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Custom Made Enclosures

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
Custom made, by me! 4 of them get vents but I had drilled out the front of one for my pederseni. So I have 5 in total! Made from acrylic, these are 3x3x7 inches. There is an inch and a half of room for substrate.











Hasp are on backwards for better viewing. They are pretty tight so there is no room for the door to be pushed open but still easily opened by us!

I can't wait for my vents to show up so I can finish the other 4.
 

Josh

Administrator
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1,168
Nice work! Where'd you find the materials and stuff? I want to do something similar, just a bit bigger
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
242
Awesome! Similar to what I have been using for my younger Ts with the added benefit of a front opening door. Of course, I didn't take the time to make mine at all... Nice work. :)
 

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
The plexiglass you can find at home depot, I had converted some upright 5 and 10 gallon tanks so I had some extra laying around. The rest I got at an industrial plastics and paints store in Calgary. I purchased some weldon number 3. Its a quick drying solvent. Though if you get it on any plastic surface it will mar it. The good thing about it is it still has a little play for about 10 to 20 seconds so if you screw up you can fix it. And! If you spill it on anything that is not plastic it just evaporates! The hinges and hasps I also got at the plastic and paints store. Hinges are 1 dollar a piece, the hasps 2.50. Would be much cheaper if I ordered it all online. I will some day when I have some spare cash start to make nice big ones. I have 20 1 inch and 20 2 inch vents on the way. So I'm hoping they will work for what I'm trying to do! I'll update the thread with pictures of the other 4 with vents when they arrive.

I'll probably do a nice tutorial as well, a how to do it yourself type deal. It's not really all that tough, if you're just making a few an acrylic knife will do, but if you're doing a bunch I have a table saw that I cut mine with. Must use an 82 tooth blade or more to cut the plexi without it shattering or over heating.
 

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
I think in total it cost... 7ish dollars a piece to make. A lot more pricier than a 32 oz deli cup that's for sure. :p They are just over 1 liter. I think it was like 1.12 liters when I calculated it out. I'm not sure what a 32 oz deli is, but it's approx the same.

however they take up less space! :p
 

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
I would definitely make them more affordable than they are on the market that's for sure. Since it's just a hobby for me, I don't have to charge as much for the labor. And I do plan to start selling, but I'm sure people in the states wouldn't be ordering from me, the shipping would probably kill the price.

But I'm going to build some up on Friday and post some pictures of the quality of workmanship and see if people are interested.
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
242
It all depends on how big you can make them and whether not not someone has a big enough collection in need haha. I may have to get with you to see what you can make out there.
 

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
It all depends on how big you can make them and whether not not someone has a big enough collection in need haha. I may have to get with you to see what you can make out there.

Yeah you're probably not going to want to buy custom acrylic cages for a huge collection. Definitely not worth the money unless you're rich. :p When you can make a converted 5 or 10 gallon tank for 20-25 bucks, there is no point in paying 80 bucks for the same thing but in acrylic. Though the acrylic does look nice and it would have nifty vents and be light weight. For those with huge collections, if you have 100 adult T's that's 8,000 just in enclosures.
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
242
The better thing would be to get them cheaper, haha. I'm a fan of the converted aquariums too, but acrylic is a much nicer look. I need to figure out how to make these around the same size as a 2.5gal aquarium on end.
 

Kurt Nelson

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
399
Location
Airdrie, Alberta
At home depot prices, the plexiglass for each tank would cost $20.85. They are approximately 3.55 square feet those boxes. so .45 we will put as wastage. That's 4 square feed per tank, and a sheet of 2x4 foot plexiglass at home depot is about 47 dollars, which would make 2 cages if cut perfectly.

A 2.5 gallon tank here cost like 13 dollars. And the plexiglass to make the lid for it would probably be 3 dollars a tank.

Now you have to add vents, hinges, hasps. Clearly if you're making bulk, you're not going to be buying from home depot.

My costs roughly, I rounded up would cost 14.2 for the plexiglass alone. Still not cheap for a huge collection. However it would be just about as cost effective as purchasing a tank itself..
 

ipreventdeath

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
242
The 2.5gal aquarium on end measures 15w x 41h x 20d in centimeters. I didn't think it was that expensive for a little plastic! Still wouldn't be bad for the individual though. I need to work on this project for myself, haha.
 

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