Habitat - Indoor :: What should i use for flooring of ABTA

[ilcapo21]

Im building an ATBA for my 135 gall tank, i was wondering what you guys think i should use for the flooring of the ABTA, this will be the spot the turtles sit on to bask, should i use burber carpet or vinyl.

[Chrisbarnett]

Vinyl because it will not soak up water from the turtles and then get all warm and funky smelling eventually.

[Nin10doGC]

Yes. If you use carpet you will get mildew and smells you don't want, possible infection, ect. Stick with vinyl, although I'm not familiar with that material.

[PcBuilder14]

I'm going to use that reptile carpet stuff.

[Chrisbarnett]

thats not immune to mildew either, reptile carpet can get pretty nasty.

[Raphulk]

fortunately for me, i have horrible sense of smell (i think i have anosmia), so the mildew or horrid smell that the carpet has does not affect me. i still wash the carpet everytime i do water changes, its only velcroed on so its easy to put on and off.

[PcBuilder14]

It really depends on how im going to make my atba. one way ill use sand the other ill use rocks, vinyl, or carpeting. I want something that looks like grass or dirt. And where would you get vinyl anyways?

[Squishy]

Vinyl wouldn't look like grass or dirt, at least to me. For vinyl, go to a sign shop and ask for some scraps with the backing still attached. If you bring the base of the basking area, they might even attach it for you. It does take some skill to get that vinyl on without any air bubbles, and for a large sheet you may need application fluid.

[ilcapo21]

I couldnt wait for the poll so i just used vinyl, i had odors in mind also so i thought vinyl would be better, for some reason we have gargantuan rolls of vinyl in my basement, i think there from a shop my dad used to work at, i used aquarium scilicone to attach it, it was closest in reach so thats what i used, i made my whole atba in about 2 hours without spending a dime, ill post pics as soon as i get a minute its pretty crude right now, i have some improvments to make, but its sufficient. Thanks for the input guys

[Daniel3507]

doing it all for free is the way to go. nice job

[imderanged]

I was thinking of getting astro turf type plastic grass stuff to make a natural looking floor for an ATBA that i could wash easily.

[RaytheonLiszt]

If I just use a piece of ceramic tile (from homedepot, not glazed but with a printed facing) do I need some sort of flooring? Right now, I have these non-slip bath strips on this type of tile, but they get pretty grimy real fast. Would it be OK to have nothing?

[PcBuilder14]

That's kind of what I want to use is like astro-turf

[kgielda]

I used the reptile carpet and it worked well. The ramp did get a little nasty since it was always wet, but the top lasted much longer.

[ilcapo21]

Im not sure how the turf or reptile carpet does, but i did have the acrylic turtle ramp with the green traction strips, and every few weeks or so i would have to scrub them down bc they would get grimey, i imagine anything that isnt completely flat gets that way, im sure even the vinyl i used will get some degree of filth on it, but based on what i saw with the traction strips, i would assume turf and reptile carpet gets much worse.