's if you can't find a 6 footer use 2 3 foot 6 bulb units, more than enough light, next was the tank ever, and I do mean ever treated with any copper based meds, if so You got a whole lot of cleaning to do, basically sterlizing beyond your wildest dreams, or you won't be able to keep corals or inverts in it.

How thick is the plexi????? 150 gallons x 8.5 lbs per gallon, not counting substrate and live rock = 1275 lbs in just water. I'm scared, not sure I'd trust it, fill it up outside and let it set for several days before putting it in the house. And the stand is a whole diff. discussion, add water and about another 1000 lbs for rock and sand, you got over a ton sitting there. Be Careful

[Flyboy450r]

Ok guys I have to ask is there anything to worry about with it having turtles in it in the past or does that not matter. I know when i had reptiles as a kid we had all source of issues with them as far a disease goes or am i just over thinking this. I mean you cant have a reef tank with a tank that has been treated with cooper safe is the same thing possible?

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Ok guys I have to ask is there anything to worry about with it having turtles in it in the past or does that not matter. I know when i had reptiles as a kid we had all source of issues with them as far a disease goes or am i just over thinking this. I mean you cant have a reef tank with a tank that has been treated with cooper safe is the same thing possible?

I wouldn't think turtles are any different than other livestock housed in a tank. I do know that turtles extremely heavy polluters and carry salmonella. The tank would have to be cleaned multiple times with vinegar at the very least. Maybe even a bleach solution. The same could be done for a tank that has been treated with copper but it's a long and tedious task if you do it right. I almost bought a used 90 gallon RR but it had been treat copper. If I was starting fresh, I probably would have picked up and gave it a shot but since I would be transferring my current livestock, I didn't want to take the risk.

[Jessie Nicoletti]

Was the tank full of water or did it just have a bit of water at the bottom like most turtle tanks? You said you built it yourself, did you fill it full of water and let it set for a couple of days to make sure it will hold water?
As far as lighting, you can ghetto out and do one halide and put all the light sensitive stuff under it. If I was going to go that cheap I would probably try a cheap 72" fixture like aquatraders and just make sure I don't put anything flammable near the ballasts (although I hear their quality has gotten better), but if you can afford to run a 90g sump (or qt), you should be able to get a decent fixture. How tall is this tank? If it's not that tall, you can probably get away with a T5 fixture.

let me rephrase what the tank is its a standard 125 AGA tank ( all glass aquarium(company) i used plexiglass to divide the tank into a resivoir/minisump a ramp/swiming area with a mini water fall built out of silcone rocks plastic tubeing and a pump and a dry area for the turtles i didnt build the whole thing just cutomized it for turtles it was filled maybe 1/4th of the way in 2/3rds of the tank the center has a pump with a plexiglass cover witch feeds the mini waterfall in the swiming portion

also i will not know for sure if im geting it till the end of the school year i may buy one by then although price scares me a bit if anyone in westchester county ny hapens to be selling a 125 or 150 let me know or a stand or sump ( mine may be a bit too small im not sure)