Habitat - Indoor :: Basking setup I'm in DIRE need of help

[focus12221]

Well here is my problem.... I am making a backing area above my tank, It will essentially be a wooden box with a hole in the bottom for a ramp and access into the box. Here is my dilemma, I know it needs to be a hard wood. I know I can't use pine or soft woods that wood leak toxins, I believe the solution is that I am using Oak wood, I can get a piece cheap and make an awesome basking area for my RES. I am unsure about how to seal it. Pressure treated or not, sealed with wood sealant or not, any advice at all will be Very helpful, the only part getting wet is the ramp that will be submerged and the water she has on her when she climes up.

PLEASE HELP Any advice will help me!

If you offer any solution such as a sealant please be as specific as possible.

Thanks !!!!!!

[megcornell]

Are you sure oak isn't too heavy for the tank to support?
Why are you sealing it? Can't you just keep the water a few inches below it or use plastic on the bottom to water proof it?
As for the ramp part I think plexiglass is a popular choice.

[focus12221]

Its going to be a 1/4 in oak, it will be strong enough, and the tank can support more weight than what it will weight when completed... the bottom won't touch the water but there is always condensation that will build, i don't want it to create mold or anything ??? right? but the change or ramp might be a very good one.

[focus12221]

What about using birch......... ?? That was something else I was considering

[emma]

I agree with megcornell. It would be a lot easier to use plexiglass since it won't mold and isn't very heavy. Then, you can always cover the top of it with some sort of liner.

[mcghee.kevin]

You do know that of all wood oak is the most expensive, there are cheaper substitutes out there.... but I have never heard of Pine being toxic??? Red cedar is but Pine.....? I dont beleive it is

[madmax1]

here is what i am using plexi glass I will put turtle turf on it probably still under construction my top is all clean pine nice coat of paint semi-gloss and back ground when all complete will look like this I am 3/4 of the way finished will finish in the spring. will use a plexi glass ramp also. plexi is the way to go and I made it removable for cleaning.



There will also be a plexi glass viewing window to cover opening in front which will also be removable to have access to tank and a basking spot on both sides of tank.

[mcghee.kevin]

I am building mine out of pine, but it will not be touching the water so Im not worried about toxic and since theres going to be an 8" opening for the lights and such and the rest will have a top condensation will not be a problem, and with a plexiglass platform and ramp it will be safe and sound.

I know that pine wood chips is bad for annimals to bed in cause of the toxic stuff. to breath

[focus12221]

Everyone I have talked to at the pet store and home depot so not to use pine because it can be toxic to the aquarium, they all say to use a hard wood, Im not worried about the cost because the amount of wood id need even if i choose oak is under 50. I can consider using Plexiglas for the bottom ...

[mcghee.kevin]

Well I think they would say not to use it is its going to be in the water, but I have seen very nice pine covers on aquariums before, and thats essentiall what you are doing.... besides a plexy bottom. No offense to anyone here who has or knows someone who works at home depot, but I'm a construction worker and our company deals with home depot.... and the home depot here.... well I havent met anyone yet whos seems knowledgable enough to answer anything.

[focus12221]

Im not making a cover though, I would like the whole thing to be wood and it will at time to time get wet, though the plexiglass is getting me to think my problem now is where to get it locally, I reallllly dont want to order it online, the other problem with plexiglass which im sure someone has a good idea for is how to build a ramp for it, oh and how to cut it without cracking it, i havent worked with plexi and am not sure how prone it is to breaking

[mcghee.kevin]

Sorry, I was just comparing your project with mine, being very similar but I plan on putting a cover over the half thats not a basking area and makind a lid, and some soft lights to illuminate, basically making it look like fancy wooden decorative aquarium lid you see in custom setups, but low and behold when you get closer theres a turtle sitting in there!!

Well your plexi glass problem is easy.

First, go to any glass shop, that cuts glass in custom sizes, they deal in plexi as well and they can get it for you and a better prices than Home Depot.

Cutting is easy, cut it on a table saw or with whatever you are using to cut the oak. if it will cut oak it will cut plexi. What I like to do is is make to cuts, the first is very shallow, just deep enought to cut the surface of the plex.. then raise the blade and cut the rest... I find it causes less chipping that way.

Plexi is good quality but you tend to crack it more when drilling, but easily fixed by drilling SLOW, and using some 3 in 1 oil while its drilling just remember to wash it well before it goes into the tank. if you drill too fast it will crack...cause of heat build up, melting and friction.

For my ramp I am going to cut a 12 wide by 20 long sheet, and at 8 inches I am going to bend it to 45 degrees forming an 8" platform and 10 inch ramp and attach that to my basking box. As long as I use a good heat gun and soften the plastic, bend slow and in incriments, and redeat, cut using a sharp blade and a good quality drill bit on slow speed I wont have a problem, and neither will you.

Now if you are still worried about the cracking, spend some extra money and get LEXAN. is got a different molectular structure that is stronger, tends to crack less, in fact one way to cut plexi is to clamp it down to the edge of a table or bench, score the plexi with a knife and it will snap off clean and straight in line with the bench, lexan will not do this. If I didnt already have a peice of plexi I would have gone with LExan.

But anyways, 1/4" plex is 7 bucks a square foot (12 inchesx 12 inches) at one local glass place, about 14 bucks for my project since I need 2 feet of it, whereas another place I checked wanted 12 bucks a square about 24 bucks... so call some shops and find out prices too. If you want a small enought peice many shops have scraps that they will let go for considerably less.

[focus12221]

Thank you, that is very helpful. The setup I am going to build isn't going to be that small though, It's going to be over the entire tank and then some. I am not sure if there is any problem with that but the tank is 30" by 12" and I want the basking area to be 30 by 18, The actual basking area is only going to be around 10" by 10" but the rest of it might be a cool little place for the little girl to hang out, i plan on decorating it with some plants and stuff, we'll see what happens, any idea on the decorating?

[mcghee.kevin]

thats the same size as mine lol...

[focus12221]

Ya ive been thinking about this for awhile, never really thought of the plexiglass idea though, we'll see how it goes, i didnt want to spend a lot of money, wood i can get really cheap, my uncle is a contractor and if he doesnt have it laying around his prices for wood are wayyyy less than what id go in and pay