New owner looking for a good front opening tank

[minorhero]

Hello folks!

I am a new crab owner (typical story, on vacation and the kids wanted a hermit crabs, yada yada ya, now I am trying to do right by them).

Currently the crabs are in a Zilla tank 12x12x18 with 6" of sand/peat mix. I thought this tank would be adequate for 2 small to medium crabs but frankly as soon as I had it all setup I realized it was completely inadequate for the task.

I really really like front opening terrariums and would like to continue using them, BUT they usually have 6" or less of space below the doors. After doing research I really don't want to have the bare minimum of substrate depth, and really would prefer to have 8+ inches of depth.

I did find exactly what I was looking for in the form of a carolina custom bio deep tank but the 24" wide one is a bit more then 300 dollars on amazon. Soooo its expensive. Before I pull the trigger on something like that I wanted to know if there are other options that can fit at least 8 inches of substrate? I know most people use aquariums and that's certainly an option but I really like having a lot of vertical space as well. My crabs definitely enjoy climbing in my 18" tall tank, I can't see myself going less in height.

Thank you folks for any help.

[aussieJJDude]

There's a couple ways you can go about this:
1) get a front opening tank, and use a piece of plexiglass or glass along the front to increase substrate depth (this is what I did)
2) There's now a line of exoterra deep terrariums, for paludariums. I believe they are 8 or so inches deep, so maybe is your preferred method? I do think they run slightly more expensive than the traditional models though.
3) use an exo terra as a topper. If you want a flush finish, the large range (believe they are 1ft, 1.5, 2 and 3 ft tall) of the exo terra is exactly the same size as a 40g breeder. You can simply flip the external upside-down on the 40g, if you want, secure with tape or Velcro and you're good to go and got around 12 inches of the 40g to play around with. You can also punch out the glass on the bottom, but this is very expensive (or resale) or even if you want to repurpose the exo terra for other projects.

[minorhero]

There's a couple ways you can go about this:
1) get a front opening tank, and use a piece of plexiglass or glass along the front to increase substrate depth (this is what I did)
2) There's now a line of exoterra deep terrariums, for paludariums. I believe they are 8 or so inches deep, so maybe is your preferred method? I do think they run slightly more expensive than the traditional models though.
3) use an exo terra as a topper. If you want a flush finish, the large range (believe they are 1ft, 1.5, 2 and 3 ft tall) of the exo terra is exactly the same size as a 40g breeder. You can simply flip the external upside-down on the 40g, if you want, secure with tape or Velcro and you're good to go and got around 12 inches of the 40g to play around with. You can also punch out the glass on the bottom, but this is very expensive (or resale) or even if you want to repurpose the exo terra for other projects.

Thank you this is very helpful!

I didn't know the bigger exo-terras were the same size as a 40b. Now I really really wish I took advantage of the last petco dollar per gallon sale ;P

For it's size it seems like the exo-terra topper is the best bang for the buck.

[minorhero]

edit double post

[aussieJJDude]

You can also add a topper to a bigger tank, like the larger exo terra sizes are as wide as a 75/90g tank. Just the footprint won't match up completely, so its highly dependent on how big you want to go.


I've seen people even put an exo terra topper on a 55g, like using the smaller sizes (eg, the 12x12 footprints) or having a bit of exoterra overhanging the back and filling the back with a glass or plexi sheet.... doesn't look as neat though.

[minorhero]

You can also add a topper to a bigger tank, like the larger exo terra sizes are as wide as a 75/90g tank. Just the footprint won't match up completely, so its highly dependent on how big you want to go.


I've seen people even put an exo terra topper on a 55g, like using the smaller sizes (eg, the 12x12 footprints) or having a bit of exoterra overhanging the back and filling the back with a glass or plexi sheet.... doesn't look as neat though.

Thank you! I have been using the board search function to look for tank toppers. I haven't found any threads where the pictures still remain of a 40 gallon with an exo-terra topper that covers the whole foot print. Do you know of any? I need it to show to The Wife

How are folks attaching the tanks? I think I heard in a video something about velcro? I have small kids so it would need to be fairly strong bond to prevent worst case scenarios.

[aussieJJDude]

Here's one example of a 40g with a topper. I think this exo terra is only like 12 or 18 inches tall. Pretty sure its 12.
https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 9&t=104736

Calla's is by far the first one who suggested doing it on a 40g breeder, but as far as I'm aware, original person to pop a exo terra topper goes towards Kuza.... or he was the first to document it on the internet???
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=104692
https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... s&start=30

Calla did a slightly more permanent approach and bust out the bottom, while it's fine, it's very... permanent and not good resale (at least compared to an intact bottom haha). Flipping upside-down has also been shown to work, many many crabber have done so over the years.

(Links above show some methods in the replies on how to attach, generally Velcro or tape is used. The weight of the tank also helps ensure it stays in place too!)

[minorhero]

Here's one example of a 40g with a topper. I think this exo terra is only like 12 or 18 inches tall. Pretty sure its 12.
https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 9&t=104736

Calla's is by far the first one who suggested doing it on a 40g breeder, but as far as I'm aware, original person to pop a exo terra topper goes towards Kuza.... or he was the first to document it on the internet???
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=104692
https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... s&start=30

Calla did a slightly more permanent approach and bust out the bottom, while it's fine, it's very... permanent and not good resale (at least compared to an intact bottom haha). Flipping upside-down has also been shown to work, many many crabber have done so over the years.

(Links above show some methods in the replies on how to attach, generally Velcro or tape is used. The weight of the tank also helps ensure it stays in place too!)

Thank you! This is VERY helpful! I picked up a 40 Breeder today and the wood to make the stand. I'm pretty pumped for the build so I actually mostly finished the stand (will paint it tomorrow). Will also be buying the exo terra tomorrow as well. I will have to go new because unfortunately the only person selling a used one near me wants more than retail price (I have no idea why people do that). I will likely have the new tank mostly built out by the middle of next week. I'll post a picture when it's done.

[aussieJJDude]

Ooohhh. Nice, I can't wait to see how this all turns out! What exo terra did you decide on?

[minorhero]

Ooohhh. Nice, I can't wait to see how this all turns out! What exo terra did you decide on?

Ended up with a 36x18x18. Here is a sneak peek.

[aussieJJDude]

Nice. Can't wait to see the finished product. Looks amazing already!

[minorhero]

Quick update:

I was hoping to be done by now but work schedules and kids will have their due ;P

At any rate here is a look at progress. Here is a picture of the background on the exo-terra:



Here is the background on the 40 breeder. This picture is taken from a top down perspective so the actual bottom half of the tank doesn't have background since that will be where the substrate goes.



I'm going to be planting the background with moss and bromeliads which should provide nice natural hides for the cabbies. Hopefully tonight I will get a chance to put it together. I am still missing a lot of wood, but I will at least be able to get it setup in a basic kind of way.

[minorhero]

Hello folks,

Figured I would provide one last update to this thread. Wanted to thank everyone here both folks that responded to this thread and also for people who that have written previous threads as I've used a lot of information from this forum to build this tank. It took a few days more then I thought to finish it up but I think it was worth it.





My 2 crabbies seem pretty happy with it. One of them is super active during the day, the other is only out and about at night but they seem to be enjoying the full length and height of the tank. Actually technically the tank is not completely 'done' since I want to add some netting for the crabs to climb on in a pseudo second level, but it's mostly done. Thank you all again!

[Hermiecrab]

Beautiful! I would love to do a modified tank in the future Lol, just bought my twenty gallon two months ago. But for now I suppose I should celebrate for the people who can do it!