Glass Tanks

[Amy1217]

okay, so my RTB is just a baby, he doesnt need that big of a tank. I have him in a Tub now though. I am going to have my own apartment when he gets pretty big, and i know that i LOVE my glass tank because of the view...When my RTB gets to be an adult i want to have a big glass tank for him. I can deal with managing the temps, but i cleaned my 20gal. today, and it wasnt the easiest thing in the world....i had to have somebody help me....for those of you that have 55+ gallon tanks, how do you clean it? What kind of substrate do you find visually appealing, yet easy to clean?
Thanks!

[tmlowe5704]

invest in a wet/dry vac. it makes cleanup so much easier. i prefer to use aspen because it is the only thing available in bulk here

[Amy1217]

okay....the vac...can you vacuume out the Aspen too? and then if i pour water in there and scrub it, it will remove the water? im quite technilogically challenged when it comes to something other than cellphones and computers (which is pretty sad considering i clean houses for a living, i should really know about vacuumes).

Thanks!

[greenmonkey51]

Spend the extra money and get a cage from animal plastics or boaphile. Plus one of their 4' cages is wider than a 55g. If you already have a 55g just use it what its intended for and put some fish in it.

[Amy1217]

arent the Bophile ones black on 3 sides? I really love the look of the open, glass cages.

[RichardA]

http://www.nightmarecreaturesonline.com/tankkits.htm

[tmlowe5704]

okay....the vac...can you vacuume out the Aspen too? and then if i pour water in there and scrub it, it will remove the water? im quite technilogically challenged when it comes to something other than cellphones and computers (which is pretty sad considering i clean houses for a living, i should really know about vacuumes).

Thanks!

Yes a wet dry vac will allow you to suck out most of the aspen. What I do to help to clean it out is put wrapping paper down across my tank and put the aspen over it. when it comes time to clean, i suck up what i can then pick up the wrapping paper. When it comes time to wash it, scrub everything down like you normally would and rinse it a bit and take the filter off the wet vac and suck away. you may have to stop and empty it though depending on how much water is in it.

i like those conversion kits, i have never seen that before

[greenmonkey51]

I have to say bravo on those conversion kits. Only thing is how well the tanks stack, I have a 55g and its so heavy I wouldn't trust it. One point though is that most 4ft cages are around 200$ now and by the time you get a new 55g and the conversion kit its close to 160$. For smaller cages like 3' for balls those would work pretty well.

[frankykeno]

What I used for the bigger BCI we had in a large glass tank was a mixture of 60% cypress mulch and 40% aspen. The cypress mulch is heavier and doesn't compact as much under a bigger snakes weight, the aspen adds softness and the mix of dark and light bedding was for me just very visually appealing. To clean I just removed the snake, used a standard dust pan and scooped out all the bedding then used the little brush that came with the dust pan to get the rest out. Then the good old bucket and sponge to disinfect, and a wad of cheap paper towels to wipe and clean the glass. Pop in clean bedding and there you go. No need to move a heavy tank or buy expensive equipment as this is the only big glass tank we have currently.

[Shaffer]

http://www.nightmarecreaturesonline.com/tankkits.htm

those are cool