Sanity check on my plumbing, water feature, filtration idea

[ndame88]

So ready to purchase a a Exo 36x18x36, build a false bottom and about a third of the bottom being water. I have zero experience with aquarium plumbing and filtration so please let me know if this sounds right.

- Drill a hole for a bulkhead that will drain in to a 10 gal sump tank with a ball valve to control the rate of drainage to the sump
- Canister filter(thinking Zoo Med 511) pulls the water from the sump tank, puts it back into the enclosure through a water fall
- Misting system(mist king) pulls from sump tank and puts it back into the enclosure

so here are my questions:
1. Can you drill Exo Terra Glass? If so, what size bulk head?
2. Should the hole for the bulk head be in the bottom under the false bottom or on the back at the max height I want the water level to be?
3. Is a Zoo Med 501 or 511 filter the right choice and is the pump strong enough to pull the water from the sump under the enclosure all the way back up to the water fall?

Thanks in advance for any replies

[J Teezy]

i just typed out a big explanation and lost it so i'm not going to do it again but basically this is it

1. Do not use water from the sump for misting. Mister should run off its own reservoir with distilled or RO water not water that has traveled through the viv in same fashion

2. Having water drain to a sump and then pulled from the sump with a canister filter is doing too much. If you are going to use a canister filter than put the intake for the filter in the viv to pull from the water under the FB or drainage layer.

3. if you want water to drain out of the viv into a sump then make a sump filter where you would have the water come out of the viv through the bulkhead into the sump that has some kind of filtration and returned to the waterfall via pump that is also in the sump. What you are describing is not really a sump system, you're describing a holding tank of dirty water.

[kevinp]

what are you putting in it ?

[ndame88]

Kevinp, RETFs

Josh, that makes sense now, so really only reason to have a bulkhead is to drain into a sump is for water changes. So would you recommend drilling into Exo Terra glass? by the way I am following your 29 build, really looking great, thinking of doing a background like that.

[J Teezy]

if you are going to run a canister filter you don't need a sump is what i'm trying to say. One thing you could do is have your bulkhead in the bottom of the tank (but you'll have to drill a hole in your stand as well) and attach a ball vlave to the plumbing so you can drain out what you want when needed or you put in the side or back at the height you want the water to drain out to maintain a constant water level for you filter to draw water from

[TheFroggyDragon]

I set mine up with a little tube on the bottom of the tank. I can hook it up to a pump and syphon all the water out from the bottom then put the tube back in tucked down until the next time I need to drain water out. I use a misting system with distilled water. Personally I don't like drilling any tank since it usually reduces the value and you only have one shot to get it right. If you do drill it practice a few times on inexpensive glass.
Let us know how it turns out!