Habitat - Indoor :: Gurgi's set up for now...

[cameron740]

also how is it sitting on the tankk?

[Gurgi's Mom]

The ramp platform is one piece acrylic that sits on the interior ledge of the tank. The frame just simply sits on the ramp platform, there is still enough of a lip left of the tank edge that it doesn't slide off. It is not attached to the pvc frame at all. I also took some pics of how we secured the acrylic sides to the pvc. Once again a drill bit made for plastics drills through the acrylic and pvc like they are butter.

[Gurgi's Mom]

The bending of the acrylic was the toughest part for us. We got the thickest acrylic Home Depot had, so it required a torch to bend it, a heat gun did not do the trick at all. Also the heat causedcaused the whole piece we were working on to bow a little. You can see it a little bit on the ramp pics, but the frame weighs it down, so no big deal.

[cutepanda86]

Wow great work and patience...

[Yukio]

Nice set up!

[AlexisAwesome]

Very nice. I like what you did your the basking area!

[Gurgi's Mom]

Thanks everyone!

[sweety10189110]

I love your basking area. I have 4 pieces of acrylic melted together to form a frame like yours. This gives me ideas on how to use it with a bigger tank when we upgrade!

[Gurgi's Mom]

Thanks! I hope it turns out well.

We added driftwood so he can adjust how close to the heat he would like to be. This has really worked out well. The temp stays pretty consistent and he just adjusts his position according to need. I'll have to get a pic of him in his "Lion King" pose - lol Needless to say we are really pleased we our basking area.

Next thing we are going to work on is somehow hiding the PVC. I hate being able to see it.

[cutepanda86]

That's a great shot. Nice looking setup too.

[steve]

Looks very nice! Where'd you get the driftwood from? You can paint PVC (I think Krylon Fusion is safe) or you can even get colored PVC (though it's not cheap). I think I've seen some plastic plants wrapped around it before, it looks pretty good.

[cutepanda86]

Nothing says I love like Krylon. lol

Steve is right, the colored PVC (usually colored because it is tailored to a specific use like grey water or even a type of PVC called CPVC) is expensive. Of course they don't expect you to be putting it in a turtle tank because they don't understand how much we love our turtles, either. lol

[Gurgi's Mom]

It is a piece of Mopani Driftwood I bought from my local aquarium. It was a really nice piece - got it for the tank but I couldn't get all the tannins out and I didn't like the tea color water. I had to cut it to fit it nicely in the ATBA and it was dark orange through and through - it would have been turning my water brown for decades to come. At least it didn't go to waste - Gurgi loves basking on it!

As for the PVC - I was thinking of sculping and painting some Styrofoam so it looks like a rocky boarder - and it would keep the structure light weight. Will try a small area to see if Gurgi messes with it.

[cutepanda86]

Sounds like a plan. Nothing like brown water... yum. lol

[steve]

Ah, have you read this thread? viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32893