Habitat - Indoor :: New setup. Need help with basking area

[a_rice]

So I FINALLY got my tank set up after a couple weeks. I put Hank and Harley in today and so far they seem to be enjoying it. Right now I have a temporary basking area which is their floating dock from the smaller tank. I want to do something neat for their basking area but I can't get crazy experience. Also, the hard part, I'm having problems with what to do and where to put the lighting. The aquarium came with the hood you see in the picture but it really doesn't allow for much room for the UVB light and basking lamp. I have temporarily hung them from the ceiling until I figure out what to do. Should I remove the hood and get another type of light source for the tank? I love how bright it is tho. I can really watch everyone that is in there. Another this is that I have cats so I can just leave it open all the time. Before, I had it in the bedroom so I could lock them out but now I have the tank in the livingroom. I am going to post some pictures so you can see all this. Another thing is that I have been reading that if there is a lot of black in their shell it is bad. I'm pretty sure mine have the thick black seams. What do I do to fix this? Right now I feed them reptomin pellets and sometimes freeze dried shrimps as a snack along with leafy green lettuce about once a week. Thanks in advance for all your help! Ps. I love this site because everyone is so helpful and I have learned so much!

[a_rice]

More pics.

[a_rice]

Last one

[ljapa]

You have a tank with a middle divider, like I have on my 55 gallon. I too hav a cat.

What I did was got a hood and glass to go on one side and then built an acrylic ATBA. It's ugly, but it works. I'd really lie to hang my basking/UVB from the ceiling, so I can adjust. Righ now, I hust have clip lights on the basking area.

[a_rice]

Can you post a pic? I'd love to see it.

[ljapa]

This weekend maybe. In the last few weekly water changes, I've not scrubbed the glass well, and I'd be embarrassed to post the state of my tank.

You can seem the ATBA on the 20 gallon we started with, when it wasn't covered in hads water stains, or algae on the ramp in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=33092

[steve]

Looks good, the sand looks great in there. Cork bark is great if you can find it in the right size. So simple, 100% natural and looks good too. What's wrong with it hanging from the ceiling... maybe you can get some nice pendant light fixtures. Or have a nice wall shelf for clamp lamps. How often are they getting shrimp/pellets? You can usually cut down a lot more than you think.

[a_rice]

Thanks for the ideas. I worry that the lights aren't close enough hanging from the ceiling like that. They haven't basked in the new tank yet. The water is 78. When do they grow out of the hatchlings stage? Isn't their water temp supposed to be lower when they are older? Anyways, as far as feeding I give them a few pellets in the morning, maybe 5 or 6, and then some for dinner when I get home. Prob double what I give them in the morning.

[cutepanda86]

Sometimes the basking can be tricky when dealing with a new setup. It took my Sheldon a week before he ate anything and then he took almost another week before he basked (appearently he doesn't adjust well, lol). They are small so I would think that 78 would be ok but I know for a fact that Sheldon (he's 6") won't get out of the water once it gets above 74. Cute setup.

[slider_keeper]

I like the idea of hanging the lights from the ceiling, I have my MVB hung from the wall, you can see it in my build thread of my signature. I will be hanging some non-UVB full spectrum fluorescent tubes from the ceiling when I get a chance to do the work.

[steve]

What's the temp on the basking area?

[a_rice]

It's about 85.

[steve]

That's good... what's the wattage on the bulb?