Quote Originally Posted by DonLisk View Post
Speaking of wood.... does hot glue adhere to cork rounds and driftwood? Poor little white is not adjusting to the move and want to push the top off to get to his old sleeping spot on the light fixture.

Back to the topic:
In designing the viv, I think your starting point after deciding on the tank is to determine if this is going to utilize a false bottom, and if so, the plans on building in the ability to drain or remove excess water.

If not a false bottom, then what bottom drainage layer, why this material, and how to remove excess water.
Don, for the drainage layer, we used Hydro Balls as the bottom layer, than a layer of Earth for the plants, a small layer of coconut husk and finally a thin layer of forest mix. Of course we lay some leaf litters for the darts and bumblebee walking frog terrariums.

But back to the drainage layer, the hydro balls act as a natural aquifer and filtration, and the water never has a chance to stagnate as it is released as evaporation, also helping keeping the humidity in the terrarium. The water we spray and the fogger we use replenishes the water. It works really well as an eco-system. These hydroballs also develop good bacteria with time which helps keep the balance and helps purify.