Making a 2 level desert theme tank out of 29 gallon.

[lindsay1126]

Making a 2 level desert theme tank out of 29 gallon. Updated with som photos.

Ok so I posted a question in DIY about finding tutorials about making rock wall for the 29 gallon we want to do for our girl. I didn't get any responses but I found what I was looking for. So DH and myself have decided to do a completely desert theme tank for Gerty. We want it to be a 2 level to give her more to do. I have realized with the rocks we have been using that they are very hard to be able to clean under and they are so dark and enclosed what we barely ever see her unless she is eating. So I want to share my thoughts and get your feedback, ideas and suggestions before we get started. Here is a link to the way we want to do it, but not really our design. Neo The Leopard Gecko: Constructing a Naturalistic Vivarium Enclosure
So I want there to be a rectangle cave with removable top, on the heated side (we will be making it a 3 sided) to be able to put Tupperware container in, I want there to be 2 holes, just in case we ever decide to add another female (not even considering now, but do want to allow in case it is an option in futures) for now I will just put 1 large Tupperware container but, would allow 2 separate ones with 2 separate entries. Along back wall on warm side I want there to be a few caves to allow for enough warm dry hides. Coming off the large moist hide I want a bridge to go up to make a second level wrapping around above the dry warm hides (continuing all the way around the 3 sides) making some more cool hides and stimulation. I want there to be another large type hide with removable lid divided to make a couple more cool hides. We also will be including some fake succulents in the walls themselves.
I hope I explained this well enough. Also, I will be using tile as substrate. Any suggestions, reminders, tips?[

 

[kholtme]

That looks good! Make sure you use non toxic material. I just want to warn you, if you make a background that has high ledges, it is possible that your gecko can climb up then fall off, so be careful you dont make the background too difficult to climb on. In that link they said the humid hide is going in the middle. I recommend where ever you put the humid hide it should be above the UTH. If you ever have over head heating you also want to make sure your gecko cant get too close. Im sure yours will turn out great.

 

[lindsay1126]

Yeah that's why I said we would using that process but a completely different design. I want to make the ledge pretty wide and there will be a few ways to get down safely. I got the hide idea from that video you posted on the other board, I love that I can just take the roof off to do cleaning or to be able to get her if I needed. The moist hide will most DEFINITELY be on the side with the UTH. There will still be plenty of space in between the top level and the top of tank just in case I have to use a extra heat source next winter. I found this great tile (it looks like terra cotta) that will go great with the design. I need to see if I need to add a non toxic sealer though as to me it looks a little porous. I want to do a step by step, but don't know if I will but, I will definitely update a pic when finished.
Keep ideas and suggestions coming. Thanks.

 

[kholtme]

Keep us updated on your build. If you do a step by step i would start a new thread in the DIY sub-forum. Make sure you let everything air out before you introduce your gecko! A foam cutter will help make the cuts easier and cleaner, but a knife can be used, its just a little more messy and time consuming. A foam cutter is a little hand held tool with a wire that gets hot and melts through the sytrofoam.

 

[lindsay1126]

Yeah I already have a hot knife for other crafting stuff I do, so we are good to go there. I doubt I will get to do a step by step, but if I do I would def put it there.
Well I went to go get the tile and the one I really liked was WAY to thick, so I was going to get slate as the only other ones seemed very slick, but Lowes said I would have to buy a crate, that I wasn't allowed to buy them individually, even though the tag had an individual price and a price per carton. I asked bc there were a lot of them just laying on the floor some broken, some not, but not in cases and I said that I could get some out of those, and he said that he had to throw those away, but couldn't sell them too me. I get that could be their policy, but its just stupid. So now I am back at square 1 trying to find a tile bc they were the only store that did the cutting for me. I guess I could have just got something, but I was so mad that they wouldn't sell me the slate when the price was clearly an either or price, I just left.

ETA: I saw in another post you said you had to get them to re-cut the tile and it was still not the right size, how much do you think I should take off the tile? If I get 3 12x12's I technically should only have to cut 1 tile in 1/2 but I would imagine the silicone in the tank would make that difficult (just as you found out).

 

[kholtme]

Thats weird... I got my tile at Lowes, and they opened a box and grabbed the amount I needed and cut them for me. The second time I needed it cut they didnt even charge me. But I still didnt get enough cut off, and it was too little of an amount to make another cut so i bought a tile file and filed some of the edges off. and that took forever. I dont recommend doing that haha.

I dont know how much you will need to cut. You will need to measure the inside edges of your tank. When i put in a layer of sand under the tile that helped with the silicone that was in the way for the most part. I recommend you measure out the inside of your tank and then cut a little shorter than that. Mine was a hassle to get to fit in and i wish i would have cut more form the get go. If you have a small gap somewhere it wont be a big deal. Just dont try and force the tile into place, people have broke the glass doing so.

If the tank says its 12 inches wide, that is usually measured form the outside, so make sure you get a good measurement form the inside of the tank so you only have to get the tile cut once.

