Habitat - Indoor :: New habitat is coming together!!!

[RESnTX]

You are doing such a great job. It's obvious how into this project you are. What does your fiance think of the new habitat so far?

[TheBean]

Thank you! I am having a lot of fun with this project!

She loves it. She hasn't seen the progress since the first page of this thread though because she's been sick. The turtle is her's but since we're getting married, he's now "ours." GreenBean started in a little 10 gallon tank (he grew to about 6 inches STILL IN THE TEN GALLON) with no filter and barely any water. He's in a 29gal now with a basking area and filter. This project will be his final home. Hope he likes it!

[donchewliano]

wow. It's coming out amazing so far. Absolutely cant wait until the next post. I love seeing progressive shots of builds. Great job.

[TheBean]

Thank you!

I doubt I'll have time to work on it tonight, but I'll definitely be back on it tomorrow. I am axious to get that trim on. Once I do that, I'll just need to sand and sand and sand some more, then time for stain!!! Last night, I also purchased the deck covering so stay tuned for that!

[BullDog]

That is just incredible!
Are you an engineer? Carpenter? Wood Guru???
Man, never in my wildest dreams would I attempt something that detailed! I'd get bored half way through

[TheBean]

Thank you for the kind words!

I'm a carpenter as a hobby. I enjoy it quite a bit. I'm FAR from an engineer and FAR from a master craftsman. I consider myself to be pretty much a novice wood worker. I do love the smell of sawdust though.

I find it hard to get started, but once I do, it's hard to stop!

I can honestly say, though, that it is this site and the people here that motivated me to build this. I didn't know ANYTHING about the care of a turtle until I read the knowledge that is here. I still have a lot to learn but I'm giving it the ol' college try (without the parties and drunkenness ).

[TheBean]

SMALL UPDATE:

Had just a little bit of time to work on it tonight and finished cutting the trim. I took a pic of how the 3-way miter works.


It'll be cleaned up more than that but it was just a mockup for the camera. I wish I could have mounted the trim but I ran out of finish nails. Looks like Home Depot is getting more of my money tomorrow.

After mowing the grass and working for the 10th straight day (no, not exaggerating...still have 2 more days to go too), I'm callin it quits tonight.

[TheBean]

UPDATE!

FINALLY found time to get some things done. Finished off my 12th straight day of work. Last night, I got a call I had to respond to and didn't get home til about 10 at night. Then I had to wake up at 2:30 this morning to drive 3 hours to another job. Yea, I'm tired. But I'm a sucker for punishment cause I found time to work on the habitat after I got home today.

On to the progress:

Started by prepping the outside corners for the trim. Did some sanding to get the dripped glue off and clean up the corners. Here's one corner with all the glue.


Sanding.


Clean.


Did the same to the remaining exterior corners.

Next, I cut notches in the rear top trim piece to make room for the hinges for the basking cover.



Here's how it fits.



Cleaned up the notches with sanding paper by hand.


Next, double checked all my cuts and began installing the trim. Ran glue down the center of each piece and used clamps to hold them til I could hammer in the brads.


Here's a brad nail I'm hammering.


I used a long screw as a counter sync so the heads of the brads were below the surface of the trim and not seen.


Counter synced.


All top trim installed.


Starting to look like something! (side trim installed)



Ran into a small problem. The trim hangs over the edge of the top a little. I wanted to leave it like that as I like the look, but the basking cover would not fit right, nor could I get the decking back in place so I had to flush the trim with my router. Problem:



Solution:


Fits better.



I went around the whole edge with the router. All of the trim is flushed.

Now I have a question for you who know filters: the filer will be installed where I have it sitting in the pic below. Naturally, the hoses are going to come through holes I will drill in the deck. Where is the best location for the intake and exhaust hoses so I get the most out of this filter? Once the holes are drilled, I can't fill them in. Any advice here is welcomed!



That's it for tonight. Almost ready for stain. I'm starting to get anxious!

Goodnight y'all.

[Chrisbarnett]

Wow, that is looking GREAT.

Ideally you want the intake and output as far away from each other as possible. Opposite ends of the tank is best. You want the output to be angled toward the intake so that it will push the waste across the tank and into the intake.

[TheBean]

Thank you for the compliment!

I think the intake ought to be the short tube (correct me if I am wrong). So I can run a long tube around the side of the tank to the end opposite the filter and have the exhaust there, and then the intake will be close to where the filter is now. That will put the tube at opposite ends from each other. THANKS! Probably gonna mock that up today. The more I look at it, the more perfect your idea sounds. Especially since I should be able to hide the tubes for the most part because of where they'll be coming through the deck.

[ChocoTurtle]

looks nice

[TheBean]

Thanks.

[Chrisbarnett]

No problem, That sounds perfect.

[TheBean]

Got more done today! YAY!!!!!

To the pictorials!

Started by sanding most of the old epoxy off of the tank using a belt sander.


I thought about how to secure the windows better and realized that I don't want clear windows anyway. I don't want to be able see through the windows to a plywood backdrop. I used the orbital sander (in the background of this pic) and "roughed it up." It has a cloudy look to it but still lets light pass through. Compared to the unsanded one:


I then took some 50 grit and roughed up around the outer edges of the plexi to allow the glue a rough surface to stick to.



Added the glue.


Glued.


Added a bucket of water on top for some weight.


After that, I drilled the holes for the tubes from the filter in the decking. One at the front end of the tank and the other at the opposite end. Thanks for the advice, chrisbarnett!


TIME FOR TURTLE LUXURY!!!!!!! The deck covering is out door carpet from Home Depot. Water proof and cheap. Went with the brown color instead of the green.



I layed out the carpet on top of the decking and lined everything up.


Stapled the carpet around the outer edge using a staple gun.


Afterward, I trimmed off the excess carpet with scissors.


All trimmed up.



Here's the deck installed in the cabinet with the covering.


After that, I started the finish sanding using the orbital and sanding by hand. No pics of that cause it ain't that interesting.

I should be putting stain on it tomorrow. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

[Take-One]

Dude, I seriously think you should be a carpenter. This is great I am telling you.