making a divided terrarium out of an old fish tank

partsman

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 23, 2003
Messages
24
What would be the best way to make the lids for each habitat, I don't want critter keepers all over anymore
 

SpiderTwin

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 17, 2003
Messages
910
How far have you gotten with it, have you got the glass in yet? I'm trying to think where you can find some slotted edging or something to start with.
 

SpiderFood

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 26, 2003
Messages
274
my suggestion is to use a piece of 3/8" Lucite for the divider, and 1/4" or 1/8" for the lid. The thick 1/4" would allow for careful drilling of holes for hinges to be installed for the separate lids. use small "craft" hinges, I dont know the actual name but like the kind you see on jewelry boxes. the measurements for a divider for a typical 10 gallon tank are as follows:
11-1/2 by 9- 5/8
you may need to make a notch at the top on each side of the divider that is about 1/4" long so that the top has a top that looks like this:

______________________
l l
----l l----
l l

you get the idea, this will help insure that there is no gap between whatever you use as a top and the divider, learned the hard way. hope this helps

dale
 

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
905
As spiderfood said you must make sure that how ever you do it that there is no gap, or your tarantula may become "spiderfood".
 

SpiderFood

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 26, 2003
Messages
274
damn, that little group of lines was supposed to be a rough diagram of the lid profile, oh well. guess now its just to show im retarded. lol.

by the way, if you use 1/4" Lucite you can get it at Lowe's, Home Depot, or other places of that nature.

As far as drill bit and hinge screw size you may wanna go with a
1/16" bit and 3/32" screws and remember not to over tighten, and make sure that on the lid you mount the hinges in far enough to avoid cracking of the outer edge of the lid, im a little bit of a handyman on some things, guess spider houses really arent any different from any other "handy man" project. I am currently designing a terrerium for an A. avicularia community of about 4 avics.
good luck
dale
 

SpiderFood

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 26, 2003
Messages
274
oh, p.s., I just used plain ol' aquarium sealant, but since you arent putting fish in it, I dont see the harm in using clear silicone from the local autoparts, it has the same amount of "fuming" while using and curing. and its cheaper. lol=D
 
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