Pump Problems

[LilyPad]

I have a waterfall in my tank and have had issues with it on and off. Now I cannot get the pump to stop clogging. Every little thing seems to block it up. Any tips?

I originally had it in a waterfall dish, then I put it directly in my drainage layer. That was blocking up too much so I put it in a different waterfall and it worked well for about 3 weeks. I cleaned it out really well but the tiniest bit of anything will block it back up, and gray tree frogs can get quite messy! Am I going to have to ditch this idea? It would suck considering they love it so much.

[Wolfx]

Amazon.com: Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Waterfall Kit: Kitchen & Dining just use a stocking around the pump a few times to keep out substraight, but if done correct no substraight should be in with the balls hope this helps. Its what i use, have 2 kits in one tank an one in another.

[John]

This is why I don't use flowing water features or recommend them. If you're going to use a pump I suggest you make a custom pump box out of say a tupperware container. Put the pump in there surrounded by a nice thick layer of fine aquarium filter wool.

[LilyPad]

I wrapped a spongey filter around it, but it wasnt thick enough, maybe I'll have to get a different one. They really enjoy this feature, but it's not something that's particularly "easy" to work on and I'm quite ready to ditch it if something doesnt work soon. Thank you John, I will try that. I know a lot of people have had the same issues with the zoo med kit.

[SludgeMunkey]

Unless you use an airstone lift based water feature, there is absolutely nothing you can do to remedy the problem. All you can do is regularly clean the pump and filter. The real issue with these kits is that they are designed for looks, and not functionality. Personally, I feel they were designed with terrestrial, tropical reptiles in mind, as anything aquatic generates far too much mulm.

[LilyPad]

I'm really fed up because I can't get the tupperware/filter idea to work. I think I'm going to remove it and put another bromeliad where it is (takes up a lot of space) and just use their raised lagoon. It'll give me a lot more space and much less of a headache. The filter system worked through vacation and that was the most important part for me.

[IrishRonin]

I have one tank with a flowing stream and one with a waterfall and both work well, I know john doesn't like the water features but I think there awsome, if done right. Well What I did is use a tall plastic container(that I got crickets in), cut notches around the rim then raped the whole thing in screen then put the screen end down into the drainage layer. After I got it secure with substrate I lowered the pump in and haven't had any problems. I then used a coconut to cover us the pump well. Its kinda hard to see in these pics but I hope it helps

[LilyPad]

Thanks for all the tips guys!! What I have going now is a small pond in the corner. I could get the pump to run while it was in the little container (wrapped in filters, covered with mesh screen) but I could not get the waterfall to work, the tubing must be bad. So I put the pump in its little container, directly into the hydroton, put river rocks and a moss ball around it, and let it run. So right now they just have a little filtered pond. I think they'll like that just as much, it's the moving water that draws them to it. We'll see! I've spent the whole day working on this, so hopefully now it works. Thanks for all the ideas, they're very much appreciated.

[LilyPad]

Here is the result of my day of working on this pump situation, I kind of like it! Now I just have to worry about drowning crickets.



And then while I had the frogs out of the viv anyways, tucked safely in the critter keeper, I worked on a few other things, including adding some plants I've had sitting around for a while.









The frogs should have fun exploring when they wake up tonight!

[DonLisk]

Wow, a lot of work but it came out great.

I gave up on water features a while back after I fought with one and finally when it was working great, the pump started humming loud enough to hear downstairs. That was enough for me :-)

[LilyPad]

Yeah, that's kind of what was happening to me Don. I woke up one morning and it was so loud...after that, the waterfall never worked properly again. If it fails now, I'll siphon out the water and fill it in with substrate and add more plants. With 4 frogs, it's just kind of nice to have 2 different water holes.

[IrishRonin]

it looks great! I know water features can be a pain, but most good things you have to work for so...

[LilyPad]

Irish, I will most definitely be trying your idea for my next build, it looks like a really good idea!

[IrishRonin]

Its (the running stream) been running for months now and I've never had a clog, not one. With the waterfall one it clogged all the time till I switched it and now no problems at all