Some background:
1. I have 2 rather large RES. A male with a 6 inch carapace and a female with about an 8" carapace.
2. They have lived together for years, but recently the neck biting behavior that the male does to the female got out of control. He chewed down to her flesh - which is bleeding.
3. The vet put her on 14 days of antibiotics - plus 2x/day betadine swabbing on the open wounds (which are literally openly bleeding).

4. The VET said that with 14 total inches of carapace it's likely that our 75 gallon all-glass typical aquarium (high sides, 17" deep) is now very inadequate, not to mention the fact that I had to use egg crate to separate these turtles so she wouldn't get any more injured by the male. So realistically they now have HALF the swimming space in a 75 gallon tank.

5. SO MY QUESTION IS: DO we get a 150 gallon standard aquarium, or as the local pet store owner suggested - would we be much better off with a 75 gallon BREEDER/REPTILE style tank that would give us much more 'surface area' (probably similar to a 150 gallon tank) but with lower sides... We only fill our current tank up half-way anyway to give the turtles room to get on their docks and bathe under the full-spectrum tubes.

My wife insisted that I ask for opinions from people who know turtles and not rely on the advice of some local pet store owner, and I don't think my vet knows this level of detail regarding what's best....

We also CANNOT afford to buy this tank NEW, so I need places to shop for used ones (aside from the obvious like Freeshare/freecycle/craigslist).
My Fluval 405 is only good for a 100 gallon tank - so I suppose it would work in the breeder tank somewhat but it's way too small for a 150 gallon aquarium.

I can salvage my tank hood with double light tubes and use a screen over the new tank, and I can put a strong board over our existing cabinet to substitute for having to buy an expensive stand.

So I'm going to need at the very least a TANK and 'maybe' a more powerful filter.

Since I've been unemployed for almost 4 years I have to do this as cost effectively as possible.

Any opinions and referrals very much appreciated. My email is matthew.peretz@gmail.com

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