Habitat - Indoor :: Speedy's (kinda) new Habitat

[AerianaEve]

It wasn't long until I decided that Speedy really needed an ATBA, so my Lolo, (grandpa) the former engineer got right on it. This really happened at the beginning of August, but my camera died so I'm just posting it now. Oh, and we replaced the wire with eggcrate.


The tank at large. It's now got river rocks all along the bottom, and plants which are frequently rotated along with a hammock. Here we exhibit, "new tank syndrome."


Speedy enjoying the reincarnation of her heat lamp.


The ramp leads down to a dock.


And the former engineer, (and one of my favourite people EVER) my grandpa. He even suffered injuries while setting this thing up, but went on to make a better house for the turtle who bit him. (After I irrigated, antibioticated, and covered the wound of course.)

I'll try to update this with a picture of how the tank is now.

[francinemarie]

i've been looking for someone who has made use of putting one tank on top of another. how did you do it?! i have two tanks which i would like to use. what is the name of that blue foamy looking thing that you used to lead to the ATBA? and you said you replaced the wire with egg crate. you mean that the two tanks are carefully lying on top of one another by using the egg crate? also, what kind of filter do you use?

[AerianaEve]

The blue foamy thing is actually a kneepad people use for gardening. I cut to JUST to squeeze into that corner, then used the handle as a ramp. Then I secured the handle using krazy glu, (it turns out you're not supposed to use it on foam...but it worked) and some nails I embedded deeply and then glued on.

For the top tank, my grandpa removed the bottom and replaced with wire temporarily. Then I cut egg crate to fit on top of the little ledges around the bottom of the top tank, and they balance on top of each other. I'm going to add supports once I get out from under all this homework, but for the time being I make sure to take off the top tank when there are any kids around.

My grandpa also removed the glass from the back of the top tank and replaced it with acrylic. It's black because it's from a sign he found. If you buy new acrylic, it's got a blue plasticky layer and is actually clear. Then he cut a hole for the HOT filter and slid it where the glass would normally go.

I use a Whisper 30gal filter. It keeps the water clear, but I also use a gravel cleaner to suction out the poo, because that just sinks to the bottom. Unless you've got at least one large chunk of time a week, I'd really reccommend a canister filter, like everyone says on the Equipment board. =) I'd get one but I can't afford it at the moment.

[francinemarie]

The blue foamy thing is actually a kneepad people use for gardening. I cut to JUST to squeeze into that corner, then used the handle as a ramp. Then I secured the handle using krazy glu, (it turns out you're not supposed to use it on foam...but it worked) and some nails I embedded deeply and then glued on.

For the top tank, my grandpa removed the bottom and replaced with wire temporarily. Then I cut egg crate to fit on top of the little ledges around the bottom of the top tank, and they balance on top of each other. I'm going to add supports once I get out from under all this homework, but for the time being I make sure to take off the top tank when there are any kids around.

My grandpa also removed the glass from the back of the top tank and replaced it with acrylic. It's black because it's from a sign he found. If you buy new acrylic, it's got a blue plasticky layer and is actually clear. Then he cut a hole for the HOT filter and slid it where the glass would normally go.

I use a Whisper 30gal filter. It keeps the water clear, but I also use a gravel cleaner to suction out the poo, because that just sinks to the bottom. Unless you've got at least one large chunk of time a week, I'd really reccommend a canister filter, like everyone says on the Equipment board. =) I'd get one but I can't afford it at the moment.

aww man, i don't know anyone who could remove the bottom of the tank i have. i figured that's what had to be done. i'd like a canister too, but definitely do not have the $ for one . nice setup though

[chrisinva]

Very creative