Building a Crabby Paradise

[aussieJJDude]

Ceramic heat emmiter

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[Visual]

So I haven't had a lot of time to work on Crab River Gorge, spring break took me away. But I did manage to find some much needed shells while in florida. Now that I'm back I needed to get to work. Finally cut the plywood for the back and installed the plexiglass. Drilling holes into this stuff is stressful. I've also gotten the whole inner tank covered with reflectix and the front permanent panel of plexi drilled and glued down. Now to drill holes in the back for power cords to my lights, ultratherms, waterfall pump and bubblers. I'm afraid of this false bottom but I think I just need to dive in and do it. In the background of the photo you can see my current tank.... haha they won't know what to do with this much space.


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[GotButterflies]

That will be cool!!


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[annedow9]

Finally....


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Wow those are huge! Can't wait to see the finished product! Have fun!


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[Kermie16]

Holy cow this is gonna be awesome!


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[PinchersAndShells]

So is the back wall going to be glass/plexiglass and that's what you're putting your ultratherms on? Interesting thread so far!

[Visual]

So is the back wall going to be glass/plexiglass and that's what you're putting your ultratherms on? Interesting thread so far!

Oh yes, the back has a panel of plexi. I plan on letting them get natural light in the summers. Then making a thermaflex lined cover panel to cover the plexi in the winters just to help insulate the tank when the temps drop here in ky. My ultratherms are now installed down both sides of the tank. I'm hoping they will adequately heat the air in the upper part of the tank.


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[Visual]

It's been a week now since I sealed this bad boy up. I think I may finally be ready to mix substrate tomorrow!! The false bottom is coming along all I need to do is learn more about attaching the access tubing for the drain, figure out how to make a front door for the tank that will seal in humidity and I'll be ready to decorate!


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[Visual]

Both ultratherms are taped up and I've got expanded metal up over that to protect the crabs. I plan on covering the metal with cocofiber. The metal will also give me a surface to zip tie things onto. Also the false bottom is about finished.


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[DreaminginBlue]

Can't wait to see this when it's finished! Your crabs are going to love their new home.

[Visual]

Dang, I don't think I got enough sand. This is already one bag

[Hermiearth]

Yeah sand goes quicker than you would think (:


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[aussieJJDude]

Omg haha. That's me when calculating sand. I always but twice as much to cover my bases and then still not have enough

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[Kermie16]

Wow!! Love all of the natural light in the tank!! It's gonna look awesome!


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[Visual]

Waterfall feature is well under way.

Here above you can see I used aquarium grade silicone to seal the tubing into the small water pump. Pump suction cups to the bottom of my Tupperware container. Next I filled the pool with clay balls that came with my waterfall kit. They act as an aquifer and help keep large stuff from blocking up the pump.

Next I laid a layer of thin mesh, also came with the kit, on top and covered with more clay balls. The kit says to add your substrate on top for vivariums but since I plan on using this as a pool I don't intend to put sand on top.


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