Habitat - Indoor :: Basking area material help

[Bluekachu]

I've been lurking for a few months while I try to better my turtle's current set up and I've run into a materials snag. The basking area that I made is an in tank basking area made of egg crate, PVC piping, acrylic and tumbled marble kitchen tiles. I used the Loctite marine adhesive to glue down the tiles, but I'm having issues finding a material to fill in the gaps between the tiles. At the moment I have Loctite Tub and tile polyseamseal, but I'm not sure how safe it is. I don't want to try it and potentially harm my turtles.

Does anyone know if it can be used even though part of the ramp is going to be submerged, and if not is there something I can use that is safer?

Haru

[steve]

I'm not sure if marble is a good material in tanks as it can be porous. If the polyseamseal is made for bathrooms, it likely has antimicrobial additives that fight mold and you would generally want to avoid that. GE Silicone I should be a better choice to hold down the tiles and fill in the gaps. In most cases, you don't need anything to hold down the tiles though.

[Bluekachu]

http://i.imgur.com/zcU58eQ.jpg

That's the platform I'm making. Do you think it would be alright for in the tank? I've had my kids for years but I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what I'm doing.

[Kansasslider]

To fill in the gaps you could use aquarium grade silicone.

[steve]

What are the dimensions of that basking area? I would use a single large piece of tile over it, that way you don't need egg crate or the acrylic. The amount of flex of the design in the picture will cause the silicone to loosen. Usually on those kind of ramps, I suggest some bath tub style adhesive grips. There's always cork bark as well.

[Bluekachu]

The top part is 16x12. I wanted to make it big enough to fit the tank width wise. The tile was given to me by a friend when the repticarpet started to melt and I was worried about claws getting stuck in the egg crate.

I'm also making a basking dock for the tank that's going to house my girl that refuses to play well with others. For that I'm planning on using a single tile piece rather then the smaller ones like I did this time.

[Kansasslider]

I agree with Steve. Large tile would work better. Plexi with traction strips is also a good option.

[Bluekachu]

Is that something I can do when I build a new platform or does it need to be changed right now? After everything I've read this basking area has become a temperary fix so I can get Painter and Mango back into a tank with proper filtration because I don't want to put them in anything for any length of time without a basking platform of some sort.

There are some other things that I have to/want to change about their tank already and adding a better basking spot has become one of those. I've already decided on some heavy changes to the platform that I will be doing for Chi's tank's basking area that won't involve these tiles (One solid piece and an acrylic ramp soldered on) that I didn't have the materials or capability to do at the time of making this one.

[steve]

It doesn't need changing right now, but you're not far off from our suggestions either. How big is their tank(s)?

[Bluekachu]

Chi will be in a 40 breeder now and Mango and Painter are in a 75. (Chi should probably be in the 75 and Mango and Painter should be in a larger one but we're running into space issues at the moment.) The plan is for the tanks to be mostly full with a more stable basking spot so they have a decent amount of water to dive and swim in and can't move around the basking platform.

My previous problem with the former basking area was them moving the rocks and the basking spot becoming slightly submerged, hence the pvc and egg crate fix. I had also been previously told not to use sand so I have been using landscaping rocks which had been the build up for the basking area previously (horrible mess, would not reccammend it).

[steve]

For a small-medium size turtle, you can use cork bark. PVC/tile will work too and should last forever. I've seen one where instead of PVC used as "legs", they're made into brackets that go on the top of the tank. I don't think it would be necessary to use eggcrate with the tile, unless it's as a spacer to raise one section of the basking area.

[Bluekachu]

What about the ramp? At present mine is on with egg crate and zip ties. You said that wouldn't hold though and I kept seeing commentary about acrylic ramps falling off.

[Kansasslider]

Have you thought about an above tank basking area like this one I built a few years ago?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34211

[Bluekachu]

An ATBA would be ideal since it would give them more space and I'm heavily thinking about it. I might be able to get away with it without my roommate complaining about space if I can make it look presentable. Just not entirely sure how to go about it. It looks very complicated. I am not a crafty/creative person. I am heavily leaning towards trying that next though.

[Kansasslider]

Its really not that complicated. Maybe you could get someone to help you.