10 Gallon Castle for Tweakers w/ Photos & Instructions

[Martin21114]

Hopefully some of you will enjoy this. Besides rocking out with my axolotls, work, doing honey-do's, etc.. one of my hobbies is building aquariums (or little habitats) for my axolotls.

Some examples cam be seen:

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-beginner-newt-salamander-axolotl-help-topics/f48-axolotls-ambystoma-mexicanum/f59-axolotl-tank-set-ups-filters-substrate/89883-75-gallon-castle-build.html

http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-advanced-newt-salamander-topics/f6-vivaria-enclosures-product-reviews/f8-photos-pictures-enclosures-vivaria-etc/83198-direct-sr388-metroid-tank-preview.html


Anyway, I started making some decorations for a 10 gallon aquarium I am going to use to house juveniles who are about 1" long having just started to develop rear legs. I call them tweakers because of the way they twitch when eating BBS. I decided to make a castle for them, using 1"x2" slate mosaic tiles and DAP silicone (both from Home Depot). The tiles come in 12"x12" sheet for $9 and the silicone is about $5 per tube. I used 5 tiles & 2 tubes for a total cost of about $60. Below I will explain how I made it in case you want to make something similar.

 

[Martin21114]

Step 1 planning & lay out.

If you know what you want to build, great. Otherwise measuring the tank (10 gal is 10x20) and drawing a plan on graph paper can help a lot. There's an example below of an idea I am kicking around for a 40 gallon breeder so you can see what I mean.

Once you're ready to build, pop all the tiles of the mesh backing. I found the easiest way was to bend the sheet & grab the edge of the tile to pull it off. Try to remove as much of the glue off the back as you can. A file may be helpful. I don't think it is toxic (none of the "space monkey" axolotls living in a tank with a lot of glue on the tiles have died), but it turns bright white and looks crappy.

Lay out the blocks to make a footprint of what you are building. This particular one is 5 structures with connecting passages/walls. Once it is laid out you build up one piece at a time. That way it can be installed and removed in segments for cleaning or moving to another tank.

 

[Martin21114]

Step 2, building a level:

I was about 1/2 done when I decided to start documenting, so you wont see how to make the whole thing, but once you know how to make one section, the rest is just more of the same.

The piece we're looking at goes in the right rear corner of the tank (the L shaped piece on the top right corner in the pics above). It only has 2 sides so you can see in from the sides and rear. Also so you can clean in it. I always leave at least 1 side open for this purpose. A sealed box would be a ***** to clean.

Take a look at the pictures below, they show pretty clearly how the structure is made. You use the silicone like mortar to hold the tiles together. Note the little box shape made out of 4 pieces. You will be making lots of these. Lots and lots, along with some variations. Stick them together according to the floor plan to make the bones of the first floor.

 

[Martin21114]

Stop to pet Bean when she looks all sexy. This is not optional.

 

[Martin21114]

Repeat.

 

[Martin21114]

Step 3, fill in the 1st level & make the 2nd.

Completing the first level only requires one block to fill in one of the doors (where there actually ins't a door, the madness!). You can see it's dramatic conclusion below. The 2nd level consists of 2 doors, this time only using 3 tiles each since top of the lower one is used as the foot of the upper, again see pics for clarity. The last thing to do is fill in the space between the doors. I like to use a mix of vertical & horizontal pieces to make it look more random. You can use smaller pieces to leave gaps for windows. A horizontal piece is placed over the walls, similar to the door cap, making the floor even for the next level. That completes the second level and you're almost done with the first structure!

 

[Martin21114]

Step 4 top it off with crenelations.

The last step is to finish the top. A few horizontal & vertical pieces are all that you need for crenelations (to hide your bowmen & crossbows of course!) to top it off. The finished piece is below. You can also see how it will look when it's connected to it's neighbor (note the pic is of the other side and was made slightly different, the tunnel was going to go between the structures instead of connecting them like the one we just built. I will change it later to match the new one).

 

[Martin21114]

Step 5 connecting hallway/passage

Next is the hallway that connects the structures. The easiest way to make it is make the floor, rear wall, and roof separately then combine them once they've dried. You will need a total of 4.

 

[ynahanson]

Nice work! Cant wait to see finished product

 

[Martin21114]

It's finished! I'll post pics later after it dries

 

[Martin21114]

Here are some pics of it all finished and out of the tank:

 

[SkollSunChaser]

You know, the first time I saw this setup I couldn't help but think of how easy it would be to make a pillar that you could put plant substrate in and use as a very appealing "flower pot" of sorts.

 

[xSarahmo]

That's wicked!

 

[jAfFa CaKe]

Amazing! Well Done!!!

 

[ShadowRancher]

Any chance of finished tank pics? This is an awesome build!

 

[ChristineB]

Love your tanks and your dog!! :grin: