Help please...

[steven]

This my first post and I must say that there is a wealth of information on this site and that it has been most helpful. I do; however, have a couple of questions since I am new to this.

1. What is the purpose of a false bottom; like an egg crate?
2. Does the in-tank fog occur naturally or is a machine used.
3. Are waterfalls constructed by placing a water pump in the tank below the waterline and pumping it towards the top of the waterfall? If not, how?
4. Is filtration required for the water?
5. other than: water pump, heater, lights, and possibly a filter is any other technical equipment needed?

Thank you in advance for your time and answers.

[eddyplaner]

Hi Steven

Welcome to the forum!

Ok let me share with you, what I did planning for my 6ft palu and my current 4ft high project is now under construction.

The key to have a successful vivarium is always proper planning and tons of research. That's what I been taught by a good friend of mine who is expert in this field.

What i advice you to plan at this point of time is to lay out your plans systematically. For eg...

Budget ( how much can you fork out this amount willing to be set aside for the construction building process)
-The amount set aside will generally be an indication as to how your things will fall through. Which is costing more and which things you've to substitue for a cheaper one. Whilst some you could do a DIY to save costs.
-Existing things/ supplies which you have lying around in your house could bring down the costs as well.

Next are the basic essential points

Basic Planning Items:
-Tank Size & Type (is it a tank a eurro terra style tank or basic type tank)
-Placement of tank (whether it gets sunlight etc)
-Lighting supplement (metal halides,LED, T5's etc; also the type of plants determine the type of lighting used)
-Filtration system (external canister filter, internal filter or use internal filter pump to create waterfall)
-Ventilation system for exchange of gases and cool/hot air (with computer fans if any)
-Misting system (For easy maintenance in the long run, create mini rain to bring out the best for flora and fauna, increase of humility , tank has to have a proper drainage system in order to accommodate this system using eggcrate)
-Glass cover for top of tank if any (with holes for fans and misting nozzles)
-Water reservoir for misting system. ( for myself I used direct from tap but soon will order RO filter to rid of deadly Chlorine and filter out small particles that will clog my misting system)
-Extension cord for multi sockets (for external canister, misting pump, light etc)
-Eggcrate ( to create a solid skeletal foundation for any theme or any design that you like and has the best drainage system)

Once you've done the planning items above, you can move on next to the skeletal design of the Vivarium. We all will guide you along step by step to see your beauty creation

hope this will help you.

[Epiphile]

Hey Steven,

To answer your questions- the purpose of a false bottom is to allow water to drain from the substrate. What you use to construct it is up to you, of course. Fog is typically generated by an ultrasonic fogger. Typically, a pump is placed in a water reservoir (another reason the false bottom comes in handy), but there are other ways to do it- canister filters, for example, can give good results. Filtration can depend on a lot of factors, not least of which being what you intend to keep in the tank. That last point is up to you- you wouldn't need any of them if you planned the tank accordingly.

Just my thoughts, of course.

[beckdg]

to add to our other great answers...

1 the solution to pollution is dilution... so the f/b allows us more water in the viv... less maintenance on the water features... less evaporation since the surface of the water is not wicked therefore expanded and evaporated faster
2 machine... there's a video here... how it's done... favorite links thread
3 basically, yes
4 yes... but not necessarily conventional filtration... sometimes movement alone is sufficient
5 timers, fans, controllers and dimmers are often needed. there is other equipment that could be used depending on the design, flora and fauna that are to be in the tank. often times people have equipment they don't even know about till it goes bad like impellers, ballasts and lamp starters.

welcome to the site steven.

[steven]

Thanks for all the info.