So my original plan was to get 100 gallon stock tank for 2 RES (Biggest i could fit in my town home.) Then all hell broke lose it seemed. My maintenance guy at my last place got in contact with me and told me that there was an abandoned turtle and he new i had turtles. So i took that turtle. It ended up having lived in a beta fish tank with no light. Its shell was very soft.
This turtle was a baby. It had to be about the size of a 50 cent piece. I but it in a 15 gallon tank and let it get some UV's. It shell hardened up nicely over the couple days after i received it. Then i talked to one of my friend who had experience with turtles and had them before. She really wanted a reptile pet so i decided that since i cant keep it with my other two ( I was afraid of the size difference) she could have it for free along with the 15 gallon tank and a filter rated for a 20 gallon aquarium i had laying around.
Just when i was about to give the little guy to her the maintenance guy comes over again and says he found another abandoned turtle in an apartment. This one had been without food or water for over two weeks. He said he walked it and all that was there was a turtle that wasnt moving much. It broke my heart when he brought the turtle to me. It had dried out skin and cracking lips. It was not moving when I received it so i thought he was too late.
I took a chance and put the turtle in the sink with some water but not enough water to cover its head since it was soo weak and wouldn't moved. I picked it up 40 minutes later and started touching it legs and to my joy it flinched. So i grabbed a UV light and filled the sink up more. Placed the light on her and after a few hours she began to come more and more out of her shell. I then had no choice but put her in the 15 gallon tank and moved the baby turtle back to its small tank.
The second turtle wouldn't eat for days but i finally got her to eat some tuna. Then with each passing day she got better and better and starting showing her personality.
After all this i gave the small turtle and tank to the girl i promised and moved into my new place. I slowly introduced my new turtle in with my other turtles. They seemed to love her and almost watch over her since she was smaller then they were.
So after all this i decided i couldn't just give this girl turtle away. I had cared for her and grown attached. I decided to keep her with the other two. Things have been amazing with all 3 of them and they get along really well.
Now for my setup. I had already purchased the 100 gallon stock tank for 80 bucks and could not return it. I had limited money so decided i would keep all 3 in the stock tank until i move into a bigger place in around 8 months.
Here is a picture and description below:
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100 gallon stock tank
Rounded Flagstone piece on top of large bricks
Generic brand pond filter i got for 70 bucks which also included a build int uv sterilizer. Was rated for 800-1200 gph.
800 GPH pump for 55 dollars from ebay
Then i bought pond hosing from home depot for 16 dollars
Total i spent around 200-250 dollars
The think stays crystal clear so far (Has been a little over a week)
Its not finished but i will update this thread when i figure out some other good decorations.
T