DIY tank

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:29 pm

I'm very picky about things. I don't like the regular X gallons because they are too long and not wide enough and too tall and without enough floor space. (my crabs honestly spend more time off the ground than on it, but the idea of them falling 18 inches scares me to death.)

my mom's solution was to make a plexiglass tank. we went and looked at the plexiglass today and it looks good, and my mom and dad are both good builder/putter-together people, so I totally trust them to help me build the thing.

I just have a few questions:

1. what would be a good glue/putter-together-er? absolutely MUST be totally hermit crab friendly.
2. is there a certain kind of plexiglass (or any other substitute -- is plexiglass totally not good?) that should be used? we're looking at the middle-class (not cheapie, not expensive) Home Depot stuff right now.
3. how can I get a glass hermie-happy lid for this tank? it'll probably be something like 24" by 36" and that's not a standard size, is it?

any other suggestions/comments/concerns would be greatly appreciated. I've only had my two hermies for a few weeks, so maybe I'm moving too fast? but I want more! and my little 17" x 9" x 7" just isn't cutting it.

alright, thanks.

<3

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:54 am

Use aquarium sealant for the glue and why not make your own lid out of plexiglass? I think the people here who have made there own lid have made it two sections so they didn't have to remove the entire lid to get into the tank.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:45 pm

The only problem with plexiglass is that it warps when its heated so you will encounter problems keeping the tank warm in the winter

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:48 pm

Kaep0722 wrote:The only problem with plexiglass is that it warps when its heated so you will encounter problems keeping the tank warm in the winter

really? how badly does it warp and in what temperatures?

and what do you mean by warp? just change sharp or... eh. I think I know what you mean but I want to make sure.

thanks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:54 pm

I had plexiglass as a temporary lid on my tank and when I used the heat lamp one chilly night it got a pretty good sized bubble about 1" around. I switched to a glass lid after that. You might want to check the price of glass it might be similarly priced to the plexiglass and could be assembled the same way. The lid for my 36 by 12 tank was only $7

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:59 pm

Where did you buy your glass lid?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:11 pm

I just had the glass cut to size at a hardware store because my tank was an odd size

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:36 pm

If you want something wide but not too tall a 40b might be a easier choice than starting from scratch. A 40b in 36 by 18 inches and is 16 inches tall, minus 6in for substrate and you have 10 in., tall enough for decorations and climby toys but not to tall, but honestly I don't think 18in is that tall, I mean in the wild they climb entire trees!. Plus they have a hard shell and are plated in armor like exo, So I don't think you have to worry about 18inches being dangerous.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:11 pm

On my 20g long I have a piece of glass on the back half of the tank that the heat lamp is over. On the front half a piece of plexiglas that is easy to move to service the tank.

I'm building a very large tank and will have glass on the areas where the heat lamps will be.