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Post by lilmissvix on Jul 5, 2009 15:15:02 GMT
i have a glass tank which i brought cheap with no lid, been using baking trays so they cant excape i now have some mdf which is going to get fit to size, does the wood need treating with anything, so it dont get damp/mouldy....??
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 15:55:39 GMT
You`ll most likely lose your snails if you use MDF, the toxic nature of fibreboard mixed with the fact snails eat cardboard so will try and eat this too is a bad combination. Also, snails are incredibly strong, much stronger than you`d think, (like ants) so trusting something heavy on top of the tank may get you in trouble too. If you did treat the wood, the snails would be eating whatever you treated it with too, toxic... I have glass cut to fit the top of fish tanks, now that IS far too heavy for them to lift ! I really would advise you to either save up for a proper tank, or get some glass cut that will fit on your tank like a lid, it`s not expensive at all to do that. Snails are really very sensitive to chemicals, you need to be very careful what`s near or in with, your snails. If you`ve got the MDF on the tank right now, go and get it off ! lol have you got anything else you can put them in? Because that`s no good at all........ It`s a shame you can`t send tanks in the post really, I`ve got a load of them here.......
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ade
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Post by ade on Jul 5, 2009 17:02:45 GMT
you can actually get a terrarium/vivarium lid to fit any tank, type vivarium lid in the search on ebay - i believe its ferplast who make them but im not 100 percent sure. They are a ventilated metal top with a glass sliding door in them. they range from around 16gbp up to 30.
Sorry strike the ferplast comment , they are made by clearseal
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 18:18:32 GMT
Yeah Ferplast are a really expensive make too. If it`s a fish tank you have, has it got a little ledge just inside the top? If so, that`s the bit my glass rests on, I have them cut to fit and it looks really nice, you get a good looking glass box. For a two foot tank you`re looking at about £9- £10 It`s really not as expensive as you`d think, as I thought anyway ! lol
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 18:32:05 GMT
I`m interested in seeing these lids though Ade, can you link us up?
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Post by ade on Jul 5, 2009 18:42:42 GMT
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 18:49:37 GMT
Oh right, not too bad a price too by the look of it. When I bought my huge tank it was actually quite cheap, they charge seperatly for the tank and lid, and they wanted ooooh lots more than that !
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Post by lilmissvix on Jul 5, 2009 19:49:29 GMT
wow that is really interesting as i got recomended by someone to use mdf, i didnt even think about them trying to eat it where can i get the glass stuff from?
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 19:57:55 GMT
Yeah MDF is the answer to everything for some people ! lol It`s horrible stuff, not even safe for people, to work with anyway.See if you can find a yellow pages or something and look someone up, it`ll need to be somewhere near you so you can go and pick it up, and make absolutely sure you get your measurement right, I measure mine about an eighth of an inch too small so it fits with a very small gap around the edge. Whereabouts are you? There`ll be a glass merchant near you somewhere or other I should imagine.
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Post by lilmissvix on Jul 5, 2009 20:18:29 GMT
i could look on the internet for a glass merchant, i live in oxford, so there should be plenty about..... is there enough ventilation in the tank with glass???
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 20:22:08 GMT
Yeah loads, you really don`t even need a gap really, even then, air can still get in. My smaller tank has hardly any gap, it`s two millimeters or so, and that tank is spot on perfect conditions wise, they love it! It keeps the humidity up and really, the snails are absolutely thriving. I had holes cut in one of the glass tops, it cost a lot more and I now wish I hadn`t done it, they really don`t need to be there at all, I cover them with clicng film now. So yeah, go for no gaps at all, it`ll have to be very slightly smaller than the top anyway to fit it in, and that will do fine........
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Post by lilmissvix on Jul 5, 2009 20:29:53 GMT
the reason i was changing lid was because didnt think there was enough gap....but i like the sound of glass....i have been using make do baking trays for about 2 months now...but would like to see them when they on roof i love to watch them.....lol thanks for all your help
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 20:52:24 GMT
Ah no worries. Yeah that`s part of the reason glass is good, you get what looks like a see through box, and yes, you can see thier feet as they snail all over the top. I wouldn`t like my tanks if they weren`t glass topped. Let me know how you get on ! And remember to be sooo careful you get those measurements right, maybe even cut a bit of card to the measureents you`ve decided on to check they`re the right ones.......
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Post by ade on Jul 5, 2009 21:04:07 GMT
i should imagine perspex would also be a good option, but it does scratch easily and would probably cost more than glass
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Post by feebix on Jul 5, 2009 21:23:32 GMT
Yeah unfortunatly it does cost more, I`d probably give it a go if it didn`t. I`ve also heard that it warps given enough time. You`d think glass would be the more expensive one wouldn`t you?
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