SandyBear
Member
Late this summer my dad and I built a stacked CrossFire Enclosure for my Bearded Dragons and Cane Toads. The total cost was about $2,300 and was made out of top quality materials.
Supplies were bought from Home Depot, Home Hardware, and Superior Coatings (specialty store that sells paints, sealers, etc...)
Tanks are made out of a combination of woods, Birch Plywood, Douglas Fir, Pine and there was accidentally 2 sheets of Oak Plywood in the stack of Birch Ply, so the Toady tank has some oak in there too. We didn't realize that until after the pieces were cut.
The inside of the tanks were sealed with a product called "Enviro Epoxy". This product can get wet or hot and it won't affect the look or create fumes. It's almost odorless when first painted onto the tank too. This product wasn't cheap, but I feel it was well worth the investment, and I plan on using it again for future projects. I used the Beige color for the inside of the tanks, it wasn't my first choice, but I just love how it came out once it was finished. We used 3-4 coats on all the sides, and this product takes about 24 hours to dry.
http://www.enviroepoxy.com/
The stain was by MinWax, and it's "Early American" color.
The outside was a fast drying satin sealer by Mixwax as well.
I have T4 Bulbs for viewing lights in the tank. They are actually supposed to be for under kitchen cupboard lights. They are all daisy-chained together, and it looks really neat.
The heat lamp in my dragons tank is by Exoterra, it holds a 160watt MVB. My dad is an electrician, and everything is wired to the tank and everything has it's own switches.
There are also fans on both tanks.
The Dragons Tank is 72" Long x 36" Wide x 48" High = 540 gallons. A nice upgrade from their previous 75 gallon aquarium. 2 dragons live in this tank.
This tank comes apart in 3 pieces, top half, bottom half and the front "face" piece of the tank.
The Toady's Tank is 72" Long x 36" Wide x 24" High = 270 gallons. There is currently 2 cane toads in there, but I have 3 more that will be added once they are done quarantine and have put on some more weight.
Here are the build pictures:
Empty unstained plywood box.
Toady Tank, unassembled and fist coat of stain
Both tanks, first coat of stain
Front View of Toady Tank
Toady Tank with Lights attached and fan bits
Fan and Switches getting attached
Inside of Dragon Tank.
Puppies Approve the Tank design. These are my moms two Miniature Schnauzers that she rescued this summer. They are 8 years old. The puppy inside the tank is named "Adolf" and the puppy on the floor is called "Trevor". The tanks were brought inside to apply the sealant on the outside of the tank.
Kitty Approved! This is my cat Sparta, he was inspecting the work that was done on the tanks after we brought them home
We got the glass cut and glued in place at a glass cutter shop called "Floyd's Glass" in my town. They did an awesome job! I've started going there for all my glass needs. They do everything there, even custom stained glass pieces and classes.
This is the tanks! There is still some decorating that needs to be done though
I really had fun doing this build, it was a great father-daughter project. I hope we can do another one next year My parents are great, and I couldn't have done it without their help.
Some new cacti for their tank. I got 5 new ones at one of the local garden centers, and spent about $120 on them. Not too bad, since they are all a really good size!
"Waffles" checking out the new cactus
"Pancake" on top of the biggest cactus. Pancake didn't come down for 3 days!
Pancake says this is the best spot in the house!
Pancake is getting ready for bed!
This is pictures of the two big cane toads. I think they really like the leaf litter, as they seem less stressed out now that they are in this enclosure with it. I can't wait till my other 3 are a little bit bigger and they can go in too.
There are still a few minor things I want to do and add to the tank.
I plan on doing a large fake rock platform, the pet shop I go to is giving me the Styrofoam that their fish come in. Tomorrow is fish day I think, so I'll be going over around lunch time to see if it's available yet.
I want to go to the electrical shop with my dad this weekend and see if they have any 36" - T8 fixtures in stock so I can connect a 10.0 UVB light as well. The dragons just have the MVB at the moment.
Supplies were bought from Home Depot, Home Hardware, and Superior Coatings (specialty store that sells paints, sealers, etc...)
Tanks are made out of a combination of woods, Birch Plywood, Douglas Fir, Pine and there was accidentally 2 sheets of Oak Plywood in the stack of Birch Ply, so the Toady tank has some oak in there too. We didn't realize that until after the pieces were cut.
The inside of the tanks were sealed with a product called "Enviro Epoxy". This product can get wet or hot and it won't affect the look or create fumes. It's almost odorless when first painted onto the tank too. This product wasn't cheap, but I feel it was well worth the investment, and I plan on using it again for future projects. I used the Beige color for the inside of the tanks, it wasn't my first choice, but I just love how it came out once it was finished. We used 3-4 coats on all the sides, and this product takes about 24 hours to dry.
http://www.enviroepoxy.com/
The stain was by MinWax, and it's "Early American" color.
The outside was a fast drying satin sealer by Mixwax as well.
I have T4 Bulbs for viewing lights in the tank. They are actually supposed to be for under kitchen cupboard lights. They are all daisy-chained together, and it looks really neat.
The heat lamp in my dragons tank is by Exoterra, it holds a 160watt MVB. My dad is an electrician, and everything is wired to the tank and everything has it's own switches.
There are also fans on both tanks.
The Dragons Tank is 72" Long x 36" Wide x 48" High = 540 gallons. A nice upgrade from their previous 75 gallon aquarium. 2 dragons live in this tank.
This tank comes apart in 3 pieces, top half, bottom half and the front "face" piece of the tank.
The Toady's Tank is 72" Long x 36" Wide x 24" High = 270 gallons. There is currently 2 cane toads in there, but I have 3 more that will be added once they are done quarantine and have put on some more weight.
Here are the build pictures:
Empty unstained plywood box.
Toady Tank, unassembled and fist coat of stain
Both tanks, first coat of stain
Front View of Toady Tank
Toady Tank with Lights attached and fan bits
Fan and Switches getting attached
Inside of Dragon Tank.
Puppies Approve the Tank design. These are my moms two Miniature Schnauzers that she rescued this summer. They are 8 years old. The puppy inside the tank is named "Adolf" and the puppy on the floor is called "Trevor". The tanks were brought inside to apply the sealant on the outside of the tank.
Kitty Approved! This is my cat Sparta, he was inspecting the work that was done on the tanks after we brought them home
We got the glass cut and glued in place at a glass cutter shop called "Floyd's Glass" in my town. They did an awesome job! I've started going there for all my glass needs. They do everything there, even custom stained glass pieces and classes.
This is the tanks! There is still some decorating that needs to be done though
I really had fun doing this build, it was a great father-daughter project. I hope we can do another one next year My parents are great, and I couldn't have done it without their help.
Some new cacti for their tank. I got 5 new ones at one of the local garden centers, and spent about $120 on them. Not too bad, since they are all a really good size!
"Waffles" checking out the new cactus
"Pancake" on top of the biggest cactus. Pancake didn't come down for 3 days!
Pancake says this is the best spot in the house!
Pancake is getting ready for bed!
This is pictures of the two big cane toads. I think they really like the leaf litter, as they seem less stressed out now that they are in this enclosure with it. I can't wait till my other 3 are a little bit bigger and they can go in too.
There are still a few minor things I want to do and add to the tank.
I plan on doing a large fake rock platform, the pet shop I go to is giving me the Styrofoam that their fish come in. Tomorrow is fish day I think, so I'll be going over around lunch time to see if it's available yet.
I want to go to the electrical shop with my dad this weekend and see if they have any 36" - T8 fixtures in stock so I can connect a 10.0 UVB light as well. The dragons just have the MVB at the moment.
