So here is my idea. I am going to modify my 20 gallon aquarium(screen top) to have sliding plexiglass doors. I am going to flip it on it's side so the top becomes the front. Does anyone have any experience with doing this? The dimensions of the inside of the tank are about 16hx24wx12d(96in^2) so I'll get a lot more floor space out of this and prevent any future escapes since I may be filling this tank soon.
My plan was to silicone a piece of plexiglass about 2-3 inches high along the bottom of the tank like shown in red in the picture. I know its confusing but I make sense of it haha. The doors(light blue) are going to plexiglass as well. Both are going to be around 1/8" thick(if I can find it, 1/4" if not). The area where the doors overlap is going to be sealed with felt strips. I feel felt would scratch less than a rubber weatherstrip type seal. For the tracks my plan is to carve out an 1/8" groove down the length of a thin piece of wood with my dremel and a straightedge. The wood will be .5Hx24W1.5D(maybe 2"). It will be epoxy'ed into place. For a lock I'm going to use a normal display case lock because I can't come up with any ideas that would look clean.
With this in mind maybe I'll just spend the money on some metal tracks, because I'm worried the wood will grab at the plexiglass when opening the doors even with some kind of lubricant like graphite powder(that I'm not even sure is safe for snakes).
Some questions though. I am going to need airflow. What configuration should the vent holes be on the doors? I am thinking drill them high on the cool side door low on the hot side. Also, does anyone have experience building doors to a cage and have a better idea for a lock/escapeproofing system? Also, do I need to reinforce the glass on the bottom? The cage will be on risers because of the heat mats I'm using and it's going on top of a wood dresser. Lastly, does anyone object to me letting the heatlamp over the hot side sit on top of the tank on the glass? Or do I need to ventilate it some.
Thanks for any help, and once again I apologize if I rambled or my sweet rendition of AutoCAD via paint confuses you
.
Threaded Mode