Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have seen tiles used in aquariums and i like how it looks. can someone tell me the best type of tiles to use and how to put them down???? send pictures of your aquarium if you have tiles

I don't have pics yet but will in a couple weeks. I used tile in my leo's cage and it works great. It is a 20 long and I used three tiles that were peel and stick. Fairly easy to cut to the cage. They were about $1 apiece at Lowe's
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0.1 bearded dragon (Kalypso)
1.0 ambanja panther (Neptune)
1.0 leopard gecko (Balaram)
0.0.1 blue tounge skink
0.0.1 red tail boa (Ra)
0.0.1 jungle X coastal carpet python (Loki)

Don't stick it to the tank, just lay it in there so you can take it out to clean it. I use unglazed ceramic tile as substrate. I got these 6"x6" tiles at Lowe's for $0.88 each, and needed 10 tiles for a 20 gallon long. I don't think there is a best kind to use, just whatever you like best. If you use the thin stick on kind, put 2 layers under the hot side so it holds the heat better and doesn't warp.

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Tim W. My Pictures
0.1.0 Dumeril Boas
0.1.0 Kittens
0.0.1 Leopard Geckos

It rubs the lotion on it's skin.

wrong picture, you can see the tile better here.

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Tim W. My Pictures
0.1.0 Dumeril Boas
0.1.0 Kittens
0.0.1 Leopard Geckos

It rubs the lotion on it's skin.

I am preparing my 55 gallon tak for a pair of leos and I am using slate tiles. They are only about 2:50 apiece at Lowes and should be fairly easy to clean. I originally chose a ceramic tile, but even though it had some texture, I was afraid it would be too slick for the leos - not enough traction. I am curious though.....has anyone else used slate? I would imagine ceramic tiles conduct heat pretty well, but what about slate? I think I might put a sand base down just to make them nice and stable and to put a layer of good heat-holding material betwwen the UTH and the tile. Maybe that will help.

a heat holding material between the uth and tile might cause heat buildup and a fire or crack the glass. slate should hold heat well, it is a rock. just be careful if you put snad under tiles, you don't want it too thick of a distance for the heat to go to the top

>>I am preparing my 55 gallon tak for a pair of leos and I am using slate tiles. They are only about 2:50 apiece at Lowes and should be fairly easy to clean. I originally chose a ceramic tile, but even though it had some texture, I was afraid it would be too slick for the leos - not enough traction. I am curious though.....has anyone else used slate? I would imagine ceramic tiles conduct heat pretty well, but what about slate? I think I might put a sand base down just to make them nice and stable and to put a layer of good heat-holding material betwwen the UTH and the tile. Maybe that will help.
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Tim W. My Pictures
0.1.0 Dumeril Boas
0.1.0 Kittens
0.0.1 Leopard Geckos

It rubs the lotion on it's skin.

Hey there, I think I showed you my tank already but here it is again. The second shelf in my tank is actually a 15 pound piece of natural slate (I know, it is very secure but it still worries me a little bit). Even though it is close to two inches thick it still conducts heat amazingly (much better than the ceramic tile on the floor). With the thicker tile (or rock in my case) the heat seems to be spread out more evenly so there is less chance of having hot spots. So long as your heating source is strong enough you shouldn't have any problems with it not heating up. Not to mention, another plus is how long it stays warm after the heat source is gone (up to an hour at least), a plus for tank cleaning, short power outages...

You'll have to post pics of your set-up when your done. With a 55 gallon you could do so much.

Lisa

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0.1 Hypo Leopard Gecko
0.1 Albino Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko
1.0 Albino Pacman Frog
1.0 Lovebird (Tony)
1.0 Elkhound Cross (Otto)
0.1 Malamute Cross (Paris)
6.0 Bettas

I really love your tank. My tank looks pretty good (it has the self stick tiles on the bottom) And I silicone caulked all the edges so I dont have to worry about feeders getting down there. Also with the left-over self stick tiles, I made two hides that I cut up a paper bag to cover up the stickyness on the insides. He loves them! I didnt feel like spending all my money on hides, and sinse I am pretty young I had to think of a cheap alternative, And I think its recicling Also today I am going to lowes and I will be making a second level for my cage with slate tile and whatever the best looking tubing I can find (the tubing will be for the legs of the secong floor, I might cover the legs in silicone caulk, Then dip them in sand for a better look, But I am worried about impaction) Good luck with your new cage!
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Thanks Tim and Lisa. I'll hold off on the sand under the tiles for now. I got some relly cool desert rock slabs and chunks, some that look like slate and some reddish colored ones I'm going to arrange those in there and maybe make some good solid, natural-looking hides. Jeez, my tanks gonna' weigh about 300 pounds ) I'm using one of those steel rolling racks from Costco, but I think I'll bolster the sides of the shelves with 2 x 6 or something to make sure it's supported well. I'm really hoping it turns out well. I'd like to make it look like the habitat in Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iran/Iraq that leos actually come from. Having a hard time coming up with pictures of that landscape - might have to resort to the ol' Mational Geographic. Thanks again for the suggestions.
Dean

I have slate tiles from homedepo! they look awsome! what i did was take two tiles (12" by 12" and since they didnt fit in my 20gallon, i broke them up with a hammer, and put some fine sand in the cracks (yes, i am aware that sand is "evil" yes i am well aware of the dangers, no i am not stupid, and yes, my geckos in there are all adults) the geckos barely ever come into contact with the sand if you make sure the cracks are small enough. I'll do some pictures latter
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0.2.0. Leo
1.1.0. WTF
0.1.0. Irish Setter
2.2.0. Holland Lop Bunnies
1.1.0. House Cats
Too Many Fish!

Check out my site ~ www.freewebs.com/stephsgeckos

tile works great as a substrate. I broke up the tile with a hammer and arranged it sort of randomly and put sand in between the pieces.I have (and still do in one of my larger setups) used sand as a substrate without any problems with impaction. Leos like to dig and they like to curl up in tight spaces, try to provide them areas where they can do both. If you want to know how I built the fake rock I put instructions on a website: www.freewebs.com/herptips/

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www.hullabalooherps.com

At HomeDepot they have "heated" ceramic tile flooring. I saw a sample of it, it seemed warm enough it apparently has somesort of heating built right into it.
I was thinking omg this is perfect for us reptile owners. Hill you should start thinking about mass producing a product like that
It looks like a regular tile, with some wooden backing and a cord coming out of it.

I sort of do, I have already sold a bunch of cages/racks for this weekend in Birmingham. I have not seen the tiles...but I will be at home depot tomorrow, so I will be looking for them! Thanks for the new information!
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www.hullabalooherps.com

hahah awesome if you come out with a new prototype for that definately put me on the list. If anyone can build custom lizard stuff it'd be you.
Awesome Crested cage by the way, did you ever fill it up with some cresteds?

Yeah, I got the cresteds in there now. I actually built that because they kept escaping from the tank I had them in! I just sold one (on line) like that cage about 30 minutes ago. Now I gotta build another one for display...darn! I did build a 5 unit cage like the one in the picture except it is 12" deep instead of 16"...I am trying to get shipping rates on it to see if it would be feasible to start building them for shipping. I will probably have that one sold this weekend too. I only build cages to support my own terrible herp habit! LOL
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www.hullabalooherps.com

That's awesome (support your habit) i wish i was able to make cages like you can, and by the way thank you for providing step by step instructions in builing stuff on your webpage, basically thanks for sharing that information instead of keeping it to yourself and soley profiting from it.