How to tile floor?

[chemgrl08]

Perhaps this is a bit of a silly question, but what materials do I need/ how do I tile the floor for my beardie's new viv? I have a 40 long with a small crack on the bottom (I sealed it up with aquarium sealant.) Since I got the tank for free, I wanted to go ahead and do something nice for the flooring. (Plus its already too heavy on its own for me to pick up by myself.) So clearly I need tile (trying to find it on clearance at the hardware store, Home depot, etc) but what else? I'm not really sure how to do it. Any links would be appreciated too. Thanks!

EDIT: Oh, and is this something best done outside? I live in an apartment.

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

Under the tile I use newspaper or paper towel. Mine aren't grouted so that it's easier to clean, but at the same time.. some liquids from the poo can slip down between the cracks. Others use self adhesive shelf liner underneath. It just makes for easy clean-up. I got several 4x4 in slate tiles for $.50 each at Home Depot.

 

[diggerdrake]

newspaper and paper towls are good under the tiles. I have in/outdoor carpet under mine and loosly have tiles in spots I want tiled. the loose tile is easily removed and cleaned as is the carpet.

 

[chemgrl08]

ok, so it seems that NOT actually grouting them in is preferable. I was thinking you do it like... a tiled kitchen floor or something. Ok ok... I see this coming together... I will post pics when I'm done! :mrgreen:

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

In my opinion it's easier to put in your tank and easier to clean if it's not grouted.

 

[fkalb]

If you want to go with a more permanent setup and dont want to grout maybe youd want to glue the tiles down with some sort of construction adhesive than fill the edges and between tiles with silicon? Thats what im thinking of doing

 

[axxessdenied]

I was going to do a permanent tile solution on my tank. But, then I decided against it as I would like to be able to pull the tiles out and clean them easily if my beardies poos all over them. Just seemed like it would be more convenient.

Although, these slate tiles are definitely not as easy to cut as ceramic ones LOL! I'm gonna have to take mine to the hardware store and get them to cut 'em for me.

 

[chemgrl08]

yes that's more what I had in mind, but for now I just set it up without grout and I'm going to see how that goes. I want to refrain from buying a bunch of tiling stuff I won't need, so I'll probably only do it if I find a friend who has some leftover.
Here are some pics of the viv so far. Needs a bit of decoration, but I'm going to make a faux rock/cave per the instructions linked on this site.

Before:

After:

And before anyone mentions, yes, I am going to get a new UV light that is longer. That bulb is already nearing the end of its life anyway.

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

I see you had a lot of water/lime deposits left on the tank from it being an aquarium in it's previous life. I have the same tank and I can't get the lime off for the LIFE of me. I've even tried scraping with a razor and lime away.. how did you get yours off?

 

[chemgrl08]

Ernie,
All I used was a 50/50 blend of vinegar and water. I was also unsure if it would work at first, but it seemed to come off no problem. Perhaps yours are more stubborn than mine? I use this 50/50 mixture for nearly all of my household needs, (windows, countertops, oven tops, etc.) and it works great. (Also, in the interest of earth day, I should mention that its much more eco-friendly than some of the other chemicals with harsh chemicals and CFCs.) Another great thing about it is that its so mild that it won't hurt your beardie if you accidentally leave some behind; it just evaporates anyway. I've also used it to clean out the yucky mess from my cricket containers. Anyway, I'm a big fan of the 50/50 vinegar water. In this particular case, I went over twice- once to get the real gross stuff off, and once to really make it shine. Hope this helps!

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

It sounds great, I'll try it out soon and let you know how it works.

 

[chemgrl08]

Oh! Actually, forgot to mention that I also used baking soda the first round. Just kind of sprinkled it around and sprayed the stuff on it then used my fingers to kind of spread it around. It causes a redox reaction that... er, sorry, the chemist coming out in me. It causes a fizzing reaction that cleans up some goo.

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

haha gotcha. will do. thank you very much.