Cave Aquarium Build Journal

[Fishperson]

Wow. All this is quite the project huh? Can you post more pictures of the plants and scape if you have a chance?

 

[schoeplein]

I would highly advise coating your wood surfaces with a water protectant and a sealant. They sell both in spray cans at your local hardware store (home depot).

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[vexxiang]

Heading to the store to get some waterproof sealant to work on the hood today.

Here are some aquascape shots so far. Going to add some more mid ground plants on the right side and short ones along the back of the center. My scape is intended to be a u shape.

 

[vexxiang]

Closeup of what my "cave" became, a stack of rocks. There is a lot of hollow space inside for fish to hide if they want to.

 

[vexxiang]

Competed aquarium stand.

 

[vexxiang]

Interior of the hood. Only one bulb in the fixture at the moment. Hinged top opens up for working on the aquarium without taking the while hood off. Stays up with a small bracket. Thermometer set up inside. The white egg crate pulls up and out in 2 sections to get to the water, and a hole for feeding through.

 

[Fishperson]

Looks good! Seems like a lot of work.

 

[vexxiang]

A lot of work and some disappointments but it's been really fun so far. Can't wait to get the turtle in there!

 

[vexxiang]

Installed a second bulb, a 32w 48" Aqueon Floramax, paired with the existing 32w 48" Aqueon Colormax. Hoping this will be enough for some good plant growth.

I don't have my fan installed and it looks like that's going to be a must. Getting some warm temps due to the lights. Fan is ordered and on the way.

 

[Thumper828]

That cabinet looks great..the hood really gives it a professional look..tank is coming along great to..!

 

[vexxiang]

Turtle arrives Wed!

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[vexxiang]

Here's a pic of the turtle. I ordered from TurtleShack.com. Came in a poorly packaged tiny box. I ordered 2 ice packs to keep it cool and there was only 1. Their "best" labeled shipping option was 2nd day air, but I don't think that was good enough. The box was super hot, inside and out, the ice pack was completely melted and hot...and inside was one turtle that appears to be dead as a doornail.

The instructions said they would be in hibernation but this doesn't look like he's sleeping. The eyes look open and frosted over.

We're pretty bummed here.

 

[Brookster123]

Turtles are hardcore.. sorry to hear that they botched the delivery but he my not be dead

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[vexxiang]

I've got him in the water they recommended, and I emailed the seller...I'm going to keep him in there for up to 48 hours, at least until I get a suggestion from the seller. You never know!

 

[clarkm]

What type is it ?


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[vexxiang]

Stinkpot musk.

 

[vexxiang]

Nope, dead.

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[Pleco1st]

Oh poor little guy!! I hope you get it figured out!

 

[Fishperson]

Well. Thats just dumb. You better get a full refund for that.

 

[vexxiang]

Not sure yet. They are not good at timely responding to emails. As I understand it they want me to freeze and ship back the corpse at my own expense, then get a "credit for the animal" and have a new one shipped out. Definitely worthless if they expect me to pay shipping charges there and back. That doesn't make sense since it will cost me around $10 to ship the box back plus another $26 to have a new turtle shipped out, just for a $20 in-store credit. But even then I assume the new turtle will be shipped in the same inadequate packaging.

My goal isn't to kill a bunch of turtles. I might end up ordering from a more reputable company and then fight the charge with them.

I've been reading bad things about this company. We'll see what happens.