Photo Gallery :: Basking/Resting areas *Under Construction*

[grey goose]

One of the goals I had for my new setup was to have a basking area that had no support from underneath, thus no interference with the turts swimming area. I also wanted a "resting" or shallow area where they could rest (or sleep) on all fours.

The base is Lexan, with small plastic brackets attached with silicone. Then tiles were placed on top, also using silicone.

Next step is lighting and electrical......stay tuned.[/img]

[scripta_elegans]

Wow! It looks great! Does the silicone support a big turtle's weight too? I am assuming this is for the babies and not Bozo, but either way it is lovely. The best I have managed with silicone is to stick a ring of rocks together to hold down plants!

[grey goose]

This is actually the second version of this design. Bozo's setup is the same, only smaller. The basking ramp probably weighs about 6 or 7 pounds (shoulda' weighed it), and it is suprisingly strong, no flex at all, even on the outer edges. Just as a test, I put 10 lbs of cans on it and left it for four days and nothing, it didn't budge. I think the trick is in the seal (its not glue) on the inner edge against the glass. The white plastic brackets just add to the support.

[cprcheetah]

It looks great. I bet they like that. I just revamped Zeke's basking area as well. His is above the tank to add all the extra swimming room possible.

[scripta_elegans]

It looks so neat and clean! I can only imagine the mess i would make attempting that!

[grey goose]

It took one day for prep, three days to assemble, two days to cure, and SEVEN DAYS (and about 10 single edge razor blades) to trim and clean all the excess silicone...my wrists still hurt. If you look closely at the bottom of the tank, you can see some of the last remnants....

[scripta_elegans]

Well that certainly explains it! What lucky lucky little turtles!

[steve]

Good luck! I'm a bit nervous about the stabilty...

[CountryGirl68]

Smart! Do the tiles have enough grip area for the turtle to climb up on it? (Can't tell from the pics.)

[Spookster]

That makes me nervous also. I can see that silicon ripping loose under the pressure after awhile or the plastic brackets breaking and a heavy tile crushing a turtle underneath its weight. At the very least I would suggest siliconing a support beam to either side of the inside of the tank underneath the front of each tile.

[grey goose]

I was a bit sceptical going into this also....but the procedure for assembly was changed a bit from the first version.
First I set my waterline, using a felt tip marker. Then I placed the tank on its side and attached the lexan squarely against the two sides of the glass and then "gaffed" or taped them down for 24 hours. Then I attached the plastic supports (this was the part I was most concerend about) and let that set. When I set the tiles, with the tank upright, I selected the ones that would squarely meet the glass (some are slightly irregular) and set them in place against the glass AND the lexan, and let them set. Then I set each layer working away from the corners, and I believe this added strengh from the inside out, sort of like building a brick wall. It's very solid.
The tiles themselves are mostly smooth like marble, with some a bit craggy, with little holes for grip. I'll post a close-up.

[grey goose]

Here's a close up of one of the tiles on the ramp. Note the little holes...

A shot of the leading edge showing the point of contact w/tank

Just to give you an idea of how much silicone I used....

And finally (drum roll) another test. That's a full gallon of water and about 4 lbs of turt food.....it's still sitting there as I write. Anybody want to try this with their setup?

[BullDog]

Wow! That is so cool! Awsome work!

[steve]

Those are great close up pics. I've had bad luck with silicone (used with plastic and glass) in the past. Let us know how your turts like it

[marisa]

It looks really nice! That ramp looks like it might be a little slippery to climb, especially when they've just gotten out of the water and are wet...

I really like how the ramp and ledge just seem to hang suspended in air. But over time, I wonder if the brackets might weaken. I'd still like to see some sort of "poles" (pvc?) supporting them. A really neat job, though.