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6-1/2 ft long tank built myself Check it out!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:11 am
by mindy and zach
hey guys you've probably seen another post i posted about a year ago about my dad and I building a 6ft long tank ourselfs for my 2 turtles here are pics from beginning to the ALMOST end result she still needs some more wood trim. glad to say after about a year shes still up and running good and fine no leaks or anything.

Heres my turtles home when i 1st got them as babies a 29 gallon tank.

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time to upgrade~!!




6-1/2 ft long 1 1/2 ft tall and 2 ft wide equals about 150 gallons and use 2 rena Xp3's and 2 visi-therm stealth heaters



all built and test filled about 2 weeks later of fully curing.

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pictures of my stand and the tanked framed in.

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above tank basking.

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wut u see in the bottom of the tank is slate tile i used instead of rocks much better looking and easy to clean.



here it is with some golden oak stain and turtles in it. still got some wood trim molding that needs to go on and a bit more staining ill post more pics when im done.

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:18 am
by Reel Girl
Wow! It's BEAUTIFUL! How long did it take to construct - did you design on your own??

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:24 am
by mindy and zach
put the tank together in one early saturday morning started at about 7:am and got done about noon was pretty easy the stand took a couple days cuz i didnt buy all the wood in one day and do it all at once kinda did a little at a time on the stand . and ya me and my dad did all the wood work and built everything from scratch hes been in the carpentry/roofing business for 25 years so yea he can pretty much build anything lol he built our 2 bay 2 story garage himself also. I wanted to spend as least money as possible for a big tank cuz a 150+ gallon tank store baught would have costed well over $500-600 so i did a bunch of research and figured out how big a tank i could build with the thinnest glass cuz here the thicker the glass the more expenisve it is so i used 1/4 inch glass payed about $218 for it all but i could only go a certain height with that thin of glass so with my research i figured i could use 1/4" glass at any length as long as its only about 1-1/2 ft tall hence y i made mine 6 1/2 ft long and only 1 1/2 ft tall. and btw the guy in the pics u see above is my dad not me. im the one snapping the pics. :)

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:26 am
by steve
Glad it worked out OK, it looks impressive! How big are your RES now?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:30 am
by mindy and zach
errmm id have to say 2-1/2 -3" long now if not a little bigger , havent measured in a while.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:05 am
by StevenAkaProek
That is awesome :) I wish I posessed those skills:(

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:46 am
by grey goose
WOW! Great setup! I love the cabinet and slate bottom!!!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:55 am
by RESnTX
All I can say is "WOW"!
And "Can I borrow your dad"?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:16 am
by Krzyspam
WOW!!! I'm blown away! Its really beautiful! I also love the idea of using slate tiles. I think I might steal that one! Your above basking area....is it attached to the tank or is it resting on the rails? I'm about to build one, and I'm curious how they hold up if you just place them on top. Seems to work in my head..but just checking... thanks!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:25 am
by ashleygamergirl
wow that is crazy. its soooooo nice

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:44 am
by TheComputerGremlin
Wow, just wow ... That's like a mansion for a turtle! You're making the other turtles jealous!

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:20 pm
by mindy and zach
my basking area is just resting on there so i can remove it when i have to for cleaning the tank and stuff.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:46 pm
by donchewliano
Really friggin cool. You and your dad did a GREAT job. Hurley's jealous.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:24 pm
by Elsa&Tank
That is awsome, perhaps my dad could build something similar. What did you use to seal the glass with?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:00 pm
by scripta_elegans
That is AWESOME! it looks great, and I bet you saved a bundle. i think a set up like that would go 1500-2000 easily.