Photo Gallery :: XXTRA LRGE basking dock anyone???

[camee1991]

This is my "gravid" Tobi girl, lastnite doing her basking...lol She is almost tooooo big for the largest ramp I can find?! And this is the only one that has been able to hold her weight (5 lbs) and that is with 2 large MagnaFloat magnent aquarium cleaners underneath the suction cups! lol

Doesnt she look comfy...she was ALLLL out until she saw the camera then half the front went in... I love those back feet!!! Unless they are diggin' in my hands...

But for real....any ideas for a nice STRONG, BIG. dock? Maybe there is somewhere I havent looked online. I would prefer a hanging one or above one so I dont use up valuable swimming space!

I have an above dock "runnin wide open" built for me...but I have to alter it somehow because it is so big that she falls off the ramp and into the side of the glass....not cool. (Still working on that one!)

Ahhhhh...feels soooo nice.....and arent my feet cute? lol

[Tenodera]

LOL! Tobi is adorable! and looking verrrryy relaxed!

[DavidY]

Wow she's a big girl alright! Yup, time for a homemade remedy.

[camee1991]

Thanks Tenodera!!

And David...YES! I think I can do SOMETHING with the dock runninwideopen made me...but Im not so crafty....?! I wish I could by another one for a while until I have to use the other. (Assuming she grows more since she is only 4!)

[DavidY]

Nah, save the money and get the one runnin' made for you working. What exactly is wrong with it?

[camee1991]

Well...it is awesome! BUT for stability sake, the bottom had to be large enough for her weight and stuff so it had to expand from one side of the tank to the middle. The sides are tall plexiglass, which is awesome, and the ramp extends over the middle of the middle tank bar... The problem is that I have to change the texture of the grassy stuff on the ramp, cuz she slides on what is there AND since it extends to the other side of the tank, if she slid down too hard or got scared, she hits her head on the side wall! HARD! She is used to going lightly off her platform now and having plenty of room to float off before reaching the other wall.

Since the bottom of the platform is metal (for weight issues) I dont know how I could shorten it to where the ramp could come just inside the inner tank bar...a few inches; enough so she could walk and get through without touching the top middle bar.

Man...I feel like this didnt explain it appropriately....you tell me?! lol

[camee1991]

David, if you remember the pic of runninwideopen's platform he made for his BIG tank...it was just like this but was placed on the middle bar and had a ramp coming off each side. This one is one sided only, with 3 sides of plexiglass to keep her enclosed...then a ramp over the middle bar and down the side. ....(also the ramp is a tad steeper than she is used to and she gets scared of it...)

Got it?!

[DavidY]

No I understand perfectly (I think). Hmm, the thing is that if you shorten the platform so that the ramp goes under the middle brace, you might make it too small. What is the distance between the side and the middle brace? If it's long enough for you to have the ramp go under the brace, you could take a hack saw and cut the platform in two places so that the middle section can bend down into the water before the brace, kind of like a ramp descending from a flying saucer. That way you still get the structural support too. I think runnin' made those ramps out of aluminum which should be easy to cut with a hacksaw and fairly easy to bend if you get some leverage.

[camee1991]

Hmmm...I couldnt do it....maybe hubby could?! I DO know that he made it go to the middle not just for ROOM but for weight issues. So it wouldnt bow in the middle. The measurement from inside lip to inside of middle bar lip 23". As it is now...there is PLENTY of room for her on the platform...so I dont think making it smaller somehow will affect HER much. It looks as if she will have lotsa room.

Also, can plexiglass be melted lightly so that it could be bent a bit? (So the ramp could be lowered and not so steep?)

[camee1991]

Gimme a sec and Ill take a pic of the platform to show you what it looks like...

[DavidY]

ok

[camee1991]

Ok Here it is...Trust me it looks better sitting ON the tank on NOT on my Ab Lounger...lol

A pic of the side...

Looking up from the ramp...

This is how the bottom is made..(just metal sides underneath)

[DavidY]

Yeah that ramp does look pretty steep. Plexiglass can be heated to about 200 degrees and it will bend. You need to be careful not to heat it too much or it will melt, deform or even catch fire. It's best if you can heat just the area that you want to bend. I did mine using a blow torch but that is risky. I don't now if a really hot hair dryer or curling iron would work. GreyGoose used a hot air gun like they use for removing old paint.

Could you place the whole thing on top of the tank but have it overhang the side by like 6 inches? That way the ramp would be set back before the middle brace. You would need to find a way to secure it so that it wouldn't tip over if she climbed all the way to the back of it though.

[camee1991]

That would be awesome IF I could figure a way for it to work that way! lol See he made it so that it sits on the inner plastic frame and about 2" from the inside wall (c/o the intake water plastic hose cant be moved)

There would have to be notches or something cut out of it doing it that way since the filter in and outtake are on both sides of the back of the tank and come up and over it. If they didnt that would probably work somehow. And I would still need to find something else to cover the ramp, i.e. grassy stuff...it isnt covered all the way and even with the stuff on it like short turf, she slides and especially down the uncovered sides...

So....Im corn-fused?! lol

[DavidY]

hmmm, is hubby handy with power tools? You could make another base for the platform out of 1"x1" strips of wood (painted with exterior or marine grade paint so it won't rot) that fits inside the rim of the tank and then set the platform on top of that. The wood would raise the platform hopefully high enough to clear the filter tube allowing it to be set back several inches. Then using a drill he could drill some holes through the base of the platform (metal and acrylic) and into the wood and fasten them together with exterior deck screws (so they won't rust).