Regarding the false bottom and drain, all five of my vivs have false bottoms and some kind of water circulation feature, but I never wanted to risk drilling a drain hole in glass. However, I have rarely had to change out the water and when I do, I just use a simple syphoning device. My water is pretty dark tea/coffee colored, but it's clear and that's how I like it. Those who want a clear underwater feature should probably install a convenient drain.