New turtle pond.

[SnakeyeZ]

We've decided we're running out of space on the main floor and our cichlids will need a larger tank soon so I built this over the last few days for our turtle, Cosmo.

He'll be moving downstairs into the reptile room once I get it all up and running. I have to add flat rocks, river rock some driftwood and cork bark yet, but it's almost there!

So far I have only spent $20 on the preformed pond which I picked up used locally, which is great! Everything else was left overs from other jobs I had scraps from around the house. It's frame is reinforced 2x4's and it's built solid to hold the weight of the water. The outside casing is actually left overs from our shed. I am also going to be using expandible foam on the inside of the case around the underside of the pond to help support the weight and prevent sagging or flexing.

I have a new Fluval cannister to filter it as well. I'll be sure to add pictures when it's all running! I'm super stoked. Pretty good life for an unwanted RES!

 

[Edna]

SSHHHH! He doesn't know he's adopted! That looks like it's going to be a wonderful set-up for a water turtle!!

 

[wellington]

Can't wait to see more pics. Lucky guy

 

[Jacqui]

What a great bargain on the pool! It's gonna be wonderful.

 

[ascott]

AWESOME!!!! and beautiful turtle....

 

[SnakeyeZ]

What a great bargain on the pool! It's gonna be wonderful.

I thought so too! So I jumped on the oppertunity. One mans garbage is another mans treasure.

Thanks for all the comments so far... I'll update in a few days if anything else changes.

 

[Idusa]

Gosh, that looks wonderfull. Wish I had the space and skilles to make that for my girls. Look forwards to see the end resulte!

 

[LindaF]

Nice set up! Cosmo is one very lucky turtle!

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Thanks everyone! I wish I had enough room to take on another rescue. I love aquatic turtles.

 

[terryo]

I wish all the unwanted RES (and there are so many) could have a home like that. He will love it.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Me too Terry. I really wish I had the space because I would take 10 of them and give them a gigantic pond. I don't have space, so 9 others will hafta help me give an unwanted pet a home.

 

[Nixxy]

That's an awesome setup. I'm definitely going to build a rig like that this summer for mine.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Thanks! I just finished it today, got the filter hooked up and put him in it. Seems really shy and is hanging out at the bottom but he'll get used to it. I'll post some updated pictures later.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Thanks! I just finished it today, got the filter hooked up and put him in it. Seems really shy and is hanging out at the bottom but he'll get used to it. I'll post some updated pictures later.

As promised - Here's some pictures of the new pond all setup. I think it turned out great.

Here's a quick video!



And here's Cosmo's setup when we first took him in. He was kept in a 10 gallon his whole life with no heat/UVB source and only 3-4 inches of water with one rock. So I had thought that this 25 gallon was nice for him at the time as a temporary solution. I had upgraded him when we bought our house two years ago.

He was living in our living room for two years until recently when I decided to build the pond in the reptile room. This is a 50 gallon tank which will now be by cichlid tank in a few weeks.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

A quick tutorial since a member on another forum asked, figured I would post here too.

First step is selecting your pond. Essentially your building a box around it so you need this first! lol.

I flipped my pond upside down and traced the outter edge onto the wood. I then measure the end of the pond lip to the pond basin itself and then I transfered those measurements onto the wood aswell (not pictured).

I then cut out where my pond will drop into, and built a base around the underside for the legs and rest of the base to be screwed into.

Then, I took measurement of how high I need to make my pond. I didn't leave much room from the bottom of the pond to the bottom of the frame. I did make it quite strong and put support all over to avoid any bowing or sagging.

I cut and painted my sides. I used exterior paneling left over from my shed.

I then screwed in the sides. I may add a nice decorative corner molding one day but for now I just left it like this. Once I had the sides on I flipped the whole thing over and I sprayed the bottom exterior of the tub with Pam (cooking spray) and used Great Stuff to fill the void from the bottom of the frame to the bottom of the tub. This will help support it similiar to how bathtubs are done these days. The cooking spray is so the Great Stuff doesn't stick to the pond and I can remove it for cleaning if needed. It'll be premolded to the ponds shape and keep it supported properly.

The rest was cosmetic. I added PVC in the corners to stuff plants into and decorative river rock and a large peice of flat lime stone for a good basking spot.

 

[Edna]

That is a wonderful set-up. RES never had it so good!

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

So cool!

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Thanks for the compliments. He's been in it for a few weeks now and seems to really be enjoying the space.