# 18x18x24 Exo Terra waterproof bottom height?



## veggystu (Oct 3, 2016)

Hi, first post here! Hopefully more to come as I build this thing!

I want to create a vivarium with a decent amount of water in the bottom for some shrimp and small fish. I've been looking at the 18x18x24 Exo Terra, however I haven't been able to find the depth of the water proof bottom.

It looks to be about 5 inches or so, which would mean it could hold about 7 gallons of water. I plan to have the entire land part of the viv raised up on a platform with legs (hidden by rocks) standing in the water. And a back wall with the portion in the water hiding the Exo Terra Cascade filter. So the 7 gallons of water would be mostly swimmable space.

Anyways, I would like to start building the platform and such, but I need to get an exact measurement of the maximum height water can be in an Exo Terra 18x18x24.

Does anyone happen to have this information, also any immediate red flags with my initial plans?

THANKS!


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## Jezza (Sep 26, 2016)

I am pretty new to darts but from my research, they aren't very adept swimmers. Especially with a large overhang like that, you may find one day that your shrimp are enjoying some des cuisses de grenouille.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Welcome to both of you!

Stu, you didn't say you were putting darts in there, but Jezza is right about the swimming ability of most dart frogs. There are also a lot of potential pitfalls in creating a paludarium. I suggest using the search bar above to look up water features. They can be done well, but FAR more often seem to be done poorly. If constructing vivaria is a new hobby for you, I might suggest trying a regular, terrestrial vivarium before you take on something as complex as a paludarium.

Best of luck,

Mark


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## staarbit (Aug 15, 2016)

Both Jezza and Encyclia voiced my own concerns about the swimming ability of dart frogs, so I'll answer your original question as I've had plenty of experience with Exo-terra terrariums. They should be 100% waterproof up to the vent on the front but I wouldn't recommend filling it up quite that full just for the flooding potential of vivariums. You might end up with some water spilling out the vent otherwise .


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## Gibbs.JP (Feb 16, 2016)

I forgot to measure my tank at home last night... I have the same 18x18x24 and don't remember the exact height of the bottom pane. It's roughly 5-6", and as mentioned - _should_ be waterproof up to the vent below the doors. Just make sure and water test it if beforehand. Always best to fill it with water for a day or two to make sure it doesn't leak than find a leak once it's all built.

As Mark said - use the search function to really look into other paludarium threads. It's not that they can't be done, but they need to really be planned out well beforehand, as they often present so many challenges. Any large water feature is not ideal for dart frogs, but again, can be (and have been) done well with the right design. 

One other thing to note that no one's mentioned yet is, that small amount of water will be really hard to keep the conditions just right in order to house fish or shrimp. The smaller the amount of water, the harder it is to keep ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc. levels all in order. It's much easier for a spike to happen in a small tank that could kill off everything. 

Read, research, and plan as best you can before you tackle this. I'm not trying to discourage you from it, but just know what you're getting into before you spend a lot of money and time on it!


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## veggystu (Oct 3, 2016)

Thanks for all the responses! Okay so 5-6 inches seems to be the consensus. Might try to run to the local aquarium shop with a tape measure to be safe...

Im not totally set on the inhabitants yet, was maybe thinking some tree frogs. And yes i realize this will be pretty difficult to pull off, but im committed to doing it, and doing a good job. Been researching for awhile now.

Im working on mocking up a 3d layout of the plans to help me visualize it, and I would appreciate any feedback. Ill start a new thread for the build once its done and link to it here. Thanks again!


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## Gekido (Feb 18, 2016)

They should be... I did buy some once though where the front glass did not meet up to the side glass, it has a small 1/8" gap. They put silicone in it and it did leak on me so I took them back. 

I'm not going to get into any more details about what I was told when I called exo terra I'm just going to say I use zoomed now.

Just look it over and seal it up with silicone. Any good reef keeper or aquarium hobbyist fills a tank up with water and watches it for a few hours. You do not want a leak trust me.


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