# Vivarium Drain



## Aurust (Mar 4, 2017)

I'm starting up a new viv and was wondering what people do for draining a false bottom. I'm thinking of drilling and putting in a bulkhead but I'm wondering if that is too much effort just for a drain. How do others go about this?


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## RyanD (Jul 18, 2006)

I am curious too, specifically what type of bulk head to use or to stay away from.

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## cam1941 (Jan 16, 2014)

Definitely not too much effort as it will make your life so much easier in the long run. 

Siphoning with an air line or a turkey baster can be a pain in the ass after awhile. Not to mention that you will disturb your frogs much less and there is a lot less potential for escapees. 

MistKing Misting Systems by Jungle Hobbies Ltd

This is the bulkhead I use.


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## Coqui (Jan 17, 2013)

Totally agree with Cam 1941, I have the Mistking bulk head on all my tanks.


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## Aurust (Mar 4, 2017)

So how does this drain work? Does it just automatically drain once the water gets to the level of the strainer with a hose going to a drain bucket?

How high from the bottom of a viv do you usually drill the hole/put in the bulkhead?


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## Dane (Aug 19, 2004)

Aurust said:


> So how does this drain work? Does it just automatically drain once the water gets to the level of the strainer with a hose going to a drain bucket?
> 
> How high from the bottom of a viv do you usually drill the hole/put in the bulkhead?


The MistKing part linked in the earlier post is just a passive bulkhead that will allow you to plumb the outlet however you wish into a separate reservoir or drain. You would typically just drill your enclosure for the fitting at the height you wanted to maintain as your max water line. If you wanted to get creative, you could probably come up with a ball valve that would open the outlet at a predetermined height as well.
It's important to remember that all wastewater that has come in contact with your animals should be treated before being dumped into your local sewer system, etc. For this purpose, I usually strain out any solids (to be double bagged and disposed of), then add enough household bleach to the remaining water for a 10% solution. After a few days, I'll add dechlorinator to the water, and dump it down the drain.


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

"Just a drain" is, uh, hmm. Hmm.

You need a drain. Everybody needs a drain. Don't fight water, water wins. Just give it a pathway out.

It's simple gravity, if you put the drain on the bottom your false bottom will have only 1/8-1/4" of standing water in it (plus whatever might be able to wick up any aggregate substrate under there?), whereas if you put the drain on the side you can determine what your control elevation (waterline) will be. If you were doing some kind of aquaponic deal in the viv, maybe you might want some water down there, who knows? 

Or, you can use the strainer as the control point for pond depth, if you want a simple easy water feature (without plans for tads). Use epoxy or silicone to fill up the strainer holes up to the point you want the water level. Just watch for strainer clogs! (This could suggest a use for a second bulkhead, at the "oh sh** water level"...)

Good luck, have fun.

cheers


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## smatthew (Nov 21, 2016)

You can put the drain on the bottom of the side of the tank and just set-up an external standpipe to control the water depth. For instance - if you have a bulkhead on the side of your tank, you can connect half of a foot of tubing onto it, and connect that to a T fitting. Leave one leg of the T-fitting pointed up, put a drain hose on the other leg, and tape it to the back of your viv at your preferred water level. The T fitting prevents a siphon from being started.


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## Aurust (Mar 4, 2017)

So for those of you that have a bulkhead drilled into the bottom, does it get in the way? I'm trying to imagine how this works with putting the terrarium on a stand/table?


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## RasecEsp (Jan 7, 2016)

You have to drill the stand too.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

RasecEsp said:


> You have to drill the stand too.


Not if you drill the back pane of glass, right near the bottom. It works slick and you don't need to mod your stand. Bakers rack style frog racks require a back drain, if one is used. You can't really drill out a baker's rack.


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## Xan (Jun 4, 2015)

Put a length of pvc pipe in one corner of the viv, running all the way down to the false bottom. Stick a cap on it (bought from the same place you bought the piece of pipe) so frogs and flies can't climb down there. When the water level gets too high, use a $5 hand pump to run a tube down the pipe and suck out the water. Easy, cheap, and no risk of your tank leaking. I got the idea from another thread on this forum and it works perfectly. Only issue is the aesthetic one: having a permanent piece of white pipe in one corner of your viv.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Pumilo said:


> Not if you drill the back pane of glass, right near the bottom. It works slick and you don't need to mod your stand. Bakers rack style frog racks require a back drain, if one is used. You can't really drill out a baker's rack.


You can however cut out one of the metal strands to allow a pipe to exit. I've done this more than a few times over the years and a single strand removed doesn't compromise the weight of the shelf much. 

I tend to go with the uglier look and run the drains out of the front of the tank as I can much more easily add or remove a cage to a system or break it down as needed. 

some comments 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Xan said:


> Put a length of pvc pipe in one corner of the viv, running all the way down to the false bottom. Stick a cap on it (bought from the same place you bought the piece of pipe) so frogs and flies can't climb down there. When the water level gets too high, use a $5 hand pump to run a tube down the pipe and suck out the water. Easy, cheap, and no risk of your tank leaking. I got the idea from another thread on this forum and it works perfectly. Only issue is the aesthetic one: having a permanent piece of white pipe in one corner of your viv.


This gets to be time consuming if you have more than a few cages particularly if you want to try and reduce cross contamination between cages by using different hoses for each cage. 

some comments 

Ed


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Xan View Post
> Put a length of pvc pipe in one corner of the viv, running all the way down to the false bottom. Stick a cap on it (bought from the same place you bought the piece of pipe) so frogs and flies can't climb down there. When the water level gets too high, use a $5 hand pump to run a tube down the pipe and suck out the water. Easy, cheap, and no risk of your tank leaking. I got the idea from another thread on this forum and it works perfectly. Only issue is the aesthetic one: having a permanent piece of white pipe in one corner of your viv.





> This gets to be time consuming if you have more than a few cages particularly if you want to try and reduce cross contamination between cages by using different hoses for each cage.


Ed's right - the suck-pipe is OK - not good - for one enclosure. But for a series of them, it's not even that OK. Not OK enough for me, anyway.

Plus, given a choice between "no chance of a leak" and "no chance of a flood", I'd rather prevent the flood. *Floods kill*. Honestly, if there's water there is NEVER "no chance of a leak". Really. However, with care, they can be managed into a low-probability, low-consequence kind of thing. Put the drain in and prevent the flood.

cheers


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