I'm in the process of doing just that. Most of the sites I've seen show set-up with emphasis on the terrestrial side with a small water feature...and doing so using the egg crate light cover layer, resting on top of some PVC couplings. I'm attempting to make a tank with a large pool of water, and fish, with 2 land masses for the common frogs I have (not the fancy kind).
After staring at the empty tank for hours, trying to think of the best (cheapest) way to have great filtration that would work all by itself and have all the features I wanted...I came up with the idea to add pipe. So the egg crate at the very bottom of the tank is supported by 90 degree angles with pipe between them, criss-crossed the length of the tank, with a feed pipe a little above the height of the tank, which I will connect to either a sump system, filtration that will housed in the cabinets below, or this will be where I feed a filtration system back into the tank...which would exit the opposite side of the tank, to keep all the water circulating. I'll let you know how it all turns out, as well as what system I connect to it. I did not cement any of the pieces together that will be below the gravel and/or under water - 2 reasons - 1) if it doesn't work the way I think it will, I can recycle all these parts into my house or yard and 2) what's the point...if they leak, either suctioning or circulating...who cares, it's all tank water...and the point is to promote water circulation, which it will either way! The tank I'm setting up is 200 gal. Whatever I can do to keep from having to stick my arms in it constantly...I'm all for.
BTW, the open end of the pipe, I capped off with some fiberglass screen...as well as laid a layer of the screen with 1" extra on all sides over the egg crate thingy. I have guppies that will go into this tank eventually, and they are very prolific apparently. I want to prevent the fry from getting sucked below the gravel when they are hiding and trying not to get eaten...then wind up mucking up the filter.
How did you set up the base in the exoterra you already have set up? How do you plan on inserting the egg crate after the fact...tearing it all out?
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