Exo-Terra Waterfall

[Stardust369]

How do you make your own waterfall? And how much water does it take at the bottom to keep it running?

[Heatheranne]

You can make the waterfall slope out of great stuff foam covered in silicone, styrofoam covered in layered grout, down through wood pieces...etc. most people have it drain into a small pond or right down through a false bottom. It depends on what pump you use to pull the water up to the top of your waterfall. The depth is determined by the pump requirements. Chose your pump to meet the pressure it needs to reach the height of your waterfall. A taller waterfall needs a pump that can push the water up higher. A short waterfall does not need as strong of a pump pressure. Bill can help you more when choosing pumps. I know how to make the waterfalls, but I am still learning pumps myself.

[deranged chipmunk]

Heather pretty much covered it. Determine how high your water feature will be, then multiply by 1.5. That's what your head height spdc for your.pump should be. That is the max height that a given pump will push water. The 1.5 multiplication is my guideline and has yet to fail me. For example, for a 12" water feature, find a pump with a head height of 18" minimum.

[helm96]

So if you need or want a waterfall on the fly this Tetrafauna™ Decorative ReptoFilter - Filtration - Reptile - PetSmart is a good one. I have been running it for about a year and a half and it does a pretty good job. Plus it is a filtered waterfall which is nice with messy WTFs.

Or I made one out of styrofoam, GS, Grout and grout sealer. Below is the outcome.


The waterfall was built around this pump and filter Tetra ReptoFilter™ - Filtration - Reptile - PetSmart

[deranged chipmunk]

ya know, they sell the same exact filter as an aquarium filter, the whisper 10i and 20i, and they actually charge a bit less for them. same filter, but the reptile one cost a few dollars more? and that is some excellent craftsmanship on the waterfall Will. Nice job

btw, is that the tree bark panels that Petsmart sells? if so, how are they to work with? are they pliable at all?

[helm96]

The tree bark is the Zoo Med back panel. It is cork bark so it can withstand some water, but as I found out the cork will start to rot out if constantly left in water so I bought the 18x 24 and cut the bottom 4" off and it has been just fine for the last 2 years. As far as what can be done with it, not much it is a panel that is really not flexible. But being cork it cuts really easy and as far as shaping it, if you have a jigsaw you can cut it to fit the application.

[helm96]

Oh yeah forgot to add

Thanks for the compliment Bill. I actually really liked a it and so did my little froggies. Although being a flexable material underneath and grout on the outside I found that 1 drop was all it needed to completely destroy it. I will probably build another one later but for the time being I just bought the premanufactured Tetrafauna one to get my little guys a waterfall back. I am currently working on getting my Tincs out of their little 1 bed apartment and into a nice spacious penthouse suite! As soon as that build is done then I will have time to play.