Looking for a tank accessory

Question
Greetings.

When I was younger (I was between 9 and 12, and this was ten+ years ago), I had 3 aquatic turtles. Their tank had this divider/waterfall/river setup...allow me to try to explain it better.

It was made out of plastic, and was about 6-7 inches tall (this size may be off,...I was younger, sizes look different now...), and had a 'river' of plastic interconnecting pieces that ran from a tall waterfall in the back corner to the edge of the divider. The waterfall pumped water up from underneath it, I remember that it was difficult to remove it from the gravel to thoroughly clean it. Due to the 'river's' interconnecting pieces, you could have the waterfall in the front corner or the back corner.

I remember this item very vividly, but cannot find a replicate anywhere. It was very nice, because you could remove or add the river pieces to expand or shrink the land portion of the habitat, and it was a much better set-up than these new 'docking strips', in my opinion.

Do you know what I'm talking about? If not...can you direct me to someone/somewhere that can help me? I've exhausted google.com by searching "Aquatic Turtle Supplies", and visiting every supply website that I can find. I don't remember the brand of the waterfall though.

Many thanks,
Amanda

Answer
Most turtle keepers agree that half-and-half tanks are both harder to maintain, and not as good for the turtles as basking set-ups are.

Sliders got their name from their behaviors of sunning on things overhanging water, so they can 'slide' back in when startled. These turtles get their security from water and are rarely found on land unless nesting or looking for new territories.

Basking sites in the water replicate these conditions better than island or shore set-ups, and most keepers seem to agree that their turtles do better in them. Basking setups also allow you to maximize the water space- the more water for these guys the better. A 20 gallon long setup with a shore only offers about 5 gallons of water- only enough for a 1/2" long turtle, while a basking setup would offer about 15 gallons- enough for about 1.5" of turtle.

Reptile accessories are a pretty fad-driven category. If something is not selling well, no matter how logical it is, it vanishes quickly. Right now, a lot of the stuff in the stores is basically worthless junk- but it is selling nicely and usually looks good. Basking sites, in my mind, are in this category- I am also not real happy with most of the options available. The clear plastic ramps with no-skid tape are OK in my experience.