Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: New RES caregiver

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Post Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:04 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Have you worked with PVC before? They have cement that will weld the pieces together. Then that part would connect to the hose.
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:49 am   Re: New RES caregiver

I build houses for a living. But never have built a turtle house before. lol So I am a little familiar with PVC, and how it's applied together. I was worried more about the adverse effects the glue would have on the turtles and the fact that silicone really doesn't adhere to PVC well.
What I ended up doing was building he entire intake from schedule 80 electrical PVC, which is dark grey. all threaded and used heavy duty thread seal tape to, hopefully, prevent any air/water leaks. If it doesn't work I'll have to resort to PEX, it does come in a nice pretty blue or red as well as white.
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 11:07 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

I'm not a big fan of people using silicone on the filter tubes either. Can you post pics of the DIY? It would be interesting to take a look at.

This is what I've seen before:

Image

I've also imagined using a large air line tube to encase the intake sections.
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Post Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:09 am   Re: New RES caregiver

damn. i thought this was it. good one steve...
Last edited by Gracie Turts on Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:40 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Image
Our current setup
Our new tank with the mods for the intake for our new XP4
Image
Image
Image
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:31 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Better late than never....
I'm feeling your pain on the inability to find something that fits the intake. I recently tried to improvise when I had to drastically lower the water level. I came to learn that my XP3 (presumably all XP whatevers) are deliberately so proprietary that people are forced to buy their product. I bought ever size of tubing possible. As a stop-gap I had to take a tube from a gravel filter, put it inside the intake part that goes over the tank...and then connect that to a hose, and then shove that hose into the grill and duct tape it....not a solution, but hopefully you will get the point that those XP things are not easy to adapt.

**Regarding your question about filter media**, you may want to start a new post. I have, however found that the bio-rings or bio-stars are a good filler for empty space.
There is a filter guru on this forum who has gone into great detail on filters. That is why I suggest posting a new item in the Equipment Forum.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145

**Regarding your concern**
I'm a bit brain dead
...is your biggest concern that they will take apart the intake components and get their little arms stuck? If yes. Try aquarium sealant (ugly, but safe and strong)

or is it that the intake grates are too wide or the current is too strong and will hurt the little one's arm? in that case I would buy some grating (the stuff in the lighting section of the hardware store that is made for office lights) it is easy to cut and maneuver....maybe cut it into a few strips, and secure them on the edges with strip ties to make a little "cage" around the intake - I am envisioning a triangle. You'll have a lot of grating left over, but it comes in handy as an anti-escape device.

If your concern is the need for additional filtration, well I have an XP3 you can have, but you will still have to contend with the intake issue.

Good Luck and best Wishes!!!!
"I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights"
~ "Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories" by Dr. Seuss ~
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:00 am   Re: New RES caregiver

Looks really nice, you even added a cap to prime it! I hope you don't mind, I changed the images to full size ones from the thumbnails (there were no links to the full-size ones or to a gallery page).

I forgot to suggest using the spay bar as an intake tube but I see you're using it :)
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Post Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:07 am   Re: New RES caregiver

Thank you for making the picture larger -a great difference of opinion here.
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:43 am   Re: New RES caregiver

nope, don't mind at all that you made them larger, I attempted to and prolly would have figured it out at some point lol, but I was a bit tired when I posted them and my mmind wouldn't function like I would have liked at the time. So I appreciate you doing it for me :)
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 5:07 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Let us know how it works out! I'm going to have to google electrical PVC...
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Post Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:31 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

some of the parts are from the lawn sprinkler section. I bought everything at Lowes, but I'm sure most hardware stores and Home Depot will have everything needed. In case someone does need to make mods. I hope what I came up with can help someone else that may be less mechanically inclined.
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:17 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Everything has worked pretty good. Learned a lot about the media that might work better for turtles on this forum. We did replace the spray bar with leftover tubing from what came with the filter and the little jet attachement that comes with the XP4 fit perfectly but very snugly on the end. The spray bar just does not seem to move the water enough. You guys probobly already know this though right? Live and learn lol. Clarence seems fine without his waterfall that he loved. Now he just plays in the jetstream. The XP4 has worked very well keeping the tank crystal clear, though we do feed the large female foster turtle in a seperate tank. Today is her last day with us. She has finally been accepted into a rescue were she will get the space she deserves. Its a sad/happy day. Clarence (my forever turtle) will be happy to get his tank back to himself. Thank you everyone for all the valuable advice. I would have been lost without this forum. Clarence thanks you also :)
Last edited by twoam on Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:02 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

Gracie Turts wrote:damn. i thought this was it. good one steve...



Can you let us know what this comment means so we can follow along? Thanks so much :)
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:20 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

All of us veteran forum users have been trying to coax Steve to show us his turtles and tanks but he won't give in. But its only a matter of time, muahahahaha!!!!!
http://www.photobucket.com/Toku
Toku's build thread, click link below;
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34068
2 Male Rio Grande RES
1 Spiny Softshell

"Live Life"
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:17 pm   Re: New RES caregiver

twoam wrote:
Gracie Turts wrote:damn. i thought this was it. good one steve...



Can you let us know what this comment means so we can follow along? Thanks so much :)


naw i just thought the picture steve posted was his own tank.
i mean it'd be cool to see steve's set-up and stuff, but
all I'M asking for, is any info on his turts. age, sex, personality anything...
of course, you can't tell us their traits without including any pictures. :D
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