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Well, what an upset I had this morning.

A while ago, I bought this "lounge lily" off of this website: http://www.petdiscounters.com

This is the very first time I've had a real problem with anything I've bought from them. This will also be the last time I buy from them. The "paint" or "green coating" over the plastic is chipping off. Today, I ran the platform under high pressure water to knock loose all of the pieces that may come off in the tank. I'll keep that up everytime I clean the tank until I upgrade). The too little flower lilies that came with aren't really a problem. The larger lily will be removed permanently when I upgrade.

For now, it has to stay, because I don't have another basking area, and I refuse to waste more of my money.

I also am going to make a complaint to the website. Even if the site isn't the direct maker of the product, they are still endorsing it buy selling it. Hey, I could've gotten an accidentally defective lounge lily, but it still makes me very mad. I had wanted it for a long time, and I'm angry that it turned out so crappy and ugly.

When I upgrade to the 50 gallon, I'm making an ATBA.

P.S. Floating docks suck!! They never float properly, never stay put, our turtles try to eat them, or they get damaged from always being in water.

Huh.. Ok Alex. Calm down then making your own ATBA in future for you turtles will be so much fun and memorable than having the crappy ugly lounge lilies

Hm, well I got mine on clearance for 2$, and i still feel ripped off lol.

My baby turtle couldn't even grip and pull himself up to bask on it so I basically pulled it out after a day and instead got a real Zoomed Dock. I kept the two small flowers in though because they're fun and nice looking floating around the tank.

theartbook35 wrote:Floating docks suck!! They never float properly, never stay put, our turtles try to eat them, or they get damaged from always being in water.

Buy a zoomed floating dock......A little more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

jozzep wrote:

theartbook35 wrote:Floating docks suck!! They never float properly, never stay put, our turtles try to eat them, or they get damaged from always being in water.

Buy a zoomed floating dock......A little more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Turtles tend to ingest the zoo med docks. Thanks for the suggestion, but my girls have a habit of biting things, like all turtles, which is why I got a plastic dock, so they wouldn't be able to break it.

Gianni- My turtles can climb on it just fine, maybe it's because of their size, or they just really like to climb... I did have it suction cupped with a string that held it a bit deeper in the water, but, they chew the rope in half. It's like, all right, fine, let it float there, see if I care!

Anyways, Azfar, now I got some questions about ATBA's:

Has anyone had any problems with a wood basking area rotting from being occasionally splashed with water?

How heavy is too heavy, exactly? Like, what's the maximum weight of an ATBA that a tank can tolerate? I don't plan on making it out of brick, but hey, ya never know, even something as simple as a few pieces of wood could be to heavy.

I'm keeping the flowering lilies though

I'm so glad my mother bought that drill a few months ago. If she'll let me use it, that is.

theartbook, I haven't used an ATBA yet on my new tank, but going from experience in the past, I'll try and and answer your questions/

All wood will rot eventually, but if it's good wood that's made to build things it should last for easily as long as you need it. The thing you want to worry about is warped wood due to moisture. This could come from the wet turtle crawling up on the wood, or splashing like you said. You could always coat your wood in paint or polyurethane to help protect it.

I don't see the need to use stone when you have simple 1x1s and 1/4" plywood available. Those thin cuts of wood, especially pine, will be relatively light and very customizable. Use galvanized tacks or screws, and coat everything with some type of reptile astroturf and you should be fine. Even a tank-length basking area made out of 1x1s and 1/4" plywood would be nearly no stress for your tank, despite the not-so-beautiful appearance. Consider the weight that mass-produced fish tank canopies put on the tank. As long as weight is well distributed it will be perfectly safe.

For me, I've experienced used driftwood and yes eventually it will rot because got splashed or the turtle bring the water when they climbed on it.

So far, mine never had any problem because its looks like strong driftwood which still look ok in the water its just got some algae.

I'm replacing the basking area with custom made plexiglass.. likes others design will be ready soon..

Azfar wrote:For me, I've experienced used driftwood and yes eventually it will rot because got splashed or the turtle bring the water when they climbed on it.

So far, mine never had any problem because its looks like strong driftwood which still look ok in the water its just got some algae.

I'm replacing the basking area with custom made plexiglass.. likes others design will be ready soon..

Lol, speaking of driftwood, a woman I worked with in a preschool, the class pet was some species of turtle. The turt would always pick the driftwood up and slam in against the tank wall like crazy. Made her so nervous, she was scared half to death of the turtle. I loved how the woman who owned the turtle would ask her to clean the tank sometimes, and she'd be like, "I'm not cleaning that tank. I don't wanna get salmonella and that turtle is crazy!"

Anyways, I like your ideas ya'll. I'd love to build the wooden basking spot, then treat it. I wouldn't expect the polyurethane, after it dries, to harm my turtles, correct?

the poly should be harmless as long as it has plenty of time to dry and cure before the ATBA is installed. I would just be wary of wood that is completely submersed. For a ramp I recommend finding egg crate, or use one of those floating docks so that your turtle can have a safe grip with no wood actually in the water.

papoopeepoo wrote:the poly should be harmless as long as it has plenty of time to dry and cure before the ATBA is installed. I would just be wary of wood that is completely submersed. For a ramp I recommend finding egg crate, or use one of those floating docks so that your turtle can have a safe grip with no wood actually in the water.

Would one of those turtle hammocks work? They can't get their nails caught in those, can they?

i think their nails are too small to get tangled in.

and does the "lounge lily" look like this?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Ca ... eptile.jpg

NOTE:THATS A FROG NOT A TURTLE.....

blackforces get you wrote:i think their nails are too small to get tangled in.

and does the "lounge lily" look like this?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Ca ... eptile.jpg

NOTE:THATS A FROG NOT A TURTLE.....

Yeah, it does.

It looks better with a frog sitting on it, too.

lol stick to zoo med dude. it will be the best for you

blackforces get you wrote:lol stick to zoo med dude. it will be the best for you

My turtles like to bite basking docks. Even when they have extra calcium, they won't attack their rocks or toys, but they go for that basking dock. I've heard way too much about turtles eating the zoomed docks, and throwing it up. The fact that something a turtle can eat that it shouldn't be eating, is on the market, really irritates me.

Anyways, I'm gonna order some cork bark, that I'll screw into the ATBA when it's done, to act as a ramp.

Cork bark is pretty dense, right? If I drive a screw through it, it's not gonna crack on me, I hope?

cork bark is somewhat pliable and soft. It is dense enough to drive a screw into, and have it hold well, though.