Re-purposing an aquarium for a Leopard Gecko
Discussion
I've come in to possession of a spare aquarium, and I am thinking about turning it into a gecko set up, as I've always wanted to keep a reptile of some sorts. I've had another tropical fish tank running really successfully for 8+ years, have a dog, rabbit.... basically pet mad and responsible enough etc.
Doing my research, it looks like Leos would be the best suited species to live in a top opening glass aquarium if that's all you have. The dims of the tank are 800mm long, 300mm wide, and 450mm height. Its the height I have most concern with, as I worry it might be too tall for a leo to get up to suitable height to enjoy a heat lamp. Could I just build a log ramp up to a better height to allow it to bask? I know leos aren't vertical climbers like crested geckos, but wouldn't have thought an inclined log or branch would be too much of an issue to navigate.
The tank has a hinged lighting hood (can be seen here: https://www.pets-pantry.com/juwel-rekord-800-fish-... I understand that there should be a meshed panel for airflow, so my plan would be to cut away sections of the lid opening and replace with mesh, but keep a central rail section that the lighting can be suspended from - so they would be within the tank below the mesh, but high enough that the gecko can't get in contact with it. This will mean its easy to open the lid for feeding and cleaning, without have to move the lights out the way first compared to if they were just sat on top of the mesh.
The tank will be on a low enough cabinet that I can easily reach in and get to the substrate to clean, but wondering if there's any major drawbacks of a top opening viv compared to the typical font opening types that I'm not aware of.
The other option is I just sell off the tank and buy a ready made vivarium, but it seems like a bit of a waste as the aquarium was free to me, and is really quite spacious, and is exactly the same as my existing tank which is nearby so they will look quite good together. Is going the DIY route going to be worth the effort?
Doing my research, it looks like Leos would be the best suited species to live in a top opening glass aquarium if that's all you have. The dims of the tank are 800mm long, 300mm wide, and 450mm height. Its the height I have most concern with, as I worry it might be too tall for a leo to get up to suitable height to enjoy a heat lamp. Could I just build a log ramp up to a better height to allow it to bask? I know leos aren't vertical climbers like crested geckos, but wouldn't have thought an inclined log or branch would be too much of an issue to navigate.
The tank has a hinged lighting hood (can be seen here: https://www.pets-pantry.com/juwel-rekord-800-fish-... I understand that there should be a meshed panel for airflow, so my plan would be to cut away sections of the lid opening and replace with mesh, but keep a central rail section that the lighting can be suspended from - so they would be within the tank below the mesh, but high enough that the gecko can't get in contact with it. This will mean its easy to open the lid for feeding and cleaning, without have to move the lights out the way first compared to if they were just sat on top of the mesh.
The tank will be on a low enough cabinet that I can easily reach in and get to the substrate to clean, but wondering if there's any major drawbacks of a top opening viv compared to the typical font opening types that I'm not aware of.
The other option is I just sell off the tank and buy a ready made vivarium, but it seems like a bit of a waste as the aquarium was free to me, and is really quite spacious, and is exactly the same as my existing tank which is nearby so they will look quite good together. Is going the DIY route going to be worth the effort?
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