# Step by step tutorial (Scorpion tank with "swimming pool")



## *FallenAngel* (Jan 31, 2010)

Alright guys...... Here is a step by step tutorial showing how i overhaul my scorpion tank... with a build in "swimming pool" and a VIP suite (garden and pool view).... 
The tank measured 16inch x 10inch x 10inch
This will home maybe 1 to 2 AFS. Hope they like it. And hope u like it too. 






1st, I glued 1 piece of glass measuring around 3 inch height and <10 inch long (so it can fit in to the tank) at the bottom of the tank. It act as a barrier to separate the water and land area.  






2nd, I glued 2 hinges and a small piece of glass as handle for the cover. The cover measuring 11inch x 10 inch. 






3rd, Glued both the hinges to the tank  






4th, Glued 1 piece of glass (measuring 4 inch width and 10 inch long) on top of the tank as a fixed cover






5th, Pour in gravels in both side... (as false bottom for the land area and river bed for the water area)






6th, Time for cocofibre to go in and add some decoration for the water area






7th, Added some decoration, some plants to make it lively. I use a pot as hide which located at the top left corner and with a tube behind it so i can refill my false bottom






Front view






The pond area (might add some fish later)

Alright, some comment please....

Oh ya, I spent around 40 bucks (ringgit malaysia) for these... 
16 bucks for the tank (i bought it earlier)
10 bucks for the additional glasses 
4.5 bucks for the glue
7-8 bucks for the gravels and drift wood
plants : foc


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## gromgrom (Jan 31, 2010)

That looks amazing! Exactly what I wanted to do...


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## erika357 (Jan 31, 2010)

Very cook tank! What kind of scorp are you putting in it? Will the scorp actually go in the water?


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## Nomadinexile (Jan 31, 2010)

:clap:


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## x Mr Awesome x (Jan 31, 2010)

That looks straight up amazing. Very nice! What kind of scorpion is going in? I have no idea what species would be arid with a pool present, haha.


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## SixShot666 (Jan 31, 2010)

WOW!!! NICE!!! :clap:


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## SixShot666 (Jan 31, 2010)

How long did this took you to set up???


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## *FallenAngel* (Jan 31, 2010)

Hi guys.
I was planning to put in Asian Forest Scorpions. So that wont be much a problem cause they themselves like to soak in water during hot day too.... And they are large in size. 

rui


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## Rabid538 (Jan 31, 2010)

That is a sweet enclosure! What type of glue did you use? A normal hot glue gun? I might have to steal your idea when I make my terrarium for some red eyed green tree frogs.


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## Steve Calceatum (Feb 2, 2010)

Very nicely done!!!!!! Certainly makes me want to try doing something like that myself. Thanks for posting the tutorial!!!! :clap: :clap:


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## *FallenAngel* (Feb 2, 2010)

SixShot666 said:


> How long did this took you to set up???


Hi. I spent around half day to get it done. Just glued and wait for the glue to dry. 



Rabid538 said:


> That is a sweet enclosure! What type of glue did you use? A normal hot glue gun? I might have to steal your idea when I make my terrarium for some red eyed green tree frogs.


I used silicone glue. Normal hot glue gun wont hold much of the glass as they are quite heavy too. Ya, my setup suitable for frogs and T.blondi as well.... 



xsyorra said:


> Very nicely done!!!!!! Certainly makes me want to try doing something like that myself. Thanks for posting the tutorial!!!! :clap: :clap:


Thanks for your compliment. I am glad that i contributed some ideas to you guys...


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## T.ass-mephisto (Feb 2, 2010)

i didnt see any holes in your lid? did i miss the ventalation holes or is it somewhere else like the sides?


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## ArachnidSentinl (Feb 2, 2010)

Very cool idea and nice execution!  I was thinking about doing something similar in the future.

One question, though.  If you put fish in there, will you add some sort of filter system?  I suppose it would depend on the species of fish(?).


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## coleopteran (Feb 3, 2010)

Nice. I like the little sansevieria there


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## snappleWhiteTea (Feb 3, 2010)

looks really impressive, i like it, but keeping the water clean will be a huge pain, I had done soemthing kind of similar, (not as pretty) and it turned into a puddle of coco mud.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 3, 2010)

snappleWhiteTea said:


> looks really impressive, i like it, but keeping the water clean will be a huge pain, I had done soemthing kind of similar, (not as pretty) and it turned into a puddle of coco mud.


If the glass is well sealed into the aquarium, you should have no such problems.  Of course, this is easier said than done.      But if you create a watertight seal, there's no mud unless YOU make it.


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## JesseD (Feb 3, 2010)

1 - Yes you will constantly end up with coco fiber in the water. Make some kind of edge like a pile of rocks so the scorpion will drop the majority of the coco onto those instead of directly into the water. 

2 - The water will be very difficult to clean. If you just leave non moving water it will become really gross very quickly. I have seen similar setups, but the reservoir of water had a drain. A whole was actually drilled into the bottom of the tank and a hose siliconed into place. 

