New Fully Custom Double Stacked 4x2x2
- Thread starter Claudiusx
- Start date
- Status
All finished up (for the most part)
Tombo and Moro have been moved into their new homes. All that I have left to do is put their tile in (still haven't got around to cutting it) and finish decorating it up some more. They have a lot more room so lots more room for deco.
It is staying too warm though, even with a room temp of 70~ and only a 50w bulb in both. Top tank is sticking around 85 on the cool end while bottom one is staying around 83. So I will be adding more ventilation to these. And will make sure to do the same with the next set I build.
Here is the whole build in the dragon room.
I'll have to get a pic with the lights off, as the bright lights in the tanks mess with the camera.
Tombo on the bottom
Moro on the top
The tile i'm putting in will add a lot for the looks of the tank, right now it looks really antiseptic lol. And I am planning on adding a lot more decor and height to the tanks to bring it all together.
All in all, pleased with the build. But the next one will be much better (as far as learning from my mistakes go lol)
-Brandon
Tombo and Moro have been moved into their new homes. All that I have left to do is put their tile in (still haven't got around to cutting it) and finish decorating it up some more. They have a lot more room so lots more room for deco.
It is staying too warm though, even with a room temp of 70~ and only a 50w bulb in both. Top tank is sticking around 85 on the cool end while bottom one is staying around 83. So I will be adding more ventilation to these. And will make sure to do the same with the next set I build.
Here is the whole build in the dragon room.
Tombo on the bottom
Moro on the top
The tile i'm putting in will add a lot for the looks of the tank, right now it looks really antiseptic lol. And I am planning on adding a lot more decor and height to the tanks to bring it all together.
All in all, pleased with the build. But the next one will be much better (as far as learning from my mistakes go lol)
-Brandon
JumpinJellyfish
Juvie Member
Very nice!
kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
Quick suggestion , put heavy duty casters or maybe bed base "glides" under the base/cabinet, will make it all a lot easier to move about when your need to.
These are very good :
You could find the void under the cabinet hidden by the kickboard moulding will be tall enough to hide the casters ( the ones shown are 75mm tall all up ) .
Most timber and hardware shops who deal with tradesmen (chippys and builders and DIYSers) will cut hardwood DAR or pine DAR ( that can be stained to look like hardwood ) and can even put the big piece of DAR through their industrial table router to create decorative DAR moulding you want of any standard thickness and width.
How easy is it for someone to push / slide the tanks off the top of the cabinet ?
This is the sort of safety system I'm planning on using to ensure my modular multibay tanks stacked on top each other on my custom made hardwood ( oak ) cabinet/base stay put ( can't be pushed off either accidentally or on purpose , they will have to be lifted about 1" up to be removed )
layout (option one ( no gap between stacked tanks ) :
.
Pretty quick and easy fix. Another option is a DAR quad perimeter on top the cabinet in your case the dual bay tank drops into , this will stop it from being slid off the top of the cabinet you've built.
Heavy timber furnature when full of stuff is hard to lift or push about or drag about especially on carpet , and is murder on timber floors and lino flooring.
All my future lizard cabinet/bases will have 100kg capacity casters under them , I only wish I'd fixed casters under my very heavy 5ft wide hardwood dining room display cabinet and lounge room 8ft wide hardwood buffet cabinet.
These are very good :
You could find the void under the cabinet hidden by the kickboard moulding will be tall enough to hide the casters ( the ones shown are 75mm tall all up ) .
Most timber and hardware shops who deal with tradesmen (chippys and builders and DIYSers) will cut hardwood DAR or pine DAR ( that can be stained to look like hardwood ) and can even put the big piece of DAR through their industrial table router to create decorative DAR moulding you want of any standard thickness and width.
How easy is it for someone to push / slide the tanks off the top of the cabinet ?
This is the sort of safety system I'm planning on using to ensure my modular multibay tanks stacked on top each other on my custom made hardwood ( oak ) cabinet/base stay put ( can't be pushed off either accidentally or on purpose , they will have to be lifted about 1" up to be removed )
layout (option one ( no gap between stacked tanks ) :
Pretty quick and easy fix. Another option is a DAR quad perimeter on top the cabinet in your case the dual bay tank drops into , this will stop it from being slid off the top of the cabinet you've built.
Heavy timber furnature when full of stuff is hard to lift or push about or drag about especially on carpet , and is murder on timber floors and lino flooring.
All my future lizard cabinet/bases will have 100kg capacity casters under them , I only wish I'd fixed casters under my very heavy 5ft wide hardwood dining room display cabinet and lounge room 8ft wide hardwood buffet cabinet.
It's not ever going to need to be moved luckily. I built it quite heavy on purpose and wanted it to be more so a furniture piece than a tank rack. And it's earthquake strapped at the back to a wall stud (California) so it's not going anywhere until it needs to move house.kingofnobbys":3eq1p6xi said:
Basically impossible with the earthquake strapping. Like mentioned, I live in cali and I have a child, don't need anything falling on her in an earthquake. But, even without the strapping, the double stack tanks can't be removed from the base unintentionally.kingofnobbys":3eq1p6xi said:
I trimmed the build with maple hardwood, so like you can see in this pic:
All that to say I'm very confident in the rigidity of the whole thing. I might have been a bit concerned if I made the base out of ply, but it's made of 2x4s wrapped in ply for a finish. Which is way overkill structure wise.
Actually I suppose my tanks could be lifted off the base too in that way, as the trim piece travels 2 inches up the double stack (only glued on the base side though) but they really are too heavy to be lifted accidently. They aren't even too convenient to lift purposely which is why I'd slide it off the back if needed.kingofnobbys":3eq1p6xi said:
Yeah that is what I did with the maple. It was to dress up the look and add that "locking in".kingofnobbys":3eq1p6xi said:
Anything that I need to move gets casters on it. I have a 400lb 14 inch resaw bandsaw that stays in the corner of my shop until its needed. And trust me, I'm not gonna be walking that inch by inch across my shop when I need it. Casters are the way to go. I just don't need to move this, and I don't want it to move.
