Make an Easy Drainable False Bottom (Aquarium to Viv Conversion pt.3B) 

I've officially watched every single one of your videos. It's like a rabbit hole - I'm about to start on this terrarium hobby myself now thanks to you! Your videos are amazingly informative and your passion really shows through. Proud new subscriber. :)

i love terrariums its like you can make your own world however you want it, and it is cool how it has its own climate.

Brilliant! I built a custom wooden enclosure sealed with epoxy. Since I can’t see the drainage layer, adding this will give me an inspection port. Thanks for the idea! I’ll return the favor with this idea for you. Fill the hose with water and cap the output end with your thumb before inserting it. Releasing your thumb will create the suction to start the siphon. No need to use your mouth. But, I’m sure you’ve figured this out already in the past 5 years. ☮️❤🌈

watching your videos makes me super happy brother. great stuff all of it!!!!!

I would suggest that if you have small frogs in set-up like this; get a pvc cap for the size of the pipe and put it on the top of the pipe (without glue). then put your cork over it as before. This will make it perfectly safe for froglets or thumbnails. As always, an enjoyable and informative video.

Get a drink bottle cut it to fit the bottom..basicly do the same but cover the screw top in silicone and coco fiber and then you have a screw top so no little frogs or anything can slip in. And it totally blends in

How's it going everyone? I hope you had an excellent week! In retrospect I should have shown this drainable false bottom method first since the other is more complex. Regardless, I still wanted to share this one with you. I will be doing a few intermittent projects like this one until I start to drop some of the more involved projects I previously spoke about (1-2 weeks). I've got some really unique/informative content on the horizon that you're really going to like and that will be beneficial to your hobby. As always I hope you enjoyed this demonstration and thanks for watching! Also what would you think if I did weekly vlogs in addition to my regular uploads? I think it would be a good idea to share additional content with you and help keep you informed on future projects, idea, etc.

"Close it back up And enjoy your vivarium" you mean, " close it back up and enjoy your drink" lmao

This was posted ten minutes ago, who the hell disliked it already?

Fantastic video! Definitely going to use this method for my tree frog's (h. cinerea) new vivarium since I'm not comfortable drilling glass for a bulkhead. Protip: If you hold the airline tubing above your drainage layer's water line, it acts just like a drinking straw and you can carefully control how much water you suck into the tube. Once the tube is mostly full, just use your thumb to cap it off and set it in the bucket to drain. If you have the tubing below the drainage layer's water level, gravity will force the water down into your mouth..never a fun experience and potentially a dangerous one.

Would you ever think about doing a semi-aquatic setup? I've been looking for good tutorials that are safe for salamanders but none seem to fit the natural stance. If anyone has any tips please share, I will need all the help I can get!

Can't wait to see parts 5 and 6! And interested to see what you stock this with!

LOVE YOUR VIDEOS

Very good video

The one big advice point I will give is to make a removable cap for that drainage pipe. If you leave it open like that, any animals living in there, have a potential to get in there even if your aesthetically covering it up. When I first started, I had juvenile dart frogs and mourning geckos get in there.

Now what we need is a snail terrarium build

Hi! Thanks for sharing. Just wanna know the rationale behind adding a piece of mesh. I'm always wondering if those tiny substrate particles, like soil, can eventually seep through the pores of the mesh or not? It seems like the mesh is of no much use.

That was awesome and simple enough for a newbie like me to accomplish. Thank you for this video

