Removable habitat advice

[acharpenter]

Any update?

I am looking at doing this very thing. I would like a more natural looking substrate and was thinking about granite tile or something but I worry about dropping it in the aquarium and shattering the bottom glass. This route seems like the perfect solution.

One concern I have is temp issues. How thick is the foam? What types of floor temps are you getting with this foam substrate???

 

[theCREECH]

This has been a really long project. I'm still in development. So far my temps have been really good, but I want to make sure that I will always be able to have a consistent temp for each landscape. The hot hide is dug down low enough to get good heat, in each of these there is always a cool hide which is done be letting the foam be much thicker, thus farther away from the heat.

With the prototypes I've made so far, my hot hides have been normal...90-95... cement is very good at holding heat.. and my cool hides have been about 75.

I've really been working on creating a perfect layout. And I think I've got one it just needs further testing.

it must have:
1. temperature gradients
2. can become a humid hide.
3. can containt a heat probe
4. lid can't be too heavy and cumbersum
5. needs two hides.
6. looks natural

and some others I'm probably forgetting.

Ultimately I will make these for sale. So first they may be one-up designs, but eventually I will make a mold of them to produce them faster.

my testing has involved ten gallon tanks with flexwatt underneath

 

[acharpenter]

About how thick is the foam on the hot side vs the cool side?

 

[theCREECH]

About how thick is the foam on the hot side vs the cool side?

Still in the middle of testing what it should be. My first examples didn't have any foam over the hot side.