caging ideas for the experimenters out ther...whtwulf and others

[NYCrestie]

would there be any problem turning a 20gal long or 29 gal tank on its front? so the front is now the bottom, and the top is now the front?
i think i mentioned once before that im a big fan of front opening cages instead of top opening.
so my idea was to take a 20L or 29 turn it on its front and using plexi, maybe glass but dont think im that adverturous, and a setup identical to a screen door, convert it to a front opening

this is not for cresteds but would be similar to turning a 20L on its end so its a tall
it would be for a cornsnake, which i have just recently been turned on to

a UTH would also be used, and problem with placing a glass tank directly on top of it?
would elevating the tank a few inches cause any problems? would the weight make it crack or break?

or if anyone knows of any decent pice front opening cages, id look into that as well
if not ill just suck it up and pay the 80-90 for one of those 20L or 29gal all glass critter cages with the sliding top

[firecrested]

There are screen tops with doors on it that would work.  I had some on 10 gallon tanks for juvie cresteds.  Petco has some, not sure if they make them for 20 gallon.

[NYCrestie]

id still want it to be front opening so
in theory, im thinking, id have to make the front 5 inches or so from plexi or glass to keep the substrate in.

then again, i probably could just cover the screen door with 5 or so inches of plexi and get the same result
any idea who made those screen top doors?

[firecrested]

? When I had mine on it's side I put clear tape on the bottom part to keep the peat moss in.

Just checked the petco website and four paws makes the screen top.

[NYCrestie]

cool, i just went there and looked

its actually not made by four paws, some company called KRITTERZ and its called the EZ acess screen cover
and they do make it for the 20L and 29gal tank
might be great to save myself from trying to construct something for the first time...i can just cover the screen with plexi or something
what did you think about it when you had it set up like im thinking? pros, cons?
any room to get a temp probe in there?
thanks firecrested +1 for you 

anyone else have any input, and idea....especially with the other stuff i mentioned

[NYCrestie]

even if i have to go with using a tank the conventional way, i like this top alot, as compared to a 1 piece design top.
i also like the top design on the all glass kritter cage but if im saving half the money ill deal with the KRITTERZ top any day of the week, lol

[firecrested]

The only thing I didnt like about the 10 gallon one was there wasnt much room for them to put a door and made it a little small, but the 20 g should be bigger.

[whtwulf]

I don't see a problem with anything you want to do.  You could use plexi to hold the substrate on the bottom.  There should be a small lip or edge around what used to be the top.  Just cut the plexi to fit snug and use clear silicone caulk to glue it in place.  Then it is water tight and removable in the future.  If you want permenant, I'd use epoxy.  You should be able to glue it to the underside/inside...did that make sense.  Then the screen top would still fit properly.  Also, maybe you could get some thin strips of plywood or trim wood to place in the side gaps created by the top and bottom frame of the aquarium.  Just to support the side edges better.  Hope that made sense.  Great idea and cheap solution to a new tank setup.

[NYCrestie]

I don't see a problem with anything you want to do.  You could use plexi to hold the substrate on the bottom.  There should be a small lip or edge around what used to be the top.  Just cut the plexi to fit snug and use clear silicone caulk to glue it in place.  Then it is water tight and removable in the future.  If you want permenant, I'd use epoxy.  You should be able to glue it to the underside/inside...did that make sense.  Then the screen top would still fit properly.  Also, maybe you could get some thin strips of plywood or trim wood to place in the side gaps created by the top and bottom frame of the aquarium.  Just to support the side edges better.  Hope that made sense.  Great idea and cheap solution to a new tank setup.

i understood pretty much everything you said
i like your idea of putting the plexi on the inside lip of the frame, so that the screen top would still fit, if i went the route of a pre fabbed lid.
the only part im a little confused by is the wood trim. are you saying to use the wood trim to elevate the tank?
i think thats what you mean just want to double check
maybe even put a cross brace underneath as well, like a big X or would that be overkill?

id have to see the prefabbed top, cause now im thinking their might be a slight gap cause by glueing the plexi on the inside lip and putting the screen on the outside lip. not sure. maybe even the prefabbed flip top screen has its own lips i could silicone to that with. so many possibilities

good thing i have lots of time to think about this

[whtwulf]

Let me see if I can clarify.  The wood bracing would only be about an 1/8 of an inch thick to compensate for the gap created by the top and bottom frames being on their sides, and for the plexi, I meant on the inside of the tank under the top lip, then a prefab would fit perfectly.  I also like the cross brace idea, again 1/8" plywood strips would work, if your stand has a solid platform, if not the cross brace would have no effect.

[NYCrestie]

ok i think i got what youre saying now
the wood trim would be used to level out the tank?

but then again, i plan on having the tank raise slightly to leave room for a UTH of some sort..still need to figure this one out.


the glass wont crack from the heat of the UTH?
i thought i heard somewhere that putting either an incandescent or heat lamp on top of a glass cage would crack it....isnt a UTH similar?

[firecrested]

A uth wont crack it.  I did it before with no problems.

[Cicada Hollow]

I think it would work just fine on it's side. I use 20 gal longs as quarantine tanks for my cresteds and just use regular screen lids which I've bent the sides on to make them an extremely tight fitting lid. They work so well, that I'm using them now for my satanic setups. I did the same thing, put a strip of plexi glass along the bottom to hold in the substrate. So, just like Whtwulf suggests, make sure it fits on the lip and secure.

If you are wanting to stack another tank on top, I would brace from side to side along the black plastic area so that there was no direct weight on the glass, instead just even weight applied to the entire frame of the tank.

Good luck and post pics when you have it completed! Would love to see...

[NYCrestie]

so you put 20 longs on the end to make them tall?
ive seen this done a few times as well and had an awesome thread bookmarked that gave almost a complete step by step....unfortunately i lost all my bookmarks a few weeks ago....damn firefox has a knack for doing that. sow i right down all my urls in a word doc, lol

its gonna be some time dorothy until i actually do this. i am just now starting to compile a list of everything i will need
but i want to be prepared, so it will be a slow building process, like building a car i guess. will put it together piece by piece until im satisfied

ps thanks for the advise about stacking on top, i had no intentions of doing it the way you said to avoid though. a frame around the edge would be a good idea and i like it, but i would most like get like a whole cabinet made if i went that route....but that is even farther down the line than my first project, lol