75 Gallon Vertical Conversion?

[Airedale]

I just moved my leos out of my 75 gallon aquarium. One side wall is cracked, so it isn't water ready, and I have been contemplating converting it to a vertical enclosure so I could get some large arboreal geckos eventually. My question is if this is possible, and how I could do it. Obviously, there is no ready made conversion kits for a tank that big on the Internet, so it would have to be home made

 

[lauraleellbp]

I wouldn't do it with a glass tank over 30gal in size, personally. Especially not a heavy tank like a 75gal. The bottom glass and frames are not designed to support the kind of weight and stresses they'd have to standing up on one end.

 

[daggekko]

From my experience turning 10 and 20Long aquariums verticle I would say it is going to be very difficult. Possible- Probably. A couple of good questions-
1. Are you going to make a glass front?
2. Are you taking the glass out of one end and putting in screen at the new "top"?

This is the first tank I tried. The picture was taken before I glued the screen on the new "top" end. You can see the glass front with latch and hinges. A couple of good tips for you. I used 1/8" glass for the 10's and 20's. It cracks very easy. I tried make a front for my chest/dresser turned gecko enclosure out of the same glass and shattered it while I was trying to glue it in place. If your doing a similar job, go with thicker glass. (Or acrylic)

Secondly, I have had some issues with the silicone holding the glass pieces in place. It seems that over time they start to come loose from the plastic rim of the tank. I have somewhat solved this by glueing them to the tank, then the next day running a bead of silicone on the outside to provide some extra support. With a 75 gallon I would try to figure out a way to put the glass pieces inside the rim of the tank. Also, my top and bottom section of the front(where the hinges and latch attach) are 2" tall. With 2" of water in the tank I had the glass completely come off. I need to get with some dart frog people to find out what they do to stop this from happening.

If you want to try another forum that could be helpful you can try frogforum.net or dendroboard.com. I just figure since the people doing darts usually have to deal with a lot of weight from the substrate and water in the tanks they might have some good advice.

Another thing you can think about trying is getting some window screen frames and building a screen front. You could probably screw some hinges on as well(to the screen frame) and silicone the frame to the tank. Since this will be so much lighter in weight you shouldn't have the issues of it coming undone.

The most important thing has got to be your end intention. Without knowing exactly how you want this enclosure to function it will be hard to give good thoughts on it

 

[Ozymandias]

the biggest convert i've ever built was a 40br in this inance i used both plexy for the door but glass for the bottom it's not purfect to be honest but as my first larger build it was a good learning experience that i am planing on using for 75 gallon at some point. for that build i would skip using glass because it will be way to heavy for a door, i've also been looking into Plexiglass G or other stronger plaxiglass but never got around to looking to to price on that so not sure what the price would be. also with plexy the bond will be stronger to the frame of the tank because the glue you would need to use. hope that makes sense and isn't to convoluted not enough sleep lol.

daggekko it's better to use 1/4" inch and make it so it fits in really tightly, some times to get the glass into place i have to fit it in the middle of the tank (where there is more give) and slide it down. also with my tank i usually have the hinges on the sides not connected to the bottom with might take off some stress to the bottom.


edit: in addition to the sites daggekko posted also check out our sister site of vivarium forum, it not supper active but there are some really smart people on there and some good reference threads.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Personally, I'd have no issues with using a 75 gallon for a vert conversion. However, I have tons of conversion experience as well as carpentry experience, tools, ect. Unfortunately, converting something like that isn't the kind of thing you're likely going to be able to find a simple tutorial/instructional post on. You pretty much have to just start working on it and see where it takes you. Use a bit of artistic flair here and some engineering skills there. And ask specific questions as you go. You have nothing to lose by giving it a try. Start making a plan in your head. Then transfer that to paper. Post that up and see what advice others have then. I'll be happy to help as much as I can.

 

[Airedale]

The way I figured, I got the tank for $10 so if I break it or anything, it isnt a big deal. I was thinking I could replace the damaged panel with screen, so the occupants can get uv from a light. I also figured I could put a panel of glass or plexiglass across half the opening, then make a screen door across the upper section.