Habitat - Indoor :: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Turtle tank setups and other indoor configurations.

Post Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 10:04 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

None slip bathtub tape works great on acrylic ramps.Just in case the tile doesn't work out.
1 Male Mississippi Map/Mississippi
1 Female RES/Slidy.
1 DBT White Concentric Female/ Lucky
1 DBT Male/ Spots
(Housed in the same tank)

300 gallon indoor stock tank, FX6 & FX5 filters. Mega-Ray 100w UVB bulb.
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Kansasslider
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 4:15 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

NYstyle wrote:I'm "borrowing" your idea, and have some questions. Do you have the tile resting in the tank frame? Is the plexiglass just glued onto the sheathing?


The tile is resting in the ATBA frame, which rests on the tank frame... if that makes sens. The plexi is just tacked on with silicone. Acrylic is notoriously difficult to adhere to, but for this application it doesn't need to be airtight or strong, just hold it in place. You could really just use a screw on each corner, but carefully drill a hole first because it will crack pretty easy.
OtisDriftwood
 
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Post Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 4:17 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Kansasslider wrote:None slip bathtub tape works great on acrylic ramps.Just in case the tile doesn't work out.


I am still having some trouble with the epoxy sticking to the acrylic. It's released in a couple spots, but it's attached in so many places it's holding together. I'd re-do it, but I plan on having a new tank in a few months :wink:
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Post Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 4:22 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

They make nonslip tape for pools,boats etc. That would probably work better than bathtub tape but it also works pretty well. I just have a giant flat rock sitting on a 5 gallon bucket in my stock tank. Works great ;-)
1 Male Mississippi Map/Mississippi
1 Female RES/Slidy.
1 DBT White Concentric Female/ Lucky
1 DBT Male/ Spots
(Housed in the same tank)

300 gallon indoor stock tank, FX6 & FX5 filters. Mega-Ray 100w UVB bulb.
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Kansasslider
 
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Post Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 2:01 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Thanks. I think I'm going to try out that light diffuser stuff with some terrarium liner on top and a flat rock, instead of the tile, but tile will be my next option. I may try to screw the corners of the plexiglass, as well as the silicone. Hopefully I'll be done this week. I've been dragging my feet on this...
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NYstyle
 
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Post Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 3:40 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Just make sure the light diffuser has support, it's not very strong. I used the tile because I had it lying around.

I'm bad about dragging my feet on projects too... then again, I have at least five big projects going at any time and ten more on the to-do list. I have a half built foosball table in my garage that needs to get done asap so I can sell it to pay for my plywood tank build, but I came home last night with about 500 lbs of a tree that fell down that I need to process for drying and turning! If it weren't for this pesky 9-5 I could actually get some work done :)
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Post Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 8:39 am   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Plywood tank build... eagarly awaiting build thread :D
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steve
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Post Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 9:41 am   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

I'll make an effort to take pictures - I'm awful about documenting. This ATBA is probably the only thing I took decent pictures of the process, but it was easy since it was a quick build. Most projects take me weeks or months and I forget to take progress pics.
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Post Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 8:04 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

That's OK, as long as you stick around to answer questions :)
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steve
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Post Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 8:28 am   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

I'm thankful that you did! i'm pretty much.... "Borrowing" your build.. haha. have you seen this guys build? I've tried a few of his projects, they never workout as well for me...

https://youtu.be/6FDUfglurns
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NYstyle
 
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Post Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 10:57 am   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Yeah, I'm using his method of waterproofing for the plywood build! I may steal some of his filtration tricks too, especially the internal sump for additional filtration, circulation and hiding equipment. I'm still going to have the FX5 doing the bulk of the work, but I like the idea of the internal sump for hiding equipment!

I've already programmed an arduino for fully automating most of the functions, i.e. ATO & water changes (the tank will be plumbed into the house!). I still need to tweak it for specific equipment, but it's pretty much ready to rock once I get the aquarium installed. Every time I do a water change with all the hoses criss-crossing my house, I think about how awesome the new setup is going to be! It's going to have automatic water changes on a schedule, but all equipment & processes can be manually operated with a remote! 8)

I started a thread months ago with my pre-planning-progress
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Post Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 7:17 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

How well did the plexiglass/acrylic hold to the wood? I was looking on line, and silicone doesn't seem promising, none the less, that's what I did. I'm waiting for it to dry now. Hopefully it'll be ready for the tank tomorrow.
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Post Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 7:54 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

I FINALLY finished it up tonight! It should look a little familiar. I pretty much just copied your build.
Image

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I know that reptiles use heat rocks to aid in digestion, so I added that rock partly for esthetics and partly to give her different levels of heat in the basking area.
Image

Image
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NYstyle
 
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Post Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 9:21 pm   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

Nice job!
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steve
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Post Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:08 am   Re: How I built my ATBA (pic heavy)

OtisDriftwood, Thanks for doing all the hard work and sharing it!
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