WARNING: Technical and potentially boring post ahead!
I'm trying to idiot-proof my apartment for whomever has the pleasure of living here while I'm in LA. This is most difficult and important when it comes to my pets. My poor turle Esmerelda, who started life as a tiny drop of a reptile in a dixie cup on a Chinatown street corner (now nearly 8"), has graduated to ever-larger tanks until 2 years ago, when she took a step backward in habitat size as I moved to a small studio apartment sublet. She went from 55 rectangular gallons to 46 hexagonal gallons. For those uninitiated into aquarium geometry, the bigger a tank gets, the longer it gets, generally speaking. So, she was used to length. The hex tank gave her great depth - even standing on her tippy toes, her nose barely reached the surface. This is how I discovered that my turtle loves to dive, not just swim, but lurch into the water and splash around happily. Since the 55 gallon tank went away with my apartment renovations, Esmerelda's been stuck in tall but cramped quarters ever since. That will all change in the coming weeks.
After exhaustive research and comparison shopping (and selling off lots of old computer and electronic equipment on Craigs List in order to fund this endeavor), I settled on an All-Glass Aquarium 65 gallon tank and stand. Problem is, that's not a popular size and only 2 places on the East Coast carry it - and I was in no mood to drive out to Pittsburgh; but Copiague, Long Island? That I can handle with a ZipCar; and so I made the trek to Pets Warehouse today.
I also took the initative and designed a new ramp/basking platform for her, having it manufactured to spec at Canal Plastics, fittingly, just blocks from her original purchase in Chinatown. Picked that up today, too. Thank G-d plexi-glass is cheap!
The final technical hurdle in this habitat project is a new idiot-proof filtration system. Right now I'm using a powerful cannister filter (Fluval 304), but the priming sucks, and it's a huge pain in the ass to clean. So, emboldened by examples set by industrious and clever fellow-red-eared-slider owners, I decided to try an externally hung bio-wheel type filter - retrofitted to eliminate (or at least decrease) the waterfall effect which is bound to happen in a turtle tank. For the aquatic turtle uninitiated: Aquatic turtles need plenty of H2O to swim in and a dry refuge under full-spectrum UVA/UVB lighting and heat to dry out their shells, too. This means that the tank isn't filled all the way to the top. So, if you've got water pouring like a waterfall out of a filter, it'll have farther to fall in a turtle tank, thus splashing and making an awful racket and mess. The real virtue of this filter? It takes standard cartridges. So, whatever pet-sitter is tending Esmerelda in my stead can just pull out the old dirty cartridges and stick new clean ones in. That's it. Simple, huh? Of course there will be the occassional addition of water and the daily feeding, but that's pretty easy. Oh, and I got a timer, so the lights will go on and off automatically.
All of this will take another week+ to assemble and run before actually placing Esmerelda into her new playground. I can't wait. Neither can she - the new unassembled kit sits across from her current tank, so she swims up next it and stares intently through the glass.
As for my the rest of my menagerie, I've been looking into automated cat feeders & waterers and the ultimate in feline care: the self-flushing litter box. They have similar products to handle my fish as well (the feeding, not the pooping)...
I'll be passing on my hex tank on to my niece and her new smaller turtle Harry (named after Harry Potter, of course). And we'll convert Harry's current tank into a fish tank for my other niece, reusing the hood/filter combo I have from a past aquarium. My nephew already has 2 fish and 2 frogs set-up in his room, so he's good to go, pet-wise.
So, I feel virtuous in simplifying the care and nurturing of my pets and the recycling of used materials to care for my family's critters. If only I could simplify my actual pets... They're just affection whores, especailly the turtle, believe it or not. I guess we all are in this household. That'll be one of the hardest parts about LA - no pets to come home to, missing them all and our routines and cuddles. And missing the biggest cuddle of all: my girlfriend's arms.
