My New Project Tank

[andythephotographer]

After moving my fish into a bigger tank I've ended up with a spare tank that I'm not keen on getting rid off so I've looked around and thought about setting it up for newts.

Had a look on youtube for ideas of setups and I found some DIY Waterfall makes witch i fancy a go at.

What I not sure about is -

Filter/pump i need to lift the water 16inch above the water line.
Great Stuff - Do i need it? if so where can i get it from
Ultraflex 2 - Where can i get it from
Paints - What make? so far i've only use tamiya paints for modeling, are they pet safe or and good for this sort of thing?


The foam i'm planning on using is Knauf Space Board witch as worked well for me in the past (Any reason to not use?)

let me know if their something i should be getting.

[EvilLost]

A water feature is *MUCH* more complicated than it seems on the surface. I highly recommend you thoroughly plan this out before you begin building or you will waste a lot of time/money.

You need to give us a little more information on your overall plan. You said this is for newts, what kind exactly? How much water/land do you plan to have? Will you be planting your land? If so, you should probably highly consider a False Bottom setup using eggcrate and the like otherwise your water will be pretty murky all the time.

Are you planning on making a background?

As for the Knauf Space Board, I'm not entirely sure what this is. Your standard foam bought from any industrial supply store should work but you do need to seal it (several methods can be seen in the construction stickied threads).

Anyway, long story short, the answer to most of your questions are "it depends." Can you give us a bigger picture of your plans?

[andythephotographer]

I'm basing the build on a RUDEREEFER post and using this video YouTube - Semi Aquatic Newt Tank with Waterfalls as a idea.

I know i won't get anything like it as i'm going to use an artistic lience and shape as it goes.

the amount of land/water will wait till i know what space i have to play with.

If i do get any newts i'll be getting firebellys but that some time away

[EvilLost]

Now I have a better idea of what you are trying to bulid, but that link still doesn't clarify how exactly you plan on doing this?

Much info is available here, but based on that video I am assuming you are going to shape your general waterfall using foam and seal it with concrete/epoxy/etc? I havent tried that build myself so I'm not super familiar with it. You will probably want at least 1 can of GS for "detail work" and "fine tuning".

You should do a lot more "design" before you just jump into the build, especially one that is somewhat complicated. You WILL have troubles down the line if you don't plan it out well, believe me! Especially the location of your pump, tubing, and the path of water flow (water is MUCH more difficult to guide than it seems).

Are you attaching the waterfall "steps" directly to your background or making it off columns off the ground? How are you making the background?

I see the general idea you are going for, but there are several methods to build this so it still ...depends :P

[andythephotographer]

This is the ruff draft of what i'm planning.

hopefully some plants will inprove it a bit.

before i get too far ahead though i think i need to sort out how to get the water up their. Any idea? All i'm thinking is a low end power head to act as a pump