Equipment Review and Discussion :: Zoomed turtle dock - Adding buoyancy?

[Fergy_123]

Browsing through here I see this seems to be a pretty popular dock..

Those that have used them, have you found that your turtle was/got too heavy for them?

The dock is big enough for the turtle, but doesn't hold her completely out of the water anymore. Has anybody ran into this and attempted to fix it?

Just curious and looking for some ideas on adding buoyancy to the large zoomed turtle dock.

[papoopeepoo]

Do you have the largest size?

If so, you can try propping up the platform with a PVC structure. 1/2" pipe should be more than enough. This will obviously diminish the ability to really float and accommodate any water level, but it should be strong enough to hold your turtle until you may decide to build an Above Tank Basking Area (ATBA).

Consider filling the piping structure with sand before adding to the aquarium to make it easier to position.

I've been worried about this same problem ever since I found out my turtle is female.

[Fergy_123]

Hmm yeah that could be a cheap, easy fix. And yes I do have the largest size.

I was thinking about maybe trying to get some kind of plastic container that wouldn't leech, and trying to use aquarium-safe silicon to attach it the bottom.

Just because a solution where the dock can still auto level in the water would be optimal.

[papoopeepoo]

i considered mentioning that, but i second thought it when I considered that the extra buoyancy may lift the platform out of the water making it completely unusable for the turtle.

If you got just the right size container through trial-and-error I bet it would work, though.

[Fergy_123]

Hmm you make a pretty good point there.

Shouldn't be difficult to find a thinner container, but even that may bring the lip of the dock too far out of the water.

Other than that my main concern would be low quality plastic leeching over time. Not sure what to look for there.

[Midas420]

Perhaps you could cut to fit an old piece of styrofoam and silicone it to the bottom? It'd save some styrofoam from going to the landfill and solve your problems all in one. Should be pretty easy to carve it to fit and look really nice with a sharp knife.

If you don't have a piece around your house, walmart or any box chain store should have a piece in the back I'm sure they'd being willing to part with.

[papoopeepoo]

I'm not sure about styrofoam. I realize that the floating dock is made out of some sort of foam, but I'd be worried about chlorofluorocarbons in normal styrofoam.

Does styrofoam even have CFCs anymore? If not, that foam may well work.

[Midas420]

I'm not sure about styrofoam. I realize that the floating dock is made out of some sort of foam, but I'd be worried about chlorofluorocarbons in normal styrofoam.

Does styrofoam even have CFCs anymore? If not, that foam may well work.

You know, a quick google search yielded this..."In Styrofoam and PS cups studies, hot water was found to be contaminated with styrene and other aromatic compounds. It was observed that temperature played a major role in the leaching of styrene monomer from Styrofoam cups..."

Apparently it's not so much the cfc's that will get you, but rather styrene itself. I usually try to avoid styrofoam for it's inability to ever really biodegrade being a petroleum based product, I had no idea it leached into water, coffee, etc so easily.

Perhaps some cork board affixed to the bottom of the dock would be a better alternative.