75g vertical conversion?

[MdngtRain]

not sure if this is the right spot, but does anyone know if an old 75g could withstand a vertical conversion? I'm concerned with the weight of the tank itself putting too much stress in the wrong places, and the tanks cracking or shattering. It looks to be a tank from the 80's/early 90's, as it is much thicker and heavier than the current 75g models (I picked it up used as a leaker about 7 years ago). I have only used it in it's horizontal placement so far, but was considering makign it a vert viv for my tokay geckos. Any input? would I be better off just making something out of wood?

 

[smcnearn]

I don't see why it couldn't be turned vertical. You might even be able to find a conversion kit for it if you do some google searching!

 

[AlaskanBlizzard907]

I would built some half @$$ support so it wasn't putting to much pressure on it in any certain spots. maybe some small shims would do the trick? love to hear how this went..... an maybe a pic. thanks

 

[miguel camacho!]

Late to the party, but I'll comment anyway. I've done this without any problems. Just because of the weight, I'd suggest you get a couple of aluminum 'L' brackets from your local home improvement store and get them cut to fit the two exposed bottom edges (considering that you'll not be modifying the original plastic trim). It'll keep you from developing unwanted chips/cracks.

I just bought a pane of glass fitted to the size of the area below the mid-tank brace, then made the top half a screen with some buttons to hold it in place. It fits nice and snug. Eventually, I took what ended up as the top pane of glass (originally the side pane) out and replaced that with screen, too. That made it much easier to top-load large branches, and improves ventilation. If I did it over again, I'd probably make it a little more Euro-style by not doing the entire bottom half with glass. Instead, I'd probably put glass up around 6 inches(substrate dam), make a small screen vent, then the remainder of the bottom half with glass.

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

Here's a pic of the frame that I make to turn large fish tanks vert. The whole tank just slides inside of the frame structure. It supports all of the weight (including the bottom glass), gets it up off the floor, and changes the center of gravity making it much more stable. It also makes it look much more like a piece of furniture suitable for having in your living room or whatnot. The door (what used to be the top) is now on the side. This is a 55 gallon but the same model could be used for any sized tank. Obviously this particular one hasn't been planted, etc yet. It just has some bamboo in it to give you an idea of the space inside.