This is the first video of yours that I’ve seen so maybe you covered this elsewhere, and I am by no means trying to insult your skills cause clearly you know what you’re doing, And maybe I’m missing something, but: wouldn’t it be way easier to just drill a hole through the side of the tank and install a plastic bulkhead fitting with a cap, or even install a threaded valve? Drilling through glass does require a special drill bit and more care than most other materials, but drilling through acrylic is pretty easy if I’m not mistaken, especially if you put masking tape over the area you are drilling to help prevent it from cracking, also using a smaller pilot bit and working up to the size hole you ultimately want. Then you can buy a plastic bulkhead fitting, something like 1/2” for about $12 as of today on amazon. And either get a simple cap, or get a ball valve which can easily be used to drain the tank although it may look unsightly. Also with regard to starting the siphon for your method as described in this video, I strongly recommend a squeeze bulb style siphon pump. Very cheap and can be used to start a siphon without getting a mouth full of frog piss 😂 Either way thank you for the video - I was actually looking to see if anyone else put a drain in their enclosure since I currently have an outdoor toad enclosure but am in the process of setting up a new indoor one since it’s getting colder out, and for the outdoor one I just drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom of a 55 gallon plastic tote so it can continuously drain but this will of course not work inside. Truthfully I actually like your method shown here for another benefit not mentioned, is that since the drain is not at the bottom, it is inherently leak proof. But I will definitely be using a vacuum pump or hand pump vs risking that nasty water going in my mouth! Thanks again for the ideas!

Will this work for bigger tanks?

I don't know if you'll see this so late after posting this video, but what can we do about an enclosure that begins to grow mold or mildew on the leca?

It’s kind of funny because I’m just sitting here with a toad in a cup and a Tupperware that I’m just made a false bottom for but I had no idea I needed drills and saws and PVC pipe I thought it was just fucking screen

Absolutely wonderful videos. Informative, easy to understand & calming to listen to! You're very inspirational, thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Just use a turkey Baster to remove the water . Job done

Thank you for this! I made a drainage pipe using pvc with a cap on top. I used it for my 18x18x24 Exo Terra, and it works great!

Hi! :D Realy enjoy your video, learning a lot. I'm newly interested in terrarium and i was wondering why a drainable false botom is so usefull.

Why cant you just put a flow valve on the side for this method?

Your tutorials are the best I've seen for explaining how to set up a natural vivarium! Your explanations are clear, and your materials are so well organized. Thank you!!!

Do you think you'll ever do a tutorial on propagating moss?

Your fine tooth saw blade is installed backwards, the teeth should point to the front, so the blade cuts on the pushing action. You will get away with that when cutting pvc, cutting metal will fail.

How often would you have to clean this if it housed a reptile (lets say crested gecko)? and do you have to take everything out and put everything back in to get it clean?

hay dude i was just wanting to ask as this made me question my terrariums safety. So i open one of my new-ish terrariums today to whip some excess condensation, there was just a tad to much for my liking, and as i broke the seal it was like i had opened a bottle of champagne. There was a loud pop and a lot of force against the lid, and then loads of smoke/steam filled the jar and leaked from the top. Any advice?? Edit: I am a Scottish viewer if that changed anything due to climate, plants, pressure, xyzyx

I have something similar to this. I have a pump, aquarium gravel as the filter media, the mesh and then coconut substrate. I have it in an enclosure with tree frogs. The issue I have is the substrate turns the water yellow and I'm not sure how often I should change the water if ever. I change the substrate about every 3 months and do a 100% water replacement every month and a half or so

what is the name of the small black drainage tap you have drilled into the glass so i can search online

Will this false bottom work for carnivorous plants and their companion plants?

nice

Hey man, great videos. i really enjoyed this series and your past how-to vivarium videos. i had a suggestion for you or other people working with PVC. They sell a "PVC cutter" that actually cuts right through Schedule 40 PVC pipe. it works by ratcheting down on the pipe like giant scissors and leaves a clean, even cut every time. Since I switched to this method, I no longer need to saw and sand the pipe. You can get one of these PVC cutters from a home improvement store for about $8 and it'll save you time and energy. Hope this helps!

I was wondering. How would I go about making a bottle terrarium that offers occasional mushroom growth and lichens? Could that work out in a terrarium and would I be able to keep the conditions right where mushrooms would continue to produce spores and grow throughout randomly, so it constantly changes the look?

Does anyone here have any tips for sanitizing the drainage layer? I’m using gravel from my front yard and don’t want to introduce pests.