 

[lindsay1126]

Yeah, I thought it was weird too. I even asked to talk to the manager and he said told me he could throw the ones away that wouldn't sell but, he could not sell to me. I was furious. I do have some good news, I went to my local HD (that I had called) asked a manager, told him what I was doing and that I didn't want to rent a tile saw for a couple cuts he told me to buy them, go home measure and mark the tiles and bring them back and they would be happy to cut them for me. So hubby is marking them today and I am bringing them back. I found some that were 6x24 and they should match very well. I bought everything yesterday that we would need and it is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend, so we are going to get as much done as possible (with all the drying time, not sure how much that will be) I can't wait till its done, bc I am tired of that sand mat (very hard to clean poops off of) and moving all those rocks to get the poops from under. Hopefully she should be in her new home in at least a couple of weeks (due to letting it air out properly).

One more question, We bought a new media stand to put the tank on as my husband wants to set up a fire bellied toad paludarium and we want them on the same table. Will the UTH harm my furniture, its a veneer type wood? We have had it on a glass top and that has worked fine, but don't want to damage my furniture. Should I raise it up a bit higher than those rubber pieces they send with UTH, if so how? I ordered the flukers large UTH to go on the new 29 gallon. Would a heat barrier tape work well? Thanks.

 

[lindsay1126]

Not doing a step by step but here is it so far. It is taking a much longer time than expected. Some things didn't work the way I wanted so I had to start over.

 

[lindsay1126]

Here it is today, it drying a lot faster bc it so warm and sunny.

 

[kholtme]

Looks good. Is that hide in the middle going to be a necessary hide or just an added one? I fear it is too open to be a good warm dry or warm moist hide, but if its just an extra hide it will not be a problem. I wonder how well that ramp will work? Is it possible to add another on the left side for easier ways to get down to prevent falls? I dont think your gecko will try to jump off of it, because my leo seems to have good depth perception when looking over my desk edge, but if your gecko gets scared it may scurry off the edge...

 

[lindsay1126]

I may be adding kind of like a door with hole to the cave to make it more of a burrow than cave but its pretty deep and dark so I think it may be ok. I have stairs to the top of the moist hide too, so there is 2 ways of getting down. I think she will be fine, as she is pretty good about looking at her surroundings when she is out with us. I mean I am not the type of person who baby proofs my house for my kids, so I don't think its crazy to have a second level for my leopard gecko tank. I get doing things for big safety concerns (like sand), but I think geckos should know not to fall off a ledge.
The crack down the middle is a little bigger than I wanted but I didn't want to chance it not fitting together after grouting. I still have to paint tomorrow (haven't decided if I want to add a 5 layer of grout yet), and let it dry the add the coats of sealer.

 

[JIMI]

I had issues with my leo jumping off a tile raised only about 6" off the ground. He also seems to know that it's not a good idea to jump out of the entrance of his enclosure when I have the door open, but he doesn't seem to understand that jumping off of the elevated tile was not a good idea either. He had two sets of steps to get down, but for some reason he was very intent on getting down that way and I saw him do a front flip right onto the tile. Thank goodness he was okay, but I was so terrified he might fall again during the night and fracture something or suffer internal bleeding that I immediately got rid of the second elevated tile he fell off of. Consider at least having some decor in that area to cushion a fall because they can be dummies sometimes!

 

[lindsay1126]

I will keep an eye on it. Thanks for the tip. I had planned to add a few succulents so maybe I'll add some down there just in case.

The ledge is actually a lot deeper than it looks from the picture, I will try to get an above shot, but I will keep a watchful eye on how she does.

 

[LEOPARD1]

I dont have that kind of patience or money for that purpose.

It looks nice, I'm sure it will come out well, can't wait to see the end result.

Best Wishes!

 

[lindsay1126]

It really didn't cost much at all probably about $35 ( not including tank), but we had some of the tools already. I would have never been able to do this by myself, my husband did all the cutting and measuring, I just did grouting. it took a lot more time than he thought, but hopefully it turns out ok. I am hoping the painting adds more dimension as to me it looks a bit bland to me, but we will figure out something.

 

[kholtme]

Looks good! Im sure your leo will be fine. Did you make the moist hide easy to get into with it being in the tank? I see there is a hole in the top? is there a side entrance as well? What substrate do you plan on using in the moist hide? I think if you get a nice fake plant to go on the floor of the cool side would look nice and be an easy access to a "cool hide". Almost like a shade plant. I know [MENTION=48513]hmarie186[/MENTION] has a plant that her geckos love to lay under.

 

[lindsay1126]

There are 2 entrances but both are on top, I saw many people only have humid hides with holes on top, plus gerty only utilizes her top hole on her humid hide now anyways. I think I will get a larger succulent for cool side and maybe a small one for in front of their cave so it's more enclosed. and then 1 up top to keep th from the side ledge. I have to paint today and am not sure what I want to do yet but will update when done.

 

[lindsay1126]

Here it is today. 2 more coats away from being done (and letting it air for about a week) and just adding some succulents.

 

[kholtme]

Looks great! Im excited to see your gecko climb on it

 

[lindsay1126]

I like it ok, I like it better than the rocks, but it didn't turn out as well as I wanted. It would have taken way to long to make it look more realistic. To do that you have to spend so much time on little details, and we just didn't have the patience or time. I am happy though, it looks much better than the piled rocks I had and will be much easier to feed insects in and clean, so all in all I can't complain. I just hope Gerty likes it, I am going to be upset if she isn't happy after all of the work we put in.