foam drainage layer

defiantNX · #1 03-30-2011, 06:37 PM

Could you use a thick layer of foam or sponge instead of using leca balls or hydroton as a drainage layer? I have been wondering that for several months and I am about to start working on a small vivarium for dart frogs and I was thinking about using foam for a drainage layer. Wouldn't beneficial bacteria grow in the foam just like it does in aquarium filters?

ElliotGood13 · #2 03-30-2011, 07:10 PM

I would think the foam would rot. I'm not speaking from experience; I'm just guessing

defiantNX · #3 03-30-2011, 10:14 PM

Maybe. I was going to say that aquarium filters don't usually rot but then again they get changed every few months. I read in a vivarium book that you can use air conditioning filter as a divider between the drainage layer and the soil in vivariums but I've never heard of anyone doing that so I don't know if the air conditioning filter begins to rot after a while.
I finally remembered what the stuff I want to use as my drainage layer is. It is a sponge that goes inside pond water pumps. It feels a little like plastic.

Pakinjak · #4 03-31-2011, 01:39 PM

I just posted a thread in the terrarium section about this very question. Maybe I put in the wrong place...

anyway, I'm wondering if you could use rockwool? Hydroponics - Products

The reason I ask is because I'm in the building industry, and I've used rockwool insulation for sound dampening, and there's always pieces left over.

defiantNX · #5 03-31-2011, 04:28 PM

Maybe we should do a test. Set up a small terrarium and use these materials as a drainage layer to see if it will work. Does rockwool have any chemicals in it?

Pakinjak · #6 03-31-2011, 04:34 PM

Not that I know of. If it would work, then I can tell you it would revolutionize our viv building, at least from a pricing standpoint. The insulation is $.67/sq ft for 3.5" thick material. I'll see what I can do about a test viv, but I'm not very experienced at it.

defiantNX · #7 03-31-2011, 07:01 PM

i'm not very experienced with vivariums/terrariums either. I love making them but I have problems keeping them going lol.

Pakinjak · #8 03-31-2011, 07:30 PM

I'd be up for setting one up and then reporting back for everyone,if somebody could recommend the best way to go about it.

defiantNX · #9 03-31-2011, 10:51 PM

I would look up the standard way to create a vivarium and then just follow those directions but use rockwool as a drainage layer with the soil directly on top of it.

ittibittirainbow · #10 07-28-2011, 06:34 PM

Rockwool is also used in aquaponics. I would think if its safe for fish, it would be just as safe for frogs. I don't have any experience with rockwool. Also even tho I have done lots of research on aquaponics I don't have much experience with this also. As I've just started my first system. Thought that this may help!!!