Canada Day Weekend Build! : Clay Background Method

[meow]

Eggcrate is found in the lighting department of any home improvment store. Rona, Home Depot.....

[Reptile Wife]

Wonderful, thank you!

[Grimm]

Its actually in the suspended ceiling tile section...I got the weirdest looks from the people working in the lighting section lol.

[Grimm]

Ive been having particulates get into my water, then pumped over my mosses....Heres what I have made for under 10$ as a small filter to help keep everything looking clean and green. I used polywool as the main filter media, then a little carbon just to make it look cool :P





For now, I will see how well this does. The particulates only get sucked up by the pump when I have to move the tank. Now that I have this, I wont need the move it and the particles can settle. Hopefully it reduces the amount of maintenance needed to keep my moss clear of crud.

[FrogO_Oeyes]

Odds are, it will increase maintenance :P

The trouble with filters is that they STOP particles. Then the particles accumulate until...they block the water flow altogether :P Same deal with nozzles, sprayheads, and manifold filters - they all clog quickly and have to be disconnected to clean, far too often.

I've actually REMOVED most filtering devices because of this, and also INCREASED the plumbing complexity.

Regarding the latter, by adding extra junctions in some lines, it's actually easier to make adjustments. An extra joiner or hose section can be twisted to disconnect, while a longer section may have to be pulled apart at risk of skinned knuckles or broken decor.

Regarding the former, all pumps are fitted to concealed chambers. The more recent designs have large chambers which a fist can easily reach into, and extra hose so that pumps can be connected and disconnected while outside of the chamber. Chambers are made fairly large, so that they will easily refill with water even if heavily clogged. The pump itself, below water level, is additionally protected inside a smaller chamber which is screened with fiberglass window screening. In fact, all chamber walls [diffusion grating] are also screened. Land areas are underlain with screening and landscape fabric, to minimize small particles dropping through from the soil levels. Lastly, somewhere within the water feature is a hidden filter. This is just a portal or tube below water level and hidden by the landscape, which leads into the reservoir. The vast majority of water flow will come through here to the pump. A piece of aquarium filter foam is cut to fit and is slid into this port, then hidden behind false rock surfaces. Water flows around the fake rock, particles catching in the foam. The foam can easily be removed and rinsed.

A lot of the other particle removal will happen in the form of land and vegetation recapturing whatever bits and pieces make it into the water lines.

It's a good looking little filter. I suspect it might be so small as to need very frequent changing. Cleaning would likely be more trouble than it's worth. A courser, simpler prefilter should reduce maintenance. Otherwise, I think that it might benefit by splitting the water line through a T/Y valve, into TWO filters, and then back into a Y/T. That way, you could just switch flow from the dirty filter side to the clean one, and the dirty one swapped out while it's all still running. Both ends would need a valve so that water doesn't back-flow through the disconnected port. On an Exo-Terra, the filter portion could be plumbed in outside the terrarium by looping extra hose through the access ports in the lid. Then you can do the maintenance without even opening the tank.

Of course, natural wet mosses usually have a generous coating of muck!

[Grimm]

Well I turned it on and had it running throughout the night. My water cleared right up, and flow is still smooth and even through both output tubes to each stream. No where did I say this is a permanent and 100% reliable fix, but for under 10$ I figured I'd give it a try to reduce my maintenance for now. And like I said, the water in the false bottom does not flow quickly, so particles settle. If I dont need to move the tank for syphoning purposes, they shouldnt even have to be filtered. They can just chillax on the bottom glass :P

I may build a large filter box surrounding the pump also as a preliminary larger filter. Then use this for any remaining particles that get through.

And as for the ease of cleaning and replacing the filtering media, it is very simple. The black end sticks into the pump, and the other 1/8" tube goes into a quick connect T. Each brass fitting just slides into the large tube, so all joint are easily able to pull apart quickly. Id much rather take the assembly out and replace the media elsewhere, then to have to drag the tank across the house, and spend 20-30 minutes syphoning, refilling, and repeating until the particles are removed. All while disturbing the darts.

[Grimm]

Well I can officially call this a VIVARIUM!!! I picked up this cute pair of Leucomelas at the expo. Finally all the hard work, research, experimentation and perseverance has paid off.

I am still planning to acquire 4 Borja Ridge Ventrimaculata, however the expo only comes once a year and I made the most of it. Once I finish my 2nd clay background viv, I will be picking them up.

[meow]

I like the one with 3 dots on it's head.

[Grimm]

Here is a quick feeding/update video



YouTube - My first darts! : Leucomelas

[HurtinAlbertan]

Great Vid Grimm! I think you may have just got my curiosity going. I have been following your build and wanting to try one but had no reason too. Now I may have to start thinking froggy thoughts.... Hmm...

But, yeah, great video and an awesome looking Viv. Also a very cool looking couple of Darts. The three dotted head one just looks rad.