75 gallon build

[Ryan15236]

Hey guys, I picked up a 75 gallon aquarium I am going to use for my bearded dragon's (Gomez) new home. He is an older guy, he is about 9 years old and has always lived in a 40 gallon breeder but I want to make this 75 gallon tank awesome for him and get the most out of the tank, I would love to be able to create some areas for him to climb and such and I am creating this thread to get some ideas and post my progress.

 

[Ryan15236]

here is the tank

 

[CooperDragon]

That will be a really nice improvement! Should provide plenty of space for climbing logs etc =)

 

[Ryan15236]

Yeah I really want to be able to let him climb, really going to have think of a nice terrain for the tank and gather resources. Today I got some porcelain tiles cut to fit the tank, wanted some darker ones but these beige ones were on sale for 59 cents a piece. The tiles are not to slick so hopefully he can get some traction and file his nails down

 

[Ryan15236]

Ordered some stuff for tank today. I ordered a infrared temp gun, Zilla fresh air screen top, 48 inch repti sun 10.0 bulb, and universal rock 3D background. Also collected some rock and wood for the tank

 

[Ryan15236]

gomez's cage starting to come around

 

[AcceptableGeek]

Looks great! I also use a 75 gallon xD

 

[Ryan15236]

So I have gomez in the 75 gallon and uh well it is really hard for him to use it right. Gomez is 10 years old and it is showing. He doesn't move as well as he once did and he can't climb the basking logs. I have set him on their and he holds on for awhile then the loses his balance and falls off and I don't want him to get hurt. The main basking log gets about 104 and the second gets to about 85. The tile ranges from 75-82. Anyways what I am getting at is he can't bask in this new set up it is too hard for him to get around. His nails are starting to curl over though so I am sure that is not helping so not sure what to do. I can put him back in this senior friendly 40 gallon or make some adjustments to the 75 gallon but this is a tall tank and its going to be hard to get that heat down that far. Poor guy

 

[Ryan15236]

I sat him up there to bask because I noticed he hadn't made his way up their on his own and he fell off. This happened both times I set him up there. This logs isn't covered in bark so doesn't have a ton of traction but still enough that he should be able to climb it

 

[2BeardiesInNJ]

Aww... Poor guy. What a great tank! It looks beautiful. I hope you can work it out so that he can get to a spot to bask. Will he get up on a larger rock maybe?

 

[Ryan15236]

My fresh air zilla screen top came in today and works great. However, my dang repti sun 10.0 48inch came in broke. So it could be a week or two before I get UVB over this tank and I am furious! My beardies need uvb so Im not sure what I am going to do at the moment. Maybe use the fixture I have and split the time with it and take them outside too not really sure. What an inconvenience! Especially with the new juvenile coming in tomorrow! Oh and I just blew a basking bulb....

 

[CooperDragon]

If you're able to bring them outside, an hour or so of natural sunlight will be great and should be a good substitute for a UVB light until you can get a new one in.

 

[Ryan15236]

Alright I will try to work that in as well. Been kinda rainy and cloudy here the last few days. New beardie came in and he is doing pretty well. A little skittish but that's to be expected. He has ate a few crickets too. Here are some pics

 

[CooperDragon]

Wow so tiny! Very cute little guy =)

 

[Ryan15236]

Thanks! and he hasn't ate anything yet today. He is pooing normal and ate yesterday but seems pretty skiddish today. He has been doing some arm waving and glass surfing. I need to get him some greens in the cage too