# Vivarium setup - filter question - please help!



## frogdude (Mar 3, 2010)

I am a newbie to the vivarium setup and dart frog world but am so excited about it. I just purchased a 50 gallon tall aquarium (22" tall) to begin my journey and I'm making plans on how to build it. I want to design it where I am going to build an big U-shape in the middle by adhering aquarium glass in a U shape. On the outside will be a "river" of shallow water that I want to flow around the inside "island". The island will be the inside of the U-shape, with a false bottom, screen, substrate, and lots of plants. By separating the inside and outside, I'm hoping to keep the inside drier and only watering when needed with a fogger coming on every hour. The outside will be the river, with a few tetra's or something very very minimal. My question is... for the river, I plan on having the glass divider that forms the U to be about 6" tall and probably around 4 inches wide (so it's 4" from tank to inside of island) all along the aquarium. In the river will be natural stones that I pile up so no frogs will drown. So the water will barely be an 1" in a few spots, maybe 2" in some others. I like variation. Frogs will have easy access in and out of the "river" and back onto land. This doesn't leave a lot of water in the river and I want to keep the water very, very clean and healthy (hence, the actual physical separation from the island. So for filtration, I bought i submersible filter to uptake on the left side and a tube runs behind the background to the right so you get a full circle of circulation in the U. But this proves clumsy. The filter takes up space INSIDE the tank and I have to dislodge the rocks to take out the filter and change the filter's carbon every few weeks. So I was thinking about getting a canister filter, so I only will have an uptake tube on one side, and the flow tube on the other, providing the same effect but with no need to move things around inside. I do NOT want to drill holes in the aquarium... I'm too amateur for that. The guy at the pet store said my tank is too tall and the water too shallow to provide a good environment for a canister filter. This is a bummer. But I've heard success stories of other people doing this and building great waterfalls, etc. Can someone help a newbie out like me and give some ideas of how to get around what the petstore guy said and still use a canister? I was thinking of the canister filter that hangs on the back, but that takes up a lot of space. I have a great stand to hide a canister. Are there ANY canister filters that are made for shallow water, a tall tank like mine, and can handle the simple chore I want. I'm only now constructing all this vivarium, so now's the time I find out my options. Please help and thanks so much in advance!!


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## RMB (Nov 26, 2009)

I'm thinking... An external pump, something in the 3-500gph, depending on the actual volume of the "river" and flow rate, with a large sponge over the intake. That would provide more than adequate filtration for a few small tetras, once properly cycled. The particular one I have has barb fittings that connect, very securely, to 3/4" clear tubing. Carbon I have found to be mostly unnecessary unless you get some chems in the water which need to be removed, which is entirely possible during the setup of such a ,I believe the name for this would be a Paludarium. You could hang a bag of carbon near the filter intake for the first month to make sure anything gets filtered out.


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## highfyre (Feb 19, 2010)

Your not to noobie to drill the tank. Trust me it will be worth it. It makes it simple for keeping a constant watertable and very easy to change your water. A local fish store will drill it for you for around 10-20 dollars. If you want to even do it yourself you can buy a diamond bit at diamondbitUSA.com for around 7 dollars. Drill through a 2x4 with it and then secure that to the outside if the tank for the purpose of keeping your bit still and straight. Apply a small stream of water and drill. You just have to drill very light and easy and take your time. Its not bad at all.


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## frogdude (Mar 3, 2010)

thanks for the info so far. i'm building the river tomorrow. i'm going to make the depth of the water 5" near where the uptake valve will be. will the canister filters be able to handle that depth. i don't know what you mean by modify the grate. i've checked online and most places say that the Tom Aquatics Rapids Mini Canister Filter C-80 has been discontinued. is there another model i should look into? i'm warming up to the hang on the back of the tank type filters, although they look like they have really short hoses. maybe the fluval 105 would be better since it's hoses are longer. i'm just not sure if my water depth is enough.


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## RMB (Nov 26, 2009)

You don't want an HOB, even if it does manage to suck the water from the bottom of the tank, it'll reduce the flow, and just dump it back over where it came from rather than on the other side of the tank.


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