4ft aquarium conversion

cheers i will google it

!! Now I know what im gonna do with my tank !!
I only thought about doin it, but sein it in action makes it that much more!
That would be a sick display and a fun project!

hahaha you have no idea how many people this thread here on the SF and on the BTS has inspired.

Graham has already done a conversion and it looks like there may be posts of several more from various other people

it's nice to know i have my uses lol!

I have indeed done my conversion a nice 2 ft aquarium trned into 2 tanks for my 2 P.regalis
I still need to make the lid, think ill get glass cut on friday.
And ofcourse I shall be posting pictures etc. I used polystyrene to section mine as It is cheap, already had some to hand, plus I can grout it and make it look lke a wall so should work fine methinks lol

It has been very very inspiring to see the conversion...I really like nice display enclosures. Makes for nice homes for our little room mates.

wicked

I cant wait to see other peoples conversions

Right then, here we go, the project is now 99% completed. Unfortunately we couldn't get a lid today so i'm on the hunt for a 4ft (or50") lid if anyone has one kicking around

So apart from a few bits of bog wood / cork / moss I come across in the shops the new tank is pretty much there, just needs a bit of tweeking as they say Might also have to look into those 3D backgrounds to disguise the heat mats through the glass. Unless anyone has any other idea's to share on that front

front view: -


Enclosure #1: het beccalonae (female???)


Enclosure #2: het. madraspatensis female


Enclosure #3: 2 x het spinifers, juvi's


Enclosure #4: het. madraspatensis male
As you can see he has kindly started a burrow at the front of the tank where i can spy on him, very nice of him lol!


Enclosure 5 is filled and ready for the het swammerdammi once it has shed.

Looks sweet

cheers

I do believe it's made of Awesome and Win.

very good lisa.

just need to save up again and then i can start on the desert tank

Absolutely stunning Lisa! Nice work indeed. I have looked into a number of background options. The fake polystyrene rock backgrounds were my first choice until I saw one up close...they look fake and if they get scratched it looks pretty bad. Tree fern panels look really nice...they are kind of fiberous and you can attach air plants to it. That would be a good choice for the look of your epic tank as they are a dark brown and would match the substrate and contrast nice with the decorations. It can be cut to size. Google Tree Fern Panels and see what you think. One thing I saw on You Tube if you want a rock type background involved cutting out rock shapes out of styrofoam and then covering it with cement. Search YouTube for "DIY Aquarium Background" and it should pop up. What you already have is incredible...I could just watch that tank for hours. Good Luck.

wicked cheers for that. I may have to make some lids though for each enclosure otherwise the scorpions would get out... but i really like 3D backgrounds even though I know the scorpions could climb out.

I look at my tank every night and think of possibilities for 'tweeking' it.

Since I took those pictures I have wrapped some exo terra jungle vine around the water tubes, not tightly just enough to break up the colour white tube... it was annoying me lmao!

Haven't been online for a few days but it looks fab Lisa. Keep up the good work

Maybe coat one of the fake rock backgrounds with cement and water to make it look more like real rock...

those tree fern panels actually gave me an idea, and it makes use of stuff I have laying around anyway.

Basically, i could get some polystyrene or sheets of cork, cover them in silicone and put dried coir substrate, bark chips, moss, sweeping brush bristles, the odd bit of plastic plant and anything else that comes to hand. I's only need to splash out on the polystyrene which is dirt cheap anyway.

Absolutely...that would actually look even better with different stuff siliconed on. Google Black Jungle. They are a terrarium site for little frogs, but they have videos and pictures of some awesome frog tanks. They suggest making backgrounds out of that spray foam/insulation stuff and them using silicone to stick coco fiber to it...looks really good...like a cliff or dirt bank. Fun fun...it will look awesome no matter what you decide on.

someone on the BTS website mentioned that expanding foam. And now i think about it i'm pretty certain someone posted some pictures of their foam background on here somewhere.

I would have also thought that expanding foam would be good for insulating the tank as well. once your background is in place with a heat mat behind it. it should warm up nicely and warm the tank up as well. but also help hold the heat in.

All these idea's, my brain is on overload.

as for the cork tiles... was looking on flee-bay last night and found cork tiles with sticky backing. how useful would that be you wouldn't have to silicone around the edges to prevent your invert from getting around the back because 100% of the tile is stuck to the glass. And they didn't have any coating on i.e. varnish of some sort.

I found 6" x 6" and 12" x 12" all natural cork tiles at Wal Mart and a local hobby store. I have almost completed the scorpion hide/playpen and like how it turned out. If they will use it as a hide it will make it possible to see them inside the little cubbies...if not I at least hope they will climb around on it at night for fun. I'll post pics when I get it all done. They all siliconed together pretty nice and clean...better than I thought. The sticky backing would be nice if I was just sticking it flat against the glass, but this thing is 3-D. And I have left over that I'll use to make a roach motel for my B. Bolivenus colony. Better than egg crate and I can provide more breeding surface area in a smaller colony container. I saw some pics on another forum.

excellent, cant wait to see pics

do you have the heat mat in between the soil and gravel?

no the heat mat is stuck on the outside at the back of the tank

Setup looks sick, Lisa!

If I'm using big 16 inch floor tiles...probably less than a 1/4 inch thick/fired clay....siliconed inside to the glass for a background in the enclosure, would a heat mat stuck on the outside of the glass still heat up the ambient temps inside? Or would the tile block the heat. Heat mats generally boost temps around 10 degrees when stuck to the back oof tanks from what I've heard. I guess I'm just wondering if a heat mat stuck to glass with a background is still worthwhile, or if it has to be on unobstructed glass? I have read somewhere that putting styro foam duct taped over the heat mat forces more heat into the enclosure because the heat won't escape off into the room. How well does a big clay tile conduct heat