Custom water dish?

[Kantar]

Hello,

I'm looking at making a custom water dish for a stream idea I have for a new 70 gallon tank. Right now I'm trying to avoid using cement because its just so heavy. I'm looking at something to hold about 2 liters. Something that won't break easy since it is going to have a large pool at the end of it, about 2 or 3 feet of stream making an S pattern and a smaller pool. I'll be attaching tubes and a pump to make the stream circulate.

Have any idea what I can make this out of? Something wallet friendly in case I screw up

[guidofatherof5]

Use fiberglass.

Sounds difficult to maintain. Snakes dirty water up on a regular basis.
You also need to watch for too high of humidity.
That can cause many health problems with the snakes, most deadly.

[Kantar]

Humidity shouldn't be too much of a problem, a light spray with a water bottle usually does the trick, makes them come out of hide and be all curious

Also pick yourself up one of these, makes changing water and wiping down so easy since my water dishes are buried, I'd have to take out half of the aquarium stuff
http://www.isoaker.com/Armoury/Analysis/2009/WBMiniWaterCannon_images/water_blaster_miniWaterCannon_1.jpg

[RedSidedSPR]

Gotta get me one of those.

He meant, watch for the humidity being too high. Cause of all the water.

[Kantar]

How would I bend and form fiberglass though?

[guidofatherof5]

You buy a fiberglass repair kit. You mix the resin and apply it to the fiberglass material.
I've never used it but know of people that have used it to make custom designed shapes.
Youtube may be a good place to check it out.

[katach]

I wanted to make a stream in out tank too, but my husband had the same concern about the humidity. I thought it would be fun for them to be able to swim around in.

[guidofatherof5]

Fun yes but maybe unhealthy in the long run..

I love watching my garters going for a swim.
Wish I could provide a nice deep pool for all of them.

[Didymus20X6]

Better yet, get one of these:

http://iw.suntekstore.com/office_cache/262/14000358/iw1284626017_image.jpg

It's a pump siphon, designed primarily for kerosene, but it works great for water feature cleaning. I got mine for like $2 at Wal-Mart. This, a good length of plastic tubing, and a 5 gallon bucket are what I use for cleaning my water enclosure.

[Didymus20X6]

I wanted to make a stream in out tank too, but my husband had the same concern about the humidity. I thought it would be fun for them to be able to swim around in.

I handled that by connecting two separate enclosures. One is a land-based enclosure, which provides the snakes a clean, dry basking area with lots of fake vegetation, and the other is a water enclosure, complete with a basking rock (a large cement block) in the middle. The two are connected by way of a large pipe, so the snakes can freely travel back and forth between them at will.

[katach]

That's a great idea!

[Didymus20X6]

Thanks! :)

If you'd like a rough idea what it looks like, here are some pics:

Design:

http://i28.tinypic.com/qrg1w8.png

Installing flange pipes:

http://i31.tinypic.com/1409r38.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/esq6uv.jpg

Near-finished product, including basking snake.

http://i25.tinypic.com/mtunpu.jpg

(I've added a lot more plants and other features since then, and Little Dude ain't quite that little anymore).

[J@50n]

What about if you took plumbers tubing and cut it in half? Then some how painted it or something a dark color?

[RedSidedSPR]

Hmmm... I'm likin' this

[katach]

This looks great!!

[Kantar]

PVC tubing cut in half mounted in a cement mix should do

Is there any good non porous cements and paints I could use? would painting a PVC pipe be unhealthy for the snakies?

I wonder if the tubes come in green...

[kimbosaur]

Some aquarists make diy Styrofoam backgrounds for fish tanks. You just use the styrofoam for volume and shape and then cover the surface with a cement mixture. A lot of them look really natural too!

I'm sure that would this would work for a water dish - and since it's aquarium safe, it should be snake safe too. I think I remember seeing somebody use this method to make lizard hides too.

Here are some links that have step-by-step instructions. :)
DIY - Aquarium Background (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_background.php)
Custom Aquarium Background (http://www.aquascapingworld.com/magazine/August-2008/August-2008/Custom-Aquarium-Background.html)
Youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es76DnaQDwI)

[kimbosaur]

Found it!
Make a fake rock cave/basking spot for a reptile cage. (http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-fake-rock-cavebasking-spot-for-a-reptile-c/)

[ConcinusMan]

Use fiberglass.

Or don't. Fiberglass isn't easy to work with at all. Foam is much better. Try this:


How to build a waterfall for a terrarium (http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/how-to-build-a-waterfall.html)

If it's for garters, you're getting into a cleanliness / maintenance nightmare though, I should warn you. Keep it small and do it in a very large enclosure. High humidity and spilled (by the snakes) moisture and fecal matter in the water can be a big problem.

[Kantar]

I got this project on hold for at least a little while until I get the resources to do so. Maybe in the winter when I have more time I'll start it up again

[luke.B]

check this out it might give you some good ideas
Lizard care, and fake rock wall landscapes (http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/index.html)

[katach]

Those are really cool!

[Mrs N1ntndo]

I agree that is really cool. If I had a larger tank I might try to do something like that. Even Pheobe in her tank wouldnt work. Maybe if the babies were in the 20 gal but that would last long either....lol I wish . But those are soo awesome. Thank for sharing what you found.