Homemade turtle dock?
- Thread starter dre205
- Start date
Those bricks are not as heavy as a full tank of water pushing against the bottom panel.The tank is sitting on a sturdy and level surface so there should be no problems.
Actually, the bricks are heavier than water. Otherwise, they would float 
I don't think you'll have problems with that set up, but another issue with bricks is that they are not perfectly smooth. The weight is going to be sitting on high spots on the bricks versus being distributed over the entire area. Adding water will create a bit of a buoyancy effect and will help some. I would feel better if the bricks were sitting on substrate, but your turtles would dig that out in time.
Turtle docks work better since they can swim underneath. Not saying your idea is wrong, but you may want to look into getting an actual floating dock or DIY one of your own.
Good luck!
I don't think you'll have problems with that set up, but another issue with bricks is that they are not perfectly smooth. The weight is going to be sitting on high spots on the bricks versus being distributed over the entire area. Adding water will create a bit of a buoyancy effect and will help some. I would feel better if the bricks were sitting on substrate, but your turtles would dig that out in time.
Turtle docks work better since they can swim underneath. Not saying your idea is wrong, but you may want to look into getting an actual floating dock or DIY one of your own.
Good luck!
I have used a cinder block before. They work well because they do not take up much swimming space due to the holes in them. It will dramatically increase pH so if you are worried about that, coat it in epoxy first.
you will have no problems with the weight:
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you will have no problems with the weight:
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Interesting but what if we filled a plastic bag with enough water to fill that tank and weighed it and the bricks separately. I think the bag of water would be heavier.CLDarnell;4868942; said:Actually, the bricks are heavier than water. Otherwise, they would float
the bricks sink because of its density. if an object it more dense than water, it will sink. thats why a 150 lb log can float and a 2lb brick can sink. weight has nothing to do with it. and thanks snakeguy101 for referring to that vid. im gonna go with the brick structure and probably cover it with duct tape so the edges would not harm the turtles when they climbed on. thanks guys for the help. if there are anymore suggestions then feel free to comment.
krichardson;4868998; said:
The bricks would be heavier than an identical volume of water for sure. I would think that those bricks would put a much higher amount of pressure on that section of glass than a full tank of water spread out evenly, not to mention the pressure points the uneven surface of the bricks could cause as CLDarnell stated.
It should work fine, but there are much better options. Something to take into account is that unless you have a massive amount of water movement in that tank, you are going to get a lot of nasty stuff caught between those bricks that will make your water quality worse, and it will be very unpleasant to clean.
Oh and with a heat lamp and UV over those bricks and some water splashing on them, every inch of them will be green in about a week.
dre205;4870374; said:
Painteds aren't nasty, but they will eat small fish and nip big ones until they're dead. And then eat them. I would stick with what you have. It's only a 55 right?
