# Hydro Rocks for Bioactive setup necessary?



## Netty101 (Jul 31, 2013)

I have a bit of a question regarding hydro rocks and the bioactive setup.

I've been keeping lizards for quite a while now but only just looking into bioactive setups and i love it. 

From the many videos i have watched on setting these up a lot of people seem to create false bottoms or use hydro rocks when building rain forest type setups. 

My next project will be for a chinese water dragon going into a 7ft wide x 4ft high x 2ft deep WOODEN vivarium. As its wooden im curious about the hydro rock bottom layer and whether its necessary to have it as i don't think having the bottom layer resting on the wooden vivarium would be a good idea? Are the hydro rocks only really necessary if you have lots of water flow going through the soil? Ideally I would like to just put in 6-7 inches of bioactive substrate for the plants and lizard digging and having a spray system setup for regular spraying for humidity and plants which should hopefully not go through the whole of the substrate?

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?


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## Tarron (May 30, 2010)

Netty101 said:


> I have a bit of a question regarding hydro rocks and the bioactive setup.
> 
> I've been keeping lizards for quite a while now but only just looking into bioactive setups and i love it.
> 
> ...


HydroRocks are there, basically, to create a space underneath the substrate where excess water can drain down. This can then be accessed by root systems, or 'soak' back up into the substrate if it begins to dry.
For a Water Dragon, I would say you will want a Drainage layer, as it will get wet. whereas with dryer species, like a beardie for instance, they're not required.

The drainage layer can be created by many means though, egg crate, hydrorocks, gravel, etc.
HydroRocks are just a cheap, easy method to achieve it.


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## Netty101 (Jul 31, 2013)

Thanks for the reply.

That helped me understand it better and i'll aim to do a drainage layer. 

Now begs the question of how to achieve it properly. Hydroballs/rocks seem the easiest way as it stops me having to cut up and build egg crates etc. so i'll run with that.

But what about the wooden vivarium? The resting water that sits in that section would rot the wood would it not? All the videos i watch on these setups use exo terra glass terrariums so they don't address the issue. Would applying a layer of silicone to the entire base save the wood from rotting? Or should i put in a different surface for the hydrorocks to sit on? I could look into getting plastic cut and siliconing the gaps to create a type of crate for it all to sit in but that will require some work finding someone to cut it all to the size i need.

Any suggestions?


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Netty101 said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> That helped me understand it better and i'll aim to do a drainage layer.
> 
> ...


Protecting the bottoms of wooden enclosures is something I have learned to improvise with over the years, especially with the iguana and water dragon enclosures.

You have the right idea. 
I would definitely seal the sides up and coat a layer of yachy varnish into the bottom and let it dry out. I personally also like to use a plastic water proof sheed of some kind laid out and then stapled to the sides of the enclosure, they can easily be cut to size and excess can be saved for future or smaller enclosures. 

This usually stands up well to protecting the bottoms, I learned the hard way one time. :lol2:

Then use your hydroballs (I prefer to use gravel) in my enclosures before layering down the main substrate mixes, providing your garden has not been sprayed with any chemicals and the like you should be okay using some of that although there are other options now available for setting up and establishing your clean ups. 

If you are planning to use live plants which I suspect you are I will prewarn you, forget what a lot of care sheets perpetuate that they only grow to 3ft or so, I have seen these guys easily attain legnths of up to 4ft if we are talking about chinese water dragons, and I have seen some in zoological collections that looked like they were on steroids or something! you would be forgiven for saying they can grow around the size of a small subdominant male iguana minus some girth but still pretty impressive, this will take some years for them to attain such a size in my expereince so best prepare an adult enclosure with some pretty strong and sturdy live plants in advance. You are going to be looking at a weight of around 2-3kg plus as an adult. 

They really appreciate moving water sources. 
Great species to keep. :2thumb:


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## Netty101 (Jul 31, 2013)

Excellent stuff.

Remembered i actually have some tarp in my garage so i may give the base a coat of that yacht varnish, put sealant around the edges then lay the tarp down with it turning up on the sides and sticking it down so it doesn't curl over. 

I'll consider gravel as well, will look into both, see the differences and cost difference.

Haha yes i have seen some pretty large ones as well! So large sturdy live plants are for sure on my mind  as for moving water i'm looking to building a custom water fall going into a water tank of about 2ft(w) x 2ft(d) x 1ft(h) size may change, just first concept size idea, in fact i may make this quite a bit bigger and introduce some fish, so will have a lot of that going  got a 7ft width viv to play with so quite a bit of space to plan something good.

Thanks for that! :2thumb:


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