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Hey guys,

So i've decided to go ahead and begin a new attachment that sits above my tank, allowing room for my turtles to have room to bask, as well as it be a nice display unit that suits the bottom area my tank sits on.

I already have an old one i've been using for a few years, but it has its flaws as it was my first time building. I've come up with some ideas, picked up most of my material and have started.

Before I show off the "blue prints" of the new tank, as well as my progress thus far, here is the old one.



It's hard to tell in this picture (camera phone) but the color I painted this top basking area comes absolutely nowhere near the color of the bottom piece. Since it is made from plywood - I decided to paint it because stain would not look very nice. In the end though, since it is not stained it doesn't look a thing like the bottom cabinet the tank sits on.



As much as I love how I have 2 "windows" on each side to display plants, as well as peak on the turtles basking - I cut the window to long, and thus you can see the (lego, lol) stand for the plant, as well as everything. In the new build I will still have those windows but not nearly as deep. So that it will cover any stand I use for the plant, as well as the planter. I'd like to make it look as "natural" as possible.




So thats the old one. As stated, there are some flaws, but these will be correct in the new design so it is more flush, and better looking.





So as above shows, I have the new wood. I have the front and back pieces cut, as well as the sides.

Heres the "blue print" of my design.



The design is missing a few things, such as the plant windows on the sides, as well as a middle center window I plan to put, with 1-way mirror tint (So I can spy on the turltes basking, without them fleeing!)

The plant windows this time will not be cut out so deep, so you cannot see the stands/soil for them. I am also thinking of just putting down plastic and filling the sides with soil and planting the plants there instead of just using planters.

I also plan on staining the birch wood (which looks GREAT stained) the same color as the tank stand, then using urethane sealer to match as well

As far as the middle dock with a ramp on each side. Last time I used plexi glass, bent it, and put outdoor carpet on it. This time I may go a different route. I may get wooden corks, and line them all up and push a coat hanger through them to bend them as a ramp and dock. Nothing certain yet though, just exploring my options.

Anyway, thats it for now. I plan to get this all finished by the end of the weekend. I don't plan on rushing this one out in a day like I did the other one, so its just my goal to be done by sunday.

I'll keep you guys posted on my progress!

Cool! I can't wait to see pics. Your old ATBA was pretty nice too BTW, but the new one sounds like it’ll be really cool. I hope to do this someday - You have some great ideas. I especially like this one:

DocShay wrote:as well as a middle center window I plan to put, with 1-way mirror tint (So I can spy on the turltes basking, without them fleeing!)

Wow, what a great idea. Let us know how that works, I might want to copy you some day!

Ok, update time!



Front and sides put on, test fit!



More test fitting, making sure my floresant lighting fixture will fit behind the enclosure



Front view of front/sides



Seeing how the plexi-window fits up. Hard to get a good view since the picture was taken so close - After I window side windows for my plants, and the plexi window it will look much better.



Back piece now on - fully assembled! Inside view



Checking to see how much clearance the back has...



Perfect fit!



Front view, fully assembled! Getting there!



Just a mock up, so you guys get an idea where i'm heading with this. Other than the roof and windows - all theres really left is staining and sealing. Also ned to construct the ramp for them to get up. Still undecided which i'll do with this.

Lots of views guys, but not so much comments! Lets hear some feed back whether is good or bad! Please

it looks good! what are you using as the base? is it going to go all the way across the top of the tank?

Hard to explain, but its more of an "island"





See that glass piece in the middle? I'm going to put a piece of wood on it, with outdoor grade green carpet on it. Then make a ramp going down on both sides so they can access it from either side. I'll be using wine corks lined together as a ramp, using a coat hanger wire to keep them together and bend in the shape of a ramp.

wine corks that's a genius idea! i'm in the process of finishing my first ATBA. mine is made out of plexiglass and i glued polished rocks to the bottom and the ramp. I havent put it on my tank yet but if the rocks on the ramp doesn't work out i will keep wine corks in mind...

honeeb6 wrote:wine corks that's a genius idea! i'm in the process of finishing my first ATBA. mine is made out of plexiglass and i glued polished rocks to the bottom and the ramp. I havent put it on my tank yet but if the rocks on the ramp doesn't work out i will keep wine corks in mind...

Also, if you don't like the look of wine works - on my last ATBA for my ramp I used plexi glass that I bent to form a ramp with a heat gun, and used hotglue to put on green outdoor turf - It stayed on solid, never came off and looked great.

Looking good!

Small update, personal things been getting in the way of progress! But here's a small jump forward.



Cut 2 side windows to see my real plants through. Also the "spy" window to spy on them basking.



1-way mirror tint applied to plexi. I can see you!



But you can't see me!

The brighter light shining on the tint, the more reflection there is, therefore the more you cannot see through it from the mirror side. Luckily, my MVP bulb will be in view of the window - No chance the turtles will catch me peeping on them!

I need to pick up a stain color matching chart, so I can get stain that matches my cabinet the tank sits on. I already have the urethane sealer to put on - *hopfully* by the end of this weekend it will be all complete!

Still not sure what i'm going to do for basking. I bought a pack of 100 wine corks, drilled holes and threaded wire between. It looks like garbage. I am not happy at all with it. I may just recycle my old plexi from my last 2-ramp dock and do the same thing again. It was functional, looked pretty good as well.

I also need a vinyl background for the inside of the box, but I can't seem to find a background I like. 9/10 of them are all "under water" or desert themed. Trying to find a natural "river & woods" type one, but no such luck. If anyone comes across one online, do let me know!

Thats all for now,

Cheers

It's all coming together finally! Just a few things left to do, but heres where I am at.









Things left to do:

- Stain / Seal the outside

- Get a nice background/wall paper for the entire inside

- Attach green outdoor carpet to plexi ramp (hard to see the plexi ramp in last pic, but its there)

- Add plants to the sides of the tank

Overall it seems to come exactly what I had in mind. finally decided on a ramp, used some plexi to make a bent ramp upwards, and the "top" of the ramp where they sit is a ceramic tile that has a sandy like look to it. It's actually an extra tile I had from my bearded dragons tank.

Edit:

Okay one more pic for tonight! I decided to add some plants just for "test looks" and came across a bunch of bamboo I had around my apartment. I really like how it looks behind the tank, I think i'll pick up about 16 stocks and put them behind. As you guys might tell, I like the "nature" look of aquariums!



ps the window plants look cool too It'll look better though once I have a vinyl background.

really nice set up...

Okay, its been done for abit but forgot about my thread! Background is now on, everything is stained with urathane sealant as well - it looks great! Phone pictures won't do it justice, i'll get a real camera this time and update again!