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My husband and I have been working on an above tank basking area for the past few days. We have 2 x 2.5 inch turtles in a 55 gallon aquarium at the moment and an upgrade isn't in the cards for us for at least 6 months - 1 year. So in order to give them maximum swimming area we decided to make an above tank basking area.

It's been up for almost an hour and the closest we've come to basking action was Frick! climbing to the top of the ramp, looking around and then jumping off.

I need reassurance from the above tank basking people... they -will- use it, right? hehe

Well here it is, hope ya's like it!

Here are some photos during the process of making it:

Testing the frame for size:


Adding the background:


Closer views of the background:





Now for the (almost) finished product (still have a bit of plants to add to hang in and such):













.. and last but certainly not least. My hubby working hard to make my ideas a reality

That looks really nice.. Is that corkbark on top of the basking area?

As for .. will they use it? just a suggestion here. You may want to cover the front piece for a bit until they get comfortable up there. As in the wild, when RES are basking they are vulnerable so they get a bit skittish out of the water. Did your turtles ever bask when you were near them? If so, they may not have issues now, but just a suggestion on covering up the front until they feel comfy.

Yup that's cork bark! I had extra laying around from when I was making my wedged basking area when the tank was new, so I figured that would be nicer for them than just sitting on the plexiglas.

They are quite comfortable basking when I am near the tank. At first they weren't but for the last few months they stay up there and just look at me when I come around. We can walk by and go about our business and they don't jump off anymore... unless, of course, we have food hehe

That really makes the tank look nice. I'm sure your husband had an absolute blast making it.

That's a very nice looking basking area. Very similar to mine. My turtles took a day or two to get used to it, now they are on there all the time.

Inspector! It was actually YOUR basking area that I based it on! I saw yours and said to my husband, LETS MAKE THIS... like, only different! hehe

I like your idea with the green ramp thing better than mine with the turtle dock. Originally I planned on making a ramp out of cork bark but when I put it all together I didn't have a piece that fit properly and my husband and I were so tired we just decided to get the turtle dock that we saw at the pet store.

I think later (when I can convince hubby to have another go at drilling plexiglas (we're both so nervous about cracking) I'll order a ramp like yours and put it on in the middle.

breigh, excellent looking tank! Your husband did a great job! One thing though, the zoo med dock is a good idea, but are you sure that they can climb all the way up due to the incline? In picture 10, it looks like the dock is at an angle. Put some pics of them baskin, lol, if you can get them inspector, thats a cute pic. she looks so relaxed!

That looks lovely! I bet the turts will love it too!

Excellant setup! I like the decorations, very natural....

Ingenious idea with the zoomed dock for the moment!! Great looking set up there.

If your going to drill plexyglass. You could tape over the area your going to drill and drill very slowly and you will get a good cut (i think). Drilling to fast and pushing to hard are usually what cause cracking due to pressure and heat.

If you go get plexyglass, you could aquarium silicone it if you wished, or just ask the guy at lowes/home depot/ or where ever what to use... (do you have those in the netherlands)

Looks great Breigh! Have you measured the temperature up there?

We did drill the plexiglass already to put the front on, it went fine. We're just not eager to drill more because we may be pushing our luck hehe At the moment the zoo med dock works fine for a ramp. So far one of my turtles has gone up there 3 times, and has walked across the basking area twice and went back into the water.

I think he's taking baby steps and checking it out hehe

I did measure the temperature up there, it took a while of adjusting the lamp and raising the cork bark to get it just right.

Hopefully I'll see them up there under the lamp soon!

You might want to temporarily warm it up a little more, and make more enticing for them. You can also leave a trail of pellets/treats for them. You just need to get one up there... the other will follow.

Around what temp should I make it in celcius? At the moment my water is about 26 / 27 degrees... is 32ish too hot?