Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thanks in advance for your answers.

I have a 20G tank.

I want to se up a small waterfall/river section. I have the material to make a false bottom and plan to do so with 1.5 inch spacers.

What kind of pump should I get? Want one that will push the water up at least 8-10 inches. Not serious pressure - but enough to slowly move the water. One that is quiet and reliable.

How would you set up a water heater in a tank to make it removable if something were to go wrong? How warm to make the water to properly heat the cage?

What is the best way to cut glass? I would like to set up an overflow drainage hole. I plan to have a good amount of mist in the cage via my rainmaker system that currently sprays 4 times daily - for 3 minutes.

again, thank you very much. I really appreciate your help

Not sure about the other questions, but as for the pump, I'd go with a Fluval submersible filter (if you want a filter with it, that is). It is absolutely SILENT. I couldn't believe how quiet it ran. It has an adjustable flow, and even at the strongest, it doesn't 'shoot' water out. It works perfectly in the vivarium I set up in the pet shop I work at. I'm going to try to post some pics soon too.
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1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog

I have three vivariums setup for frogs. Two of them are false bottoms with water features. I would suggest going with a zoo med pump. What I did for for easy removal was to use a 4-5" piece of PVC pipe cut so that it is about 1" above your eggcrate. Drill about 1/8" holes around the base of the pipe where it will be submerged. This allows for water to pass easily into the pump. The only problem I found with these pumps is that they require about a 1/2" tube for the pump. I solved this by cutting about 3 inches of tubing for the pump and attaching about an 1/8th or 1/2" tubing into the larger tube. I think siliconed it so that the water couldn't get out. It works great and allows you to hide the hoses and put into drilled into wood. You can also use Y or T valves to run extra lines. Once that is in place and cut to your specs. Take a 1/2" sponge and cut it to the diameter of the large PVC pipe. Cut a slit for the tube and electrical wiring and push the sponge so that it's flush with the top of the PVC pipe. This makes of easy access when or if you ever need to access the pump. I would use the same hole or another one with the same principles in an alternate location for the heater. You can have glass cut to your specs at a glass store. Just give them the dimensions etc... It doesn't cost too much either. If you have any more questions just ask. Here is a picture of one of my tanks with the waterfall feature. It has the small tubing drilled through the top portion of the wood. It works great. I made my first tank a little over a year ago and the pump is still running strong and silent.
John

2 White's Tree Frogs
1 Red Eye Tree Frog
2 Green Tree Frogs
1.1 D. Azureus
4 D. tinctorius 'Citronella'
1 Tokay Gecko
1.1 Leopard Geckos
1 Skunk Gecko
1 Ball Python