# Dart frog tank, False bottom or Hydroballs?



## DRD (Nov 12, 2008)

After my thread yesterday i was looking into other set ups.

Now the question is should i use the hydro clay balls and put the matting ontop then add the substrate or do a false bottom.

If i went with the hydroball option would the water become stagnant? i will be using a pump to make a water feature but was wondering if this would become a problem.

I have materials to do either floor... so money side of things doesnt matter.

Thanks in advance


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

with a flaso bottom you get a greater volume of water so id say if your going with a water feature use a false bottom


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## Jezza84 (Dec 9, 2009)

False bottom is the better way to go :2thumb:


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## radicaldave (Sep 25, 2009)

as above really..

water feature - false bottom - Most pumps need to be fully submersed in a reservoir of water to operate correctly hence building a false bottom and filling the tank with water should ensure your feature runs correctly. If possible try to build your tank in such a way that the water falls in the opposite side of the tank to the pump so that you have a flow form under your false bottom to prevent a pool of stagnant water forming.. 

I also try to build in an access hatch to the pump and a water level indicator of some sort in the pump corner because i have been unable to find a cost effective pump that has run dry protection.. It would also be handy to make an easily removable feature roughly the size of the access hatch that will sit on top so you wont have to dig loads of soil out of the way just pull the feature out and lift your access hatch.. 

A Leca bottom works just as great if your not planning on adding flowing water.


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## Horsfield (Oct 1, 2008)

If you are using a pump go for a false bottom. You can get pumps that will run in as little as 2cm. I have just got a rena 400 bf pump with flow control that will pump 80-200l an hour in 2cm of water it is silent when running.


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

To throw a spanner in the works and go against what everyone else has advised I'll point out that when used in conjunction with a pump and water feature the Hydroleca acts as a biological filtration media. If your pump has a fairly low flow rate as I would expect for a terrarium water feature then you should get a good enough water capacity in the hydroleca layer.


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## DRD (Nov 12, 2008)

pollywog said:


> To throw a spanner in the works and go against what everyone else has advised I'll point out that when used in conjunction with a pump and water feature the Hydroleca acts as a biological filtration media. If your pump has a fairly low flow rate as I would expect for a terrarium water feature then you should get a good enough water capacity in the hydroleca layer.


That is sorta what i was thinking, so if i were to make an area for the pump to be seperated from the hydroleca then i shouldnt have any problems right?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I am going to merge the 2. False bottom topped with hydroleca.

Ok, you probably think I am insane, but this is what I did with my leuc viv. The reason been weed fabric not only acts to keep layers apart, it also acts a s a lovely capillary matting, meaning that water doesn't just run right away from it, it spreads out first.

How I did it in my leuc viv, I have my false bottom, weed fabric, AquaClay ground (aquarium clay gravel, leca is cheaper, I already had this), weed fabric, substrate. At the back I have just large size gravel where my water features are, so I just have false bottom, weed fabric, gravel. Most of the water from the water feature flows through the gravel, as such creating a built in biological filter.. Water from misting passes through it all. I also have gravel piled around my pump as well, with the rest of the void under the false bottom empty. This allows me to also put my heater in there, by using a 15 watt Hydor Mini Heater hooked up to a normal vivarium thermostat.

Ade


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

Would it be fine to have a large amount of water in the hydroleca then? would it not water log the soil?

EDIT: sorry to bring up an old thread


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## radicaldave (Sep 25, 2009)

im not sure what side effects that might bring but surely the displacement of the hydro leca sitting in the water would make the water table in your tank quite high and give you less margin for error if you were required to mist heavily for a period..

As for Ade's comment "merge the 2. False bottom topped with hydroleca" I would always still use a drainage layer of leca with a false bottom setup, i should have mentioned it in my earlier post. I have build photo's of both systems in action that i will get put up soon.

I found that it can take many weeks of daily misting (2-3 times a day) to fully hydrate a non-false bottom tank to get a consistant humidity. In my next tank i think im going to soak the leca in water before putting it in :whistling2:


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## DRD (Nov 12, 2008)

radicaldave said:


> im not sure what side effects that might bring but surely the displacement of the hydro leca sitting in the water would make the water table in your tank quite high and give you less margin for error if you were required to mist heavily for a period..
> 
> As for Ade's comment "merge the 2. False bottom topped with hydroleca" I would always still use a drainage layer of leca with a false bottom setup, i should have mentioned it in my earlier post. I have build photo's of both systems in action that i will get put up soon.
> 
> I found that it can take many weeks of daily misting (2-3 times a day) to fully hydrate a non-false bottom tank to get a consistant humidity. In my next tank i think im going to soak the leca in water before putting it in :whistling2:


I have decided to go for a 'boxed' area which will hold the pump with a lid ontop so it will be easier to pull out from the soil.
With leca surrounding the box and floor area with the weed matting with the soil substrate ontop.

Reckon its worth a go and see what happens..... if not i can always take another weekend to do it lol


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