DIY: How to Make a Frog Platform (Cheap!)

[Bizzet]

Hello! Just joined the forum to learn more about my creatures and let you all know what I have already learned! To start off, I would like to show all you frog lovers a simple way to make a platform for a frog on a tight budget. This method is 100% safe for all creatures who live in the water (according to all my research). Many may ask "why build a frog platform?". That is a good question and the main reason I personally built a frog platform is because I have two tadpoles in different stages of metamorphosis. One currently has grown legs and arms and prefers to stay at the very top of the aquarium breathing almost more air then water and before he (maybe she) has his/her platform it would struggle to afloat. This is when I noticed that he would just absolutely love a platform to stand on as he slowly starts to breath more and more oxygen while his fellow tadpole buddy stills needs and loves that water. So I sat an thought to myself. I couldn't think of any safe way to make this platform. At first I was thinking of using those wood poles they sell at Wal-Mart and craft stores as legs and use some type of plastic board to place over the top of them but as I looked over wood and aquariums they usually don't mix unless they are treated perfectly (Driftwood boiled). Seemed a little too expensive and too much effort to find the correct materials. Not to mention it takes extra time to soak just so your tank isn't filled with the color of the wood. A few days later and after lots of research I found the three materials I needed. PVC Pipe (which is used in most plumbing), Acrylic (which most non-glass aquariums are made of), and plain old plastic suction cups. If you would like to know how to build it and how to do it right, please refer to below.

The Frog Platform

Note: These are instructions for a 10 gallon aquarium. Please upscale the size of the materials as needed.

Materials Needed:

• 8 in. x 10 in. Acrylic Sheet (8 in. x 10 in. Acrylic Sheet-1S08104A at The Home Depot) [$2.00]
• 3/4 in. x 2 ft. PVC Plain End Pipe (3/4 in. x 2 ft. PVC Schedule 40 Plain End Pipe-PVC 04007 0200 at The Home Depot) [$1.25]
• 1-1/8 in. Clear Plastic Suction Cups (8 in. x 10 in. Acrylic Sheet-1S08104A at The Home Depot) [$2.00]

Total: $5.25
I had to buy two packs of suction cups because they only had three packs at the store I went to but the three packs and six packs are the same price. Smaller doesn't matter in my case. *RIPPED OFF*

Start Off By:

1. Measure the width of your aquarium (Mine was slightly smaller then 10 inches)
2. Subtract the depth of the suction cup from the width of the aquarium (I just did trial and error for awhile cause I didn't have a very accurate measuring tape)
3. Using a PVC cutter, cut the PVC pipe to the required length as solved before, twice (I'm sure you could use a different tool to cut it, I was lucky to have one laying around)
4. Stick two of the suction cups in the desired spots in the tank (Make it in the middle so if the other tadpole needs air he can find the top easily)
5. Insert one suction cup into each pipe and stick the other end of the pipes into the already stuck suction cups (Make sure the pipe isn't pushing the glass at all)
6. Level the pipes as level as you can see with your eyes (Use a level if you are a perfectionist)
7. Trim the acrylic sheet as needed to fit on top of both of the pipes and suction cups (My acrylic sheet fit perfectly so no trimming was needed)
8. Place the acrylic sheet on top of the pipes and slightly on top of the suction cups pushing on them nicely (This should make the sheet pretty stable)
9. Add gravel on top with two different levels (One should have the frog fully submerged, the other should allow him to stick his head out but still stay wet)

Extra Tips:

• If you do not like the look of the PVC pipe and acrylic sheet you can spend a few extra bucks and get some Krylon Fusion to paint over them with a nice solid color.

• While your in the PVC section you can get a 3 inch 3 way connector and use it as a tunnel.

​

Picture and Video:

Coming Soon!!!

If you have not joined FrogForum.net, I would encourage you to do so now. If this tutorial helped you, I would encourage you to join even more. I would love to hear how this will help people in future. Please also reply if you liked it even though you may not use it! It's just one way of giving back.

[Bizzet]

Can't edit my thread (Which is really dumb) so Ill post some of the pictures here.

http://lh.rs/al7TcArzrAEh
http://lh.rs/SYSwyC4CzxBd
http://lh.rs/WpQaPlmNmU06
http://lh.rs/iadxZNXwHVhs