Habitat - Indoor :: Ideas for in-water "lounge" spot

[Seroster]

So I just got a 125 gal aquarium, which I am in the process of re-sealing, and was thinking I'd like to make my little guy/gal some place to lounge about in the water, a place to sleep or whatever without having to swim, close enough to the top for them to breathe without moving. I was thinking about buying some Driftwood off of Ebay, but finding an "ideal" peice from the stuff they have available is hard, if not impossible. Ebay also has a lot of stone, typically shale, listed that might work as well, but I'm afraid the rough edges may gouge his/her shell when scuttling off. I suppose I could just opt for acrylic, probably being the easiest to get done, but I wouldn't find that very pleasing to the eye.

So I'm curious if anyone else has tried something like this or what they used. Planning to make his ATBA out of acryllic and don't mind that, lets me watch him/her chillaxing, but was hoping for something prettier in-water. Thanks!

[Seroster]

Oh, also, anyone have experience putting tile in an aquarium? Someone on the boards here suggested it to me since I don't wanna look at ugly bare bottom, and don't wanna deal w/ sand/rocks, but I wasn't sure if there was anything special I needed to do?

Should I just fit the tiles as close as I can and put Aquarium sealant in the cracks so they don't get gunky underneath?

Should I be worried about the water preasure pushing down on the tile doing anything to the bottom of the tank? 125 gal is a heck load of water.

Is there any concern that ceramic tiles could be "toxic" in some way shape or form? I don't really think so, since they're just clay pretty much, but not sure.

Any feedback from folks would be great!

[n00bEmpty]

You do have a basking area for it right? I have a little ramp to get on the basking area and my turtle usually sleeps on there. Half in water and it just sticks it's head up when he needs air or it'll just attach itself onto the heater's suction cups (Since it's small enough to hold on to it for sleeping), but I don't know why it choose to sleep like that. But yeah, just try getting letting it have a basking area with a ramp, it'll probably sleep on that. You could also always get very large river rocks. You could also use Cork Bark, chip off the sharp edges like sand papering it and cut it so it'll fit snugly in your tank and you don't need to worry about dropping off.

[Seroster]

Yeah he's got a basking dock atm, will have a ATBA after I get his new 110 gal sealed and ready to go, but he doesn't sleep on his dock unless the light is on and he's basking. When i turn the lights off at night he sleeps either wedged in behind the basking dock suction pad rails, or hanging off the water heater. So I figured he'd like a spot in-water to sit on at night instead of just having to hang or float.

[n00bEmpty]

Haha, sounds like mine. It just likes to hang off stuff when it sleeps. Both of them except Zoilo sometimes goes on it's dock. But yeah, it might just be the habit of your turtle. But Slyder used to sleep on the ramp half in water until he discovered the heater where if I'm not looking then he swims around. Infact..... both my turtles like to hang around the heater.

[elwray]

If you go with rocks you could just file off any sharp edges. Shale would probably cleave and not file smooth. You might be able to file slate since it shouldn't have as much foliation as shale.

I personally went with sand for my substrate... yes it was a HUGE pain to clean and let settle, but it was cheap and looks really fantastic and is a great way to anchor decor in the tank.

I can't think of any reason sealed tile on the bottom of the tank would be a problem. I did use ceramic tile for the floor of my basking area so it heats up nicely.

I don't think the turtle will sleep outside the water when the lights are off since it gets too chilly. I believe an infrared heater would allow him to do that since it will keep it warm and still dark.

[Seroster]

Heh, that's why I was looking for an in-water solution. Driftwood that sticks up close to the top of the water would be ideal, no sharp edges, pretty, non-toxic, designed to be submersible, pre-made. But like I said, finding an "ideal" peice with just the right shape/dimensions is a pain. Would need to be about 12-15" long, 13-15" tall, and less than 17" wide, preferably with a peak of some kind where he could sit and stick his head out of the water.

Much easier to have a pile of rocks that I could just stack up to a specified height, or something artificial that I can build to my requirements. Which is why I was asking if anyone had ideas.

[elwray]

Hmm well... pile of rocks would be cool except it would take up a lot of real estate. The 125 gal should have plenty to spare, but that would kind of defeat the whole purpose, right?

What about gluing a platform of plexiglass on one side of the tank ~2 inches below the water surface? Or maybe a few inches deeper and putting rocks on it to give it a more natural look?

[rsour24]

u could use pvc pipe as support and place tile on top as a platform. of coarse ud have to fill the pvc pipe with sand or someother type of weight but it works out rly nice

[elwray]

I was thinking of making the platform as a "shelf" of sorts.

Glue a piece of plexiglass flat against the front, side, and back, then set a piece of plexiglass or tile or whatever you want so it sits on the lip of the plexiglass and glue in place. Should be quite strong.

The PVC platform would be good too, except you'd have to consider tip-over stability and decor to hide the pipe, if you're going for aesthetics.

[n00bEmpty]

Try looking for Cork bark. It'll be the same idea as drift wood.

[sull324]

I have made mine with eggcrate just under my basking area,covered bottom and 2 of the side with pond liner to reduce water flow and it work great.

[Seroster]

I'm thinking about a simple PVC platform now. I thought it might look tackey, but after I saw a video on youtube where a guy had a couple of platforms on PVC pipe I think it'll be fine. Probably throw a tile on the top for the sitting platform and call it good.

[Footrash]

You could try those bar soap holders with suction cups behind it . Works great for me