20 gallon vertical conversion project x2

C

chelseagrin

New member
i get that alot, im a dude, people call me chelsea but chelseagrin is the name of a band that a good friend of mine is in. dont like the music but its cool hes in a band.
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
just an update...

i should have put the door on while i could lay the tank flat on its back before i messed around with putting substrate and everything in. hinges and latches have been coming loose and they're a pain to reattach with the tank needing to stay vertical.

still haven't started on the second one.
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
Two words: rivet tool.

Got sick of the various epoxies and glues coming undone so I put rivets in to hold the hinges to the door... Now I just have to fill in the holes on the inside of the door with some silicone. I'll be using rivets on all of my future conversions. Much easier and less messy, so it looks better anyway.
 
daggekko

daggekko

New member
Hey, we need a picture of this new idea! What are you using to hold the hinge to the tank? I have been sanding the plastic rim where the hinge will sit and using epoxy. I have yet to pull loose a hinge that is done this way, but not saying it'll be a good fix. I think I only had one maybe 2 hinges come loose off the door. And that is out of 12 conversions. Rivet idea does sound good though!
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
I'll get a picture up tonight or tomorrow night when I get a chance. I haven't had much of a problem with the hinges coming loose from the plastic aquarium frame, just the metal-to-metal connection between the hinges and the aluminum screen frame. As soon as I get a new handle put on the door and fill in the holes with silicone I'll finally be able to move the gecko in... She/he is getting big enough now that the 12x12 zoo med i got for $15 can probably be retired.
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
Basically I just used a single rivet in the middle hole of each hinge. Drilled from the outside to make a hole just big enough for the rivet to fit through, then drilled from the inside to make the hole bigger on that side so it wouldn't stick out. I think construction would have taken half the time if I had just spent the $17 on a rivet tool at the beginning. Much less need for epoxies and glues this way and thus less time waiting for things to dry.
 
daggekko

daggekko

New member
Thanks for the photos. I might have a rivet gun somewhere in the basement. Maybe. I might go look into finding it and trying it out. I have 2 more conversion tanks to do and I might call it quits on them. I spend about as much money as buying a zoomed 12x12x18 on each tank. So I think when I need to start up a second rack I will just fill it with the zoo med tanks:biggrin:
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
The second of the two 20 gallon conversions is going to have to wait a while until after we move. I also have a 40 gallon breeder I'm hoping to use for dart frogs eventually. Not sure if I'll try to make it a front-opening horizontal conversion on it or just go with a top-opening design.
 
C

CrestedRick

Active member
Does the rivot go through the entire thickness of the frame or does it just go through that one side? Also how did you go rivot it to the tank?
 
R

rhino43grr

New member
The rivet holds the hinge to one side of the screen frame, but to put the rivet in I had to drill through both sides of the screen frame. Nothing is riveted to the aquarium itself, it's all attached with adhesives.
 
C

CrestedRick

Active member
Ok thats what I thought but wasnt sure. Hey if my cresties are both female and can live together welp ill just buy a big exo terra unless I can trade for a male somewhere then Ill make two vert 20s.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top