-Brandon
kingofnobbys
BD.org Sicko
So I guess you are a chippy or a cabinet maker by trade.
My older 4ft x 2ft bluetongue skink tanks ( two of these ) are made from 18mm plywood ( I made these in a weekend on my front patio about 10 years ago and oil based marine varnished them at the time and they are BOTH HEAVY and awkward ( trunk handles on each end of each tank makes it a little easier but definitely a 2 person job moving them about ).
Currently these are stacked ontop our old pine coffee table ( which has casters under it ).
The old dragon tanks were my first go at building a double bay , again used 18mm plywood and I stained these . Made a trolley that these sat on top off that had casters as the big dual bay was very heavy and awkward to move about even with the help of a shoulder slings and trunk handles on each end , even when empty and with the sliding glass doors removed ).
Also built it myself and it's been in use for about 8 years until Puff and Rex died , and it ended up under the house ( my shed used to flood everytime it rained heavy ) . Nailing and gluing was a fast way to build it at the time but not the best ( lesson learnt , glue and screw all DIYS cabinetry in future ).
Ended up breaking it down and salvaging my light fittings and door tracks , the rest of ended up on the green strip in June for the bulk waste collection.
I'm no longer a fan of using "boxes" to keep pet reptiles in even if they are against a wall , nor am I really all that much into carpentry, preferring lighter stronger more durable low maintenance materials like aluminium and acrylic ( don't need to seal and paint , stain , varnish or laminate these to give them good protection or a good finish) .
Timber has too high a demand for maintenance to keep in top condition.
Hence my newer project , trying out the Connectit system and 6mm thick Acrylic with only plywood in the base and lid , I'm planning on rehousing Cleo and Caesar in the new house , initially they'll continue sharing , then as they get bigger or their hormone levels increase they'll be separated.
The subadult rescued male eastern water skink Cheakie will score dragons' current 120L converted rearing tub when they move into their new 1200mm L x 596mm W x 450mm H tank.
Then I'll set about building a sidebyside with the same footprint but only 300mm H tank for water skinks that will either go ontop another old coffee table we have , or ontop the modular double bay dragon enclosure.
Not sure if I'll bother doing new double bay for the two bluetongues. If the dragon tanks work well , I might do something similar for the two bluetongues , or maybe a 3 or 4 stacked bay modular enclosure for them and my future skinks ( maybe a pair of shinglebacks in one of the bays and a colony of netted dragons or sandswimmer skinks in the other ) , these only need to be about 300mm to 400mm tall each for these .
The old stacked bluetongue tanks and the 120L rearing tubs and 29L skink tank will then be mothballed in my shed (which no longer floods and will have space once all my garden and house improvement projects are done). Eventually my grandson's mum will allow him to keep a pet reptile, so he'll score one of the old bluetongue skink tanks to keep it in.
My older 4ft x 2ft bluetongue skink tanks ( two of these ) are made from 18mm plywood ( I made these in a weekend on my front patio about 10 years ago and oil based marine varnished them at the time and they are BOTH HEAVY and awkward ( trunk handles on each end of each tank makes it a little easier but definitely a 2 person job moving them about ).
Currently these are stacked ontop our old pine coffee table ( which has casters under it ).
The old dragon tanks were my first go at building a double bay , again used 18mm plywood and I stained these . Made a trolley that these sat on top off that had casters as the big dual bay was very heavy and awkward to move about even with the help of a shoulder slings and trunk handles on each end , even when empty and with the sliding glass doors removed ).
Also built it myself and it's been in use for about 8 years until Puff and Rex died , and it ended up under the house ( my shed used to flood everytime it rained heavy ) . Nailing and gluing was a fast way to build it at the time but not the best ( lesson learnt , glue and screw all DIYS cabinetry in future ).
Ended up breaking it down and salvaging my light fittings and door tracks , the rest of ended up on the green strip in June for the bulk waste collection.
I'm no longer a fan of using "boxes" to keep pet reptiles in even if they are against a wall , nor am I really all that much into carpentry, preferring lighter stronger more durable low maintenance materials like aluminium and acrylic ( don't need to seal and paint , stain , varnish or laminate these to give them good protection or a good finish) .
Timber has too high a demand for maintenance to keep in top condition.
Hence my newer project , trying out the Connectit system and 6mm thick Acrylic with only plywood in the base and lid , I'm planning on rehousing Cleo and Caesar in the new house , initially they'll continue sharing , then as they get bigger or their hormone levels increase they'll be separated.
The subadult rescued male eastern water skink Cheakie will score dragons' current 120L converted rearing tub when they move into their new 1200mm L x 596mm W x 450mm H tank.
Then I'll set about building a sidebyside with the same footprint but only 300mm H tank for water skinks that will either go ontop another old coffee table we have , or ontop the modular double bay dragon enclosure.
Not sure if I'll bother doing new double bay for the two bluetongues. If the dragon tanks work well , I might do something similar for the two bluetongues , or maybe a 3 or 4 stacked bay modular enclosure for them and my future skinks ( maybe a pair of shinglebacks in one of the bays and a colony of netted dragons or sandswimmer skinks in the other ) , these only need to be about 300mm to 400mm tall each for these .
The old stacked bluetongue tanks and the 120L rearing tubs and 29L skink tank will then be mothballed in my shed (which no longer floods and will have space once all my garden and house improvement projects are done). Eventually my grandson's mum will allow him to keep a pet reptile, so he'll score one of the old bluetongue skink tanks to keep it in.
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