Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm be looking into constructing a large tank for my turtles, I was thinking around 6'long by 2' wide by 2' tall. After calling several plastics and glass stores in the area I find that a 3/4" thick sheet of plastic, sold in sheets of 4' by 8' goes for $670, while a sheet of glass with the same thickness measuring 6' by 2' is $449. Is there a cheaper place to get material? Is this simply not a valid project to try?

Thanks for any assistance.
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10 Snakes
3 Turtles
3 Cats
1 Dog
Numerous fish and millipedes

3/4" plastic is probably overkill for a tank that size. Are you planning on having it completely full of water?

I'm assuming you're pricing acrylic? That can scratch pretty bad from turtles, depending on the species. Also, acrylic comes in many different forms, you should find out what type is specifically recommended for water holding aquaria (assuming that's what you're planning) and price that, if you still want to use it.

Tell us a bit more about what your goals for the project are and what specifically you'll be housing. Maybe we can make some cheaper suggestions.

Thanks for your response. I never got to the part of asking what kind of plastic they had because the price was so high. The request I made was for some sort of plastic or acrylic 3/4" thick, appropriate for building an aquarium with. He smurked at me and told me to go buy one new, it wasn't worth the cost of making. I asked him to quote me a price anyway and that's where I got the $670.

I'm looking to house 2 red-eared sliders and 1 red-bellied slider. In the current tank (a 55 gallon) I also have a little bullfrog and several fish, mostly plecos and dragonfish. I want something that's at least a hundred gallons for a permanent set-up. Basically I want it to be as close to a natural habitat as possible, currently I have a river rock and slate substrate with a hollowed out log (bottom serves as a cave, top as a basking spot). I have 2 canister filters supposedly pumping 350 gallons per hour and I change about 2/3 of the water once a week. Everything is ideal except that it's getting a little crowded, so I want exactly what I have but bigger. I found some pretty good deals on ebay for used tanks, but the shipping was about $180 (when available) and I would like to have the skills of making one myself for future projects. If that turns out to be unworkable or impractical because of the expense of materials I will just buy one, but my long-term interest in unusual pets (and my limited budget) makes the idea of building one very appealing.
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10 Snakes
3 Turtles
3 Cats
1 Dog
Numerous fish and millipedes

Another option you might want to consider is a metal cattle trough! Not very pretty, but functional and cheap! You can get a 6x2x2 for around $90 or, a 8x3x2 for around $160. Not sure if that fits your needs or not just figured I'd give some input.

Thanks
Anthony

are these troughs rectangles or ovals? cuz the second one is exactly what i need if it's a rectangle. also, where do i get one?
thanks
-jake

They are in a oval shape. You can get them at "Quality Farm & Fleet" or "Tractor Supplies Plus". Check out "Pro-Exotics" gallery to see how they make a cage like what you are wanting to make. Basically just build a box around it and a rim around the top of the box. Hope ths helps!!

Thanks
Anthony

thanks, but i am looking for a more lightweight design, pvc plexiglass and a large tub on the bottom, i'd rather just construct the tray out of wood or something myself to my specifications. you can get a better gist for what i want bellow and in the monitor forums if it interests you.
-jake

>>thanks, but i am looking for a more lightweight design,

FYI, a cattle trough will be lighter than a tank made from 3/4" acrylic.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

2.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

4.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

well i am definitely not gonna use that, i was never planning on it

Sorry, I mistook you for the originator of this thread.

>>He smurked at me and told me to go buy one new, it wasn't worth the cost of making.

That's typically true.

Are you really stuck on 4-sided viewing? If not you might consider building a plywood tank and sealing it with epoxy. That way you could include sliding or hinged doors (above the water line) that will make cleaning and access so much easier.

Plywood can be sealed with epoxy and hold water for decades. It's also easy to drill holes to make future cleanings easier.

But I'm still not clear why you need such thick plastic? Are you planning on filling the tank all the way with water?

If you had 8" of water and only flooded half of the 6' tank, I think 3/8" would be fine.

Though I will only be filling it about half way with water for the turtles, I wanted to make something that could be filled completely for future projects.

I didn't know you could seal plywood for something holding that much water, that's good to know. Ultimately though, I think for this project I'll just buy an aquarium. I thought maybe there were places to get cheaper supplies because I found a company that sells aquariums new for about half what the raw materials would cost me. I guess they buy in bulk, making it much cheaper.

Here's their website if anyone is looking for a reasonably priced aquarium: http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=Home

Thanks for the responses, the cattle trough is a very clever idea.
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10 Snakes
3 Turtles
3 Cats
1 Dog
Numerous fish and millipedes

Chris's suggestion of a cattle trough would be the way that I would go. You can get plastic ones made by Rubbermaid that go anywhere from 50 gallons to I think 250 gallons. I have a two Yellow-bellied Sliders in a 50 gallon that works great. I like the completely open top for ease of servicing/feeding. Of course, the trade off is that you don't get to view the turtles swimming underwater as you would in a regular glass or acrylic aquarium. The one thing you'll need to look out for in a glass fish aquarium is getting something that isn't so high as to make servicing your animals difficult. Tropical/saltwater fish usually require minimal servicing but a tank with aquatic turtles usually requires much more in the way of regular attention - and that can be a pain if you have to stand on a step stool to reach down into a tall glass aquarium. Finally, if you're interested in construction your own aquarium, paste this link into your browser. This site shows how to create large reef tanks from plywood - with modification of the measurements to better match housing turtles it's a very workable design. http://www.garf.org/140.gallon.html
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Matt Campbell
25 years herp keeping experience
Full-time zookeeper
Personal collection - 21 snakes (9 genera), 20 lizards (4 genera), 6 chelonians (2 genera)

Great link! That's actually reasonable both in weight and cost, making it a project worth trying. Thanks for your help!
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10 Snakes
3 Turtles
3 Cats
1 Dog
Numerous fish and millipedes