Enclosure idea, your thoughts?

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hornet

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I have an idea for a large unused tank that currently resides in the shed, whist i will probably never do this (something always gets in the way) i am still keen to hear your thoughts. The tank is approx 600l or 150gallons and is 1200Wx700Hx700D. I'm considering turning it onto its side so the current top becomes the front, removing say 200-300mm from the front of the new top and turning into a hinged door to allow easier access to the back of the tank during construction and maintenance. For the front i would get a 700Wx200H piece of glass cut to glue onto the front so its water tight and then build either hinged or sliding glass doors on the front. I would be using it as a paludarium so i would be building a vertical wall at the back with bits of wood sticking out where epiphytic plants can be mounted and inhabitants can perch. Water would be heated so humidity would be very high so inhabitants would need to be able to tolerate those conditions, there will be some venting but with the heated water the humidity should stay fairly high. If i ever do go through with this it will take a lot of research but for now just wondering what you guys think?
 
I've been told to do something like this for a while.
I don't have the space or funds right now.
But maybe soon.

A mixture of fish and amphibians?
 
i'm more thinking along the lines of mayb keelbacks, mcleays water snakes or another semi aquatic snake. That would be the main purpose of the tank so it would be planted to suit.
 
:D hornet I have been pondering pretty much the exact same thing.

Technically your idea is very sound... there is a lot silicone and glass can do together and I have been meaning to check out bunnings for something I could use as a vent to silicone into my constructions. With my beardie enclosure I had to silicone an extra piece of glass as a lip to support the tracks... if you like I can post photos of mine where I put the tracks in, I think you would be looking at a similar construction.

I am definitely interested in hearing what people think you could put in there, I would assume frogs would be a good choice lol But tbh... frogs are very messy. You may be able to get vents to silicone into your construction just above the doors to lower humidity a bit... I would do this regardless of what you put in because if not vented the smell will be... pungent. lol

I will be building something from scratch most likely, it will be relatively high and narrow but also rather long... one side with a false bottom for drainage, the other side a built in fish tank with heat and filter and yet to be specified inhabitants (probably shimp) and the entire thing designed to keep gts. Its a dream in the planning lol

---------- Post added 09-Jan-11 at 12:29 AM ----------

file snake ^_^
 
would love pics of what you have done, cheers :)
 
You might need to put two extra lips or stronger lips on the tall sides and also on the top and bottom to act as braces.
If your using a fish tank vents would be easy to make.
Just add a glass bottom to the front then on top add some mesh then a glass door on top of that and some more mesh to top it off.

That would give it some good air flow I assume.
 
As promised :)
This was all built from scratch... the glass enclosure sits inside a frame which is for looks and has no function in the support of the glass enclosure. The glass is built in the same manner as a fish tank... pieces of glass held together with silicone. Three intact sides plus an intact bottom are siliconed together. The front has two smaller glass panels siliconed in. On the bottom panel a one inch full length piece was siliconed on top to act as a lip support for the tracks. On the top panel the same size glass piece was siliconed onto the bottom of the panel. Tracks were all siliconed into place. The side tracks were able to be siliconed straight onto the sides. This glass enclosure measures 910mmLx600mmhx600mmd. No extra supports were needed. An extra 4inch full length piece was siliconed onto the top at the front for some extra support and to hold things such as digital thermometers etc. The top of the enclosure is built into the exterior frame. It is sectioned into two parts which are covered in aluminium fly mesh. These can be covered with fitted pieces of matching board to decrease ventilation for winter. The lights are fitted into a light box which again has adjustable ventilation. Underneath is yet to be finished but will feature a fully secure and functional feeding/holding enclosure.

The front view (please excuse the terrible mess :p)

entire.jpg
This is the view of the built in lips, its a bit hard to see. Everything is held in place with silicone.
insidebottomlip.jpgglasslip.jpg
The light box, vent open and then vent shut.

lightboxventopen.jpglightboxventclosed.jpg
 
it missed some pics out from previous... another view of the lip, probably easier to see here.

topinsideglasslip.jpg
Another view including lock.

lock.jpg

The whole enclosure

wholeview.jpg

And a happy beardie

perchedbeardie.jpg
 
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