Hey All Part II

[Uncle Bubba]

And another one shows up from Diesel Bombers. Thought I'd show up and look around for new ideas.

I just dismantled my 80 gal a few months. I was down to the last fish in it, an Arrowanna that was right at 17 inches long when he decided to jump out of the tank while we were gone. I got him with the egg sack still attached and through the few years he just kinda ate everything else in the tank as he grew.

I also had 20 and 40 gal tanks that I rigged up with some caulk and plexiglass so that water was in part of the tank and dirt in the rest of it. These had a few salamanders that I saw once in a while when they came out of the mud, some sacilian worms and assorted frogs. I actually think I liked them better then the fish tanks. Some driftwood and ivy plants finished it off into a pretty cool little set up. I had piece of glass cut into an oval shape that I sat on top of the 20 gal and used this for the coffee table in front of the couch.

[poel_19]

gotta love those arrowannas!!

[poel_19]

ohh yeah welcome to where there are no strangers, just strange fish!!!!

[rolloffhill]

Welcome Dennis!

[xtc]

Welcome- can you snap some pics of that salamander tank- please. I'm very interested in this idea.

[AndrewH]

Yes sir, welcome to the site.

Yeah definitely get us some pics. Those sound like some interesting tanks, indeed.

[dcacjc]

Welcome and enjoy your stay!

Becarfull guys, pictures of tanks set up like his will get you addicted to them.

[bra8ndy8]

Nice to have you here!! And I would LOVE to see pics as well!!

[lellison]

Welcome and enjoy!

[Uncle Bubba]

I don't have any pictures handy that are any newer. We packed everything a few months back gettin ready to move. These are some old photos that I found on top of the stack.

This was the final fish tank with the Arrowanna and a Gar at the time the picture was taken The Stand was homemade out of 2X4's and brick paneling. I was origanlly building it with the idea of using the bottom area as a reptile tank. When the wife found out i was lookin at a snake for it she put an end to that idea though. The flower pots in the top were temporary. I lined the top box and planted everything directly in the stand itself.

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I didn't come across any pictures of the overall terrarium set ups yet, but this was how it initially started. I just put 3 tupperware containers of dirt and plants in the tank and filled up to the rim of them with water. Some rocks made nice steps for the critters to get in and out of the water. This later evolved into the plexiglass idea.
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Plexi glass works great because it will bow with little effort and if you wanna get really out there you can use a hair dryer or the oven to twist and turn it in any shape you want. With a little practice I used a soldering torch to heat it up and bent it around table edges and cans of different sizes to shape it. Then you just use the aquarium repair calk to seal all the edges. I also painted the inside of the glass white, just so I wasn't looking at dirt through the tank, this also brightened it up considerably. You can use any color or background to suit your taste though. A few dozen worms and a few sword tail fish that never quit havin babies and it was a self contained habitat that fed itslef.

Humidity kept the plants watered and a piece of glass over the top with some felt liner on top of the tank to give that 1/4" gap for air circulation and it was done. When I went to the plexiglass I also driled a 16 inch hole in the lower portion of it to let water seep into the plant area.

Sorry for such a long post.

[bra8ndy8]

Hey those are good idea!! And nice work!! Thanks for sharing!!

[fishyjoe24]

welcome to the fish box