Reptile & Amphibian Forums

the first one is..i am currently about to drill a hole in the bottom of my tank to i can drain out water.should i drain more than one hole? i am thinking about using a petcock or some type of valve to turn on and drain and close when i dont want to drain. what type should i use and where can i get it?am i on the right track or should somethiing else be used to keep the drain hole/holes closed? my second question is in regards to the material keeping the substrate from falling into the false bottom.i have decided(unless you guys think its a bad idea) that i am going to make a simple false bottom using gravel.i am going to layer the gravel as high as i want the water layer,then place a screen of some sort on top of the gravel,then the substrate.although simple,will it still work? i want to make a false bottom that still looks nice and real.anyway,my question is in regards to what material to use.can regualr window screen work?will it rust? i dont want to use a material that is too fine and restricts/slows down the water exchange too much,because i am going to have a pretty fast falling water fall and i dont want the tank to flood due to the water falling faster than it can filter through the substrate.any suggestions on a decent material that wont clog or rust any time soon.oh yea,just one more thought.if i decide to add a fairly large water area,and i need a filter,is an actual filter really needed.what i mean is,cant you use filter like layers in your false bottom ,so that when the water seeps back to the bottom,it is filtered in the process?thanks!

my terrarium is similar to the one you are describing. I used a base layer of expanded clay pellets. these are bigger and lighter then gravel and water drains through them very quickly. you could use gravel, just make sure it is not so small that it will restrict the flow of the water. make sure your water level is about a half inch below the soil layer.

as for the divider material, window screen will work just fine. a use the kind made of nylon.

i am using a small external canister filter for my waterfall. i ran the hoses for it up the back behind the background.

Intead of window screen, I use the weed block stuff they sell at home depot and lowes. Not sure which one would work better or is cheaper, but just wanted to give you another option. The weedblock stuff you get in a 50' by 3' roll for like $10.
-----
Josh Willard
www.joshsfrogs.com