Anyone use bow front aquariums?

[firecrested]

I want to get one for one of my adults just for a display. My local petco has a nice one on sale but where do you find a top that will work with cresteds?? The only one they sale are for fish and has gaps in it where cresteds can get out plus they're $50 for the top.? I was thinking of getting one made at a glass cutting shop but there would be no air holes for it.  I could make one out of screen but it wouldnt look professional

[Amanda]

I've got a small bow front aquarium that I keep puffers in.  It came with a lid that fits it pretty well.  I've thought about putting geckos in it i few times.  I had planned on covering the gaps with a screen.  I did that before with a tank with an odd shaped opening and I will have to admit it looked awful.  I love the way the bow fronts look but to me they haven't seemed very practical for keeping my cresties because of the whole lid situation.  For the extra money that a bow front costs you could always get a bigger tank.  

[firecrested]

I thought of the bigger tank, but I want to get something that looks nice    I may just have to go with another exo terra 

[whtwulf]

You could make a screen top out of wood and screen.  Or I could if you send me a paper template of the top. Any excuse to get in the shop and make something...lol.   Either way it would be cheaper than the one at the store...look better, and be all screen.

[firecrested]

I may have to take you up on that   I'm not much of the craftsman, you should see the rack unit i tried to build.  I measured everything perfectly but somehow i made it too tight for the rubbermaids to go in on one side and the other side had a big gap over them.  I'm not sure on the dimensions yet.  I saw one that they have in stock that's cheap but I saw another that they can order, i like it better.

[whtwulf]

Cool, let me know.  I actually build my own tanks.  I don't use tempered aquarium glass, and it costs me less than 1/2 of buying one at the store.

[firecrested]

Can you email me whtwulf about your tanks.

[MdngtRain]

Whtwulf, are they hard to make?  I have been thinking of attempting one (the XXL ExoTerras are WAY TOO expensive), but I am afraid I would mess it all up... 

[firecrested]

That's what I was thinking too.  I would love to be able to make my own, any size I want and any shape

[NYCrestie]

heres my take on a bow front aquarium
i have a 26 or 27 gal, cant remember off hand, that i use for freshwater fish and live plants

when looking at from a distance its great. but when i get real close to the glass and try to look at some thing, man it makes my eyes hurt. i dont know what it is, he curve of the glass? combination of that and water? i dunno but my eyes bug out when im up close
the glass top that came with it fits perfectly......when you add the plastic strip that clips to the edge of the glass in the back.
dont know how much it costs, but if i were gonna make it for crested or well any gecko use.....what i would do is, break the seal they use as a hinge to open and close the top. and use the glass piece that has the bow. then all you would have to do is make a simple rectangle screen top!

i dont know if i said it or worded what im thinking correctly....but if u want i will be more than willing to explain what i mean more or even take a pic of my tank and lid (which coincidently is already broken)

[firecrested]

I dont think they have that top.  The one I was looking at didnt have a top with it, it was sold seperately and was plastic. Half of it was a light and the front half was the door.

[NYCrestie]

ok i know what you are saying
i did, quite possibly the fastest google search in my life lol.......

all glass aquarium makes "versa tops" which is exactly what i was talking about and could very well be exactly what i have....they make em for 16, 26, 36, 46, 72 and 155 gal bow front aquariums
http://www.all-glass.com/products/hoods/versatop.shtml

they also list the corresponding part number for each top, and another quick search i cam upon another site that had a quick price
the 26 gal, picked arbitrarily just to get a price idea is only about $22
this site also list the price for all the sizes i listed previously
http://www.thepetmasters.com/hood.html
*scroll to the bottom of the page for the versa tops

just shooting you an idea to make it a little easier maybe, hope i havent made it harder, hah

[firecrested]

They have the one on the second website with the light sold seperately, but not the versa top.  Are you happy with yours, would it be worth the extra cash to buy all of that or just buy an exo terra?

[NYCrestie]

well i tried to look around and get some prices of the bow front tank itself, but my comp is acting up and my browser keeps freezzing so ill save that for another time

with that said i dont really know the price difference between the exo-terra and the bow front. what i do know is, the bow front is more than a traditional aquarium. and in my own personal opinion, if i was gonna but a new tank for fish, i would probably opt for a rectangle one over the bow. just because i could get a bigger traditional one for less money.

for a reptile, more specifically a crested, the biggest size tank you would probably get would be the 26. a traditional aquarium that size would cost what, like $40-50 topps. i paid something like $90 for my exoterra 18X18X18.

with the bow front tank, you are probably going to want to get a matching stand that fits the tank perfectly....placing a bow front on top of a regular table would look cheesy in my opinion, so thats probably another added expense, depending on how fancy you wanted your stand to be

if you could get the bow front tank and stand for around say $150, it would definately be a tough decision between that and the exo-terra

exoterra pros: complete, open the box and thats it. front opeining doors makes everything really easy, also good for taking pics of geckos without taking them out of the enclosure. can place them on top of any old table, desk, nightstand whatever.
exoterra cons: pricey but probably cheaper than the bow front

bow front pros: they look PIMP, basically about it
bow front cons: probably pricier than the exoterra. a trip to the hardware store to get the materials needed to make the screen top and aso finding the versa top if you decided to take that little short cut like i explained. stand will make the tank complete. will have to do everything from the top, which might be a pain in the ass, dont know, no experience with that.

with that said, if i have a catastrophic failure and all my fish die, i will definately be converting my bow front  to hold geckos

summary: yes im happy with mine.
would make a good "show" or "display" tank but then again so would the exoterra
most likely i personally would go with the exo-terra, based solely on the front opening doors! they make everything so freaking easy! i own 2, the 18 cubed and a 12X12X18, and just love them

these are all just my opinion.

[firecrested]

I have one now the 12x12x12.  I think the bow front i was looking at was $110 and the stand was another $100.  I'm still not sure which one to get.  I'm going to have to go and look at it again and see if I want it bad enough.  It would make everything easier if they just made a top for reptiles.