Love diy! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much! Very helpful

I can't seem to find any window screen as fine meshed as yours around my location. Do you think I can use landscape fabric instead?

Is there a way to put the pipe in without silicone? I don’t have a second tank to switch to wait for curing

🤔 a stand pipe siphon but with hoses n just always have slop bucket ready to catch the water

hmm... I wonder why I didn't get a notification for this one?

i give this about 4 weeks. Then its all filled up whit dirt and hydroballs U need way bigger tube and way bigger holes and more holes..

How often do I have to drain it?

Any advice on how to implement a pipe after a set up like this ya already been made?! I wish I knew about this pipe before setting my tank up :(

Great video and I started a 10g vertical this week using your channel .Only one Idea .... Please use a deburring tool on the PVC pipe . You won't have little pieces of PVC pipe falling off & it's cleaner looking and healthier for the animals. Thanks for the awesome videos.

Hi how to decrease humidity in no animals terrariums ? My soil are too soggy I m afraid about fungus for my plants or overwatering issue. Thanks you and luv your Chanel empty from knowledge. Sorry for my English I'm French 😋

I need the store you brought the slate rock from

Is a drainable false bottom necessary? I thought any water inside the drainage layer will just sit and eventually evaporate to add to the humidity anyway?

Wish I had seen this before I made my viv... gotta figure out how to do this after the fact. Also, I’ve seen others who got a PVC cap and concealed it with moss. Otherwise, great vid as usual!

I wish i could thumbs -up this video 9000 times. Thank you so much, i have been wondering about doing this for so long.

(A) To avoid losing humidity, keep the tube in the pipe (or even better, use wider tubing and connect it permanently to the pipe) and bury it with substrate and keep the end next to the vivarium door. When you want to drain the water, just unbury the tube. (B) To avoid getting the water in your mouth, use a pump instead.

An please Made tropical terrarium

Nice work. Thankyou

How Often are you draining your false bottom? With the Drain-able false bottom, do you spray once a day?

Will it work if you put the little balls(I forgot what they're called) and gravel?

I'm buying an amblypigid so I might try this. They do need high humidity and they can't dig so it should work

Do you absolutely need a drainage pipe for a bioactive terrarium? Or can you let the water in the false bottom evaporate on its own?

What brand and what kind of silicone do you use?

Is that charcoal you put in over the screen? Is that for Isopods?

Fiiiiinally, this is the video I've been look for. Thankyou!

Hey, Would it be possible to make a pond in a closed terrarium (in a big jar or something)?

🤔👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

You are so smart. How did you learn to do these?😊

You are simply genius 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Do you ever use Matala pads as a replacement?

Can I use this system on bigger tanks?

Always enjoy your videos! We have a small closed terrarium and love it. (3 tiered glass sections) Can I ask you what video editing program you use? Have some family home videos I want to edit and I like the feature of speeding up the video in sections. Thanks!

what if i use a straw instead of the pvc tube?

How often do you need to drain it?

fantastic and simple. thanks

If you put the pipe in the back and made it as tall as the tank, then drilled a hole at the top of the tank, you could probably drain it without having to open the tank, and you could just cover up the pipe with decorations or hide it in a branch.

Please make a paludarium :D

I'm new to this. if I put my terrarium in my room. where there no light. what type of lights should I use for healthy plants

This is a terrific idea. Thanks!

cool

Great video!

I never suck on my pipes (that's what she said). I used a turkey baster to fill the pipe completely with water leaving no air pockets. Then, with my finger preventing the water from following out, I carefully turn the pipe downward. For this method to work you must have the pipe at a lower level than the vivarium, the lower the better. When the pipe is low enough, I release my finger. All the water from the vivarium will magically pump through the pipe into the bucket.

can you please do half land half water terruem?

Hydroton make aquarium..tutorial

First

thanks for everything you do man! (forgot your real name) :d

I did

If you dont like sucking the water out with your mouth, you can also just use a syringe that fits the pipe instead. Thats how I do it. No disgusting water in my mouth!