Projection TV - Converted to DIY Tank - Pic Heavy

[Andry]

I think this is my first post on the forum.  Don't know much about beardie's but I'm learning a lot by reading this forum.  I got to reading the day we bought our first beardie (that includes reading and looking at tank enclosures).  I got my boys a bearded dragon this past Saturday and Sunday morning laying in bed bright and early my husband and I were remembering an old TV that was sitting out on the curb for like 2 weeks now down the street from us.  We went to see if it was still there and it was.  So, we got to work:



disassembling:

My boys telling me exactly how they want it:


Fitting in foam pieces...

Carved out the foam...

Grout on the foam...

Whoops made the cut out for the ledge too high...will have to modify

My husband worked on the base board on the bottom of the cabinet, cut a piece to fit and installed (the white board on bottom) and put two boards up top to give more support to the hardibacker board and tile. And put a board that came with the tv with wholes on the back cabinet bottom area.

Now the tiles are just placed in for the picture, but we have actually put down the tile since, i just don't have another picture of it installed...

I made a name plate which I don't know where it will go in the tank:

Cut out some rock walls and grouted after this picture for the sides of the tank

Spayed Great stuff foam to fill in edges of back board


And that's as far as we've gotten.  I plan to seal the grout with a water based grout seal I found at Lowe's yesterday.  We were planning on putting in the wide square vents on each side, but decided to go with three 2" round vents on each side at the top of each side board, will this be enough ventilation?

We plan on putting in sliding plexi glass on the front.

Suggestions/ideas welcomed.  Thanks!

[Andry]

Update on what we did tonight, just some styrofoam shaping, not much, but progress....

[zebrajanie]

Now this is an interesting twist on DIYing !
Just out of curiosity.. what are the foot print measurements ?

[julesfamily]

That's a really inspired idea! 

Do you plan on keeping him in this when he's full grown?

[9west2124]

This is a really cool idea and great looking so far. I plan on making a viv this weekend i am thinking. i have some plexy glass that i think ima make a full cage out of it.

[Andry]

It measures about 18 inches on the bottom, but then it has that dome back that gives it more space.  The width is 40 inches, so almost a 40 gallon but tall.  We were going to do a trap door to the bottom portion and let him go down for feeding time, but we decided not to.  

Yes, we plan on putting him in here and making it his permanent home.  It's already on wheels so it makes it easy to move.  We may be making one similar for our snake.  We picked up another free one but I think it's moldy because it smells bad.  But there is another free 60" projection tv on craigslist today.  Wow, lot's of people giving these things away.  They are sooo cool!

I picked up the plexiglass for the front doors today....they will slide on rails on top and bottom.  I picked up 3/16th inch clear plexiglass.

[Andry]

I haven't grouted the Great Stuff foam nor the columns nor the stairs, I was thinking of leaving the steps white (white grout) to give it some contrast.  Any opinions on this?

BTW, all materials are what we have had around the house...extra grout, extra tile pieces, foam board (or picked up off the street meaning the tv...lol) except for the vents that cost about a buck each and the plexiglass which I found cheaper at a plexiglass store vs. lowes or home depot. 

I also bought a water based grout sealer to seal the grout and am thinking of buying a wood sealer to seal the wood before I glue on the side boards.

Any suggestions welcome.

[zebrajanie]

Min Wax polyurethane will seal everything.. 2-3 coats should do the trick...

Leaving the great stuff white, is a personal thing..

[Andry]

Thank you!  And actually I was planning on coating foam with white grout/adhesive.  But it's too late, I already did it with the same color grout.  Thanks for the poly suggestion, I will go look for it.