3 - You should use aquarium safe silicon (sold at most pet shops) to seal in when using water than an animal might go in or drink from. *Do not use glue.* I once saw someone use glue and then I smelled the water in his little waterfall and it smelled quite *toxic.*


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## TalonAWD (Feb 3, 2010)

JesseD said:


> 2 - The water will be very difficult to clean. If you just leave non moving water it will become really gross very quickly. I have seen similar setups, but the reservoir of water had a drain. A whole was actually drilled into the bottom of the tank and a hose siliconed into place.
> 
> 3 - You should use aquarium safe silicon (sold at most pet shops) to seal in when using water than an animal might go in or drink from. *Do not use glue.* I once saw someone use glue and then I smelled the water in his little waterfall and it smelled quite *toxic.*


You did a good job with the basic layout but I see  two issues.
As stated, the first being the water layer under the main substrate area. Standing water will become stagnant. Your water will rot under the substrate and possibly kill your scorpion due to the bacteria that will form from the stagnant water. You can get a diamond bit and use water as a coolant to slowly drill through the glass for drain/changing. Than install a bulkhead. 
[YOUTUBE]PKxxYpzphWo[/YOUTUBE]

For the silicone situation, I agree, you should have used safe 100% silicone. I know its expensive to buy "Aquarium Safe" silicone so heres a link to a good safe silicone you could use. (though you probably dont need so much)
http://www.emisupply.com/catalog/su5005-food-grade-silicone-clear-103oz-case-p-7273.html

I have plans to do one with a pond and a river in a large custom enclosure but it will be combined. The running water flowing into pond from the "river" will keep the water moving therefore preventing a stagnant situation. And to change the water, the pump used for the river helps get the water out easily.


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## snappleWhiteTea (Feb 3, 2010)

Nomadinexile said:


> If the glass is well sealed into the aquarium, you should have no such problems.  Of course, this is easier said than done.      But if you create a watertight seal, there's no mud unless YOU make it.


true, my scorpions drug substrate into there pool. i guess if there foliage, it might help that.

how do you keep the water clean though? when water sits it gets icky right?


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 3, 2010)

snappleWhiteTea said:


> true, my scorpions drug substrate into there pool. i guess if there foliage, it might help that.
> 
> how do you keep the water clean though? when water sits it gets icky right?


Seriously?   The scorps take sub and throw it in the water?   What for?   Those little buggers.


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## snappleWhiteTea (Feb 3, 2010)

Nomadinexile said:


> Seriously?   The scorps take sub and throw it in the water?   What for?   Those little buggers.


no haha not like that, they drag it in.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 3, 2010)

snappleWhiteTea said:


> no haha not like that, they drag it in.


Do they go swimming or something?   Or just out on their walks, kickin' coco? 
Or do your scorpions try to cover their messes like dogs?


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## Philth (Feb 3, 2010)

erika357 said:


> Will the scorp actually go in the water?


If Robc pushes it in,  it will ;P

(sorry I had too,... some of you scorpion people might not get that)

Later, Tom


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## Irene B. Smithi (Feb 4, 2010)

Wow, LOVE LOVE LOVE your tank!


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## H. laoticus (Feb 4, 2010)

digging burrows can easily get coco fiber into the water.  Can't you use a small fish net to get the floating coco fiber out?


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 4, 2010)

H. laoticus said:


> digging burrows can easily get coco fiber into the water.  Can't you use a small fish net to get the floating coco fiber out?


Most coco has fairly fine fragments, it would have to be a micro-fine filter


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## ZergFront (Feb 4, 2010)

Wow, very cool! I never heard of a scorpion that goes into water. Then again before AB, I didn't think there was a tarantula like that either. I can't wait to see some pics of the scorp checking out its new digs.


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## whitewolf (Feb 4, 2010)

Looks good. Just the look I was going for with the frogs but learned the hard way hot glue is not water tight seal. 

Eventually I'll get that 20 high going for them so I can reclaim my exo lol.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 4, 2010)

ZergFront said:


> Wow, very cool! I never heard of a scorpion that goes into water. Then again before AB, I didn't think there was a tarantula like that either. I can't wait to see some pics of the scorp checking out its new digs.


I don't think the scorpion is going to go in the water....  I could be wrong but...


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## Galapoheros (Feb 4, 2010)

I was surprised to see a vid on Youtube of an emp going into a shallow water bowl and go under water and walk on the bottom for about 3 seconds and "wash" around rubbing it's legs, then it came back up.  I've been looking for the vid but I'm having a hard time finding it again.  Maybe somebody can have better luck looking for it.  I thought it was kind of cool, I'd heard of them doing that but was doubting it, then I saw that vid.  It was obvious the scorp did it on purpose, didn't just happened to walk in or something like that.  But this in the thread would be too deep I think, you could always shallow it up with gravel though as much as you want.  You could put a cheap bottom filter in also with gravel and circulate the water that way.  I did it with a bigger tank that way that had about 5 inches of water in it, worked fine.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 4, 2010)

what what what?


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## H. laoticus (Feb 4, 2010)

Nomadinexile said:


> Most coco has fairly fine fragments, it would have to be a micro-fine filter


yup, I had one of those nets as well.  It was more of a cloth fabric or something like that.


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## Galapoheros (Feb 4, 2010)

Nomadinexile said:


> what what what?


yeah that scorp vid is on youtube somewhere, unless the person deleted it.  I've been looking for it more, just can't find it:wall:.  Seems like the title was "scorpion takes a dip", something like that.


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## Nomadinexile (Feb 6, 2010)

http://incaudavenenum.e-monsite.com/rubrique,nom-vernaculaire,1174554.html

Lychas mucronatus - Chinese *Swimming Scorpion*


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## BorisTheSpider (Feb 7, 2010)

I did something like this a long time ago , but I ran the glass longways to divide the tank in half from front to back . The front had fish and the back had birds . I used matching drift wood and artificial plants in both halves and when looked at from directly in front it looked like the birds were swimming . Although , it wasn't meant to be a permanent enclosure . The *bird aquarium*  as I called it was for an ecology class and I think that it got me an A . To this day I wish I still had the thing . It was very cool . I remember that the birds were Zebra finches but i can't remember what kind of fish that I used .


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