# Aiming for the Musk (turtle) Aquascape



## Davelarave (Aug 23, 2015)

Hi all,

I look after two female musk turtles about 5yrs old now, keep them with a school of wild green neons, tens of shrimp, Malaysian trumpet snails and a young bulldog Pleco.

I long for an aquascaped tank, like many turtle owners and know deep down that it could be futile. Nonetheless here are my efforts.

Step 1: Tank upgrade!
Old tank: homemade 3ft x 12" x 18" made with bathroom door glass :bash:

New tank: 4ft x 19" x 18" brace-less tank with optiwhite 10mm thick glass. From Aquariums (manufacturing) Ltd. at fishfanatics.co.uk - beware the 15wk lead time!

Step 2: Lights!
Old lights: Arcadia light starter/ controller for twin 18w T8 tubes, in which I used 2.0 (UVB) and 5.0 reptiglo tubes. Fixed to a homemade lid (pallet wood slats).

New lights: I want a sleek light unit but no lid, the T5 odyssea unit (pictured below) looked suitable and at £45 I figured it was perfect bar the light tubes that I would replace anyway. I did not understand what T5 8 or 12 meant so I stupidly bought it. 

At the same time I ordered 40w versions of the above tubes 120cm long - on delivery I learnt my mistake. T8 does not fit a T5 and controller wattage is important for correct running of the tubes.

My plan for correction is not to buy the correct exo terra control unit (£30 on ebay), it is instead to combine what I have and buy a new electronic ballast.

Reasons: a) can't be bothered to resell the two units I have,
b) The tube connections of the Arcadia unit are IP67 versus the exo terra ones (IP64?66?).
c) the T5 hood unit that holds the tubes is nice and I haven't seen a suitable replacement to fit the tubes into.

So I need the correct ballast to power my tubes, I think the following parts will work:

2off these: AC 220V-240V Electronic Fluorescent Lamp Ballast for T8 Light Tube (361230900037) £5 each on eBay, new but what's the quality of those components?? I'll investigate their quality against the guts of the Odessa control board.


Awaiting update for all the pictures I'm missing - there will be lots, I owe lots to well pictured blogs!


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