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convert/stack 2x10 gallon tanks to make 20 high

13K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  pv7 
#1 ·
I currently have a 10 gallon Gray tree frog terrarium with about 2 inches of water in the bottom being filtered by an-in tank frog/turtle waterfall type filter. There is a suspended land area on about 2/3 of the tank with live plants growing. The plants are growing so fast that they crowd the whole tank and need to be trimmed weekly (leaves, stems, and roots). To be truthfull I feel guilty that the tree frog doesn't have more climbing room in the tank.

I also have a 10 gallon tank that right now is being used to raise snails (dwarf puffer food) and baby cories which are big enough now to be transferred. I will be giving just about all of them to a friend (chaosbeing on this forum) and putting another 2 or so in my main 20 gallon planted tank. I get almost as many snails out of my frog terrarium so really don't need this tank once the cories are gone.

Here is my plan:
I want to stack the two 10 gallon tanks on top of each other basically making a 20 gallon high tank which will give plenty of room for the tree frog and plants to grow (will also probably make the water and inch or so deeper once complete). I remember seeing somewhere, possibly this forum possibly a frog forum that people have done this before. I thought I remember a sight selling a connection piece that connects the two tanks and gives you an access door. If I can't find this or make one (not too resourcefull), I will most likely remove the bottom of one of the tanks then just stack and seal the two tanks together leaving the top of the setup open for a normal lid as I am using now.

I am wondering if anyone has done this on this board or remembers where I have seen this done before, tried searching google but can't come up with anything.

Any help will be much appretiated, if don't get any in the next week or so I will be going forward with the bottom removal of one.
 
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#2 ·
Well i redesigned the lower 10 gal last night and removed the bottom of the top tank. Will take pictures of the finished product this weekend and post for everyone to check out. I'm surprised how well it turned out. My only advice if anyone else tries this with tanks with thin glass like 10s don't even try removing the bottom with a razor, just break it and pull out all the pieces because you will inevitably end up inadvertently cracking it like I did last night.
 
#3 ·
Well a week late, but finally here are the pics of the new frog tank. They aren't the best pics because they are from my phone but you can get the general idea of it. I have designed a stream going accross the land section using an in-tank frog/turtle filter. There are several live plants which I am going to try and get them to grow more verticle. I am also going to be figuring out some kind of hide/cave to setup on the upper tank area.

The tanks are put together where the top plastic frame of the bottom tank is attached to the bottom frame of the top tank. The top tank is not permanently secured to the plastic frame to make it removable for cleaning.
 

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#5 ·
That is cool. Are you going to put some taller pieces of wood in there too? And do you have a pic of your false bottom? I usually don't see them that tall. Subscribed. :D:thumbsup:

P.S. - What type of lighting do you have on that?
 
#6 ·
Thanks!

Yes I do plan on putting in a larger piece or two of wood once I find the right piece. I am going to be going on a few hikes in the next month or two so once I find the right piece(s) I will change the upper layout a bit.

I can take a closer pic of the false bottom it is pretty basic though. I cut up the plastic guard from an old broken box fan that I had sitting around rather than going out and buying eggcrate and it serves the same purpose, just a bit more flexible. The layer above the "eggcrate" is the material used in wire hanging pots for plants. Again same as with the plastic crate I had it laying around so I put it to use. I try and recycle/reuse and save money on stuff like that as much as possible.

As for lighting right now I have one 15 watt flourescent tube and one 52w incandescent bulb over it and it is near a window that gets partial morning sunlight so plenty of light (possibly too much, but we will see how it does in the first few weeks).
 
#8 ·
The phylodendron that is in there grows like a weed (puts out at least one new leaf daily) with just the sunlight from the window so I'm sure it will do well and grow very fast under this much light. The other terrestrial plant in there (some kind of "angel plant" that I picked up at home depot a few years ago) stays alive but doesn't grow very fast but I think it is more of a dry plant so its probably too moist in there for optimal growth. There is also some java moss and moneywort under water the java moss can grow with any light and the little bit of moneywort was just put in there when I re-did the tank so we will see how that does. I am planning on putting at least one other plant in there preferably something with a more solid/substantial stem that will grow into the upper part.
 
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