I found a great find on craigslist for a 55 gallon fish tank for $30. I couldn't pass it up so I picked it up and hubby and I started thinking about how to convert it. It was too short width wise, so we decided that we'd turn it on it's side and remove a pannel of glass and put in a back pannel from some scrap wood.
If you've never done this before, it's quite simple. If you have a E string of a guitar, slide that down in between the glass panels and it will come apart fairly easily.
We then added the spare wood on to the backing of the original opening of the tank.
We then purchased some plywood and cut holes out to place the lamps on top and epoxied them on with J&B Weld. It holds up to 500 degrees F, plus the laps are wrapped in tin foil to prevent any burning. I plan on adding a third lamp fixture on the left end for my CHE. (I didn't have a lamp and wanted to see temps/humidity with the first two before purchasing)
Then we hinged the top on to the wooden replaced panel for easy access and a closed chamber.
Once the tank was finished I moved it to my back screened in patio.
I then added substrate, a mix of Coco Coir, organic top soil, and some good ol' florida sand. I then placed some cheap discounted plants from Lowe's (Spider Plant, Aloe, and Cosmos). They were a dollar a piece. I washed the roots out and replanted them in terracotta pots in organic soil. I placed some grass and wild bird seed mixture into the substrate to grow also. I find that Koopa prefers to walk on grass then just straight subtraite. I then placed them within the enclosure, and put in my three hides. One is on the cooler/dry side. The second has dry sphagnum moss on a more humid substrate, and the third is under the heat lamp directly and has the most moist moss and highest humidity. I also have two terracotta dishes for water and food, and both a dark rock and light rock for basking approximately 12 inches away from the lamp.
Koopa is still in his old enclosure until I can get accurate temp measurements and his grass starts to grow.
Please let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions, let me know. I'm pretty excited about it and thrilled that it was easy and inexpensive. I spent $80 for the entire thing, including plants, pots, glue, paint, ect.
If you've never done this before, it's quite simple. If you have a E string of a guitar, slide that down in between the glass panels and it will come apart fairly easily.
We then added the spare wood on to the backing of the original opening of the tank.
We then purchased some plywood and cut holes out to place the lamps on top and epoxied them on with J&B Weld. It holds up to 500 degrees F, plus the laps are wrapped in tin foil to prevent any burning. I plan on adding a third lamp fixture on the left end for my CHE. (I didn't have a lamp and wanted to see temps/humidity with the first two before purchasing)
Then we hinged the top on to the wooden replaced panel for easy access and a closed chamber.
Once the tank was finished I moved it to my back screened in patio.
I then added substrate, a mix of Coco Coir, organic top soil, and some good ol' florida sand. I then placed some cheap discounted plants from Lowe's (Spider Plant, Aloe, and Cosmos). They were a dollar a piece. I washed the roots out and replanted them in terracotta pots in organic soil. I placed some grass and wild bird seed mixture into the substrate to grow also. I find that Koopa prefers to walk on grass then just straight subtraite. I then placed them within the enclosure, and put in my three hides. One is on the cooler/dry side. The second has dry sphagnum moss on a more humid substrate, and the third is under the heat lamp directly and has the most moist moss and highest humidity. I also have two terracotta dishes for water and food, and both a dark rock and light rock for basking approximately 12 inches away from the lamp.
Koopa is still in his old enclosure until I can get accurate temp measurements and his grass starts to grow.
Please let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions, let me know. I'm pretty excited about it and thrilled that it was easy and inexpensive. I spent $80 for the entire thing, including plants, pots, glue, paint, ect.
Last edited by a moderator:
