Building/buying a waterfall tank

I want to put together a new tank mostly for my Map turtle but also for any salamanders or newts I catch this year but unlike my 10 gallon tank it has to be escape proof and salamanders are the masters of escape, they are even better then my crayfish. I remember seeing a tank with what was basically a foam mountain with a pump inside that cascaded water down the "mountain" like a waterfall or stream at a local petstore years ago but I can't find one now. I had to do a lot of googling to finally find a place that makes them

http://www.carolina....by=bestMatches#


The full setup would cost me over $600 but if I only buy the mold for the waterfall The price drops to a lot less and I'll be getting the perfect tank for it cheap from my brother in law. Could I go to a diy site and get directions to make my own waterfall? Yep. Would I make a mess of it? Yep.

I haven't seen it in a while but I'm pretty sure the tank my brother in law has is a 30 or 40 gallon breeder tank so it's higher then it is long. Depending on how much water I can put in the bottom I will also put some darters in the tank. I just have to wait until I actually get my hands on the tank and take some measurements(and check it for leaks) before I know how i'm going to set this up. There will be pictures though. I plan to make this my show tank.

I am sure it will be a fun project! If you haven't already, do some searches for "paludarium" and "dart frog vivarium" to find lots of neat build threads using various techniques for built-up areas and water features.

Also, keep in mind that turtles are Destroyers of All They Survey, including foam or other soft materials, plants, and lesser tankmates. I highly recommend you keep your turtle tank and salamander/darter tank as two separate things.

I've heard that about them and I've always worried about him eating my crayfish or fish in my 75 gallon. Not only has he not bothered any of them he and my gigantic Black Nosed Dace named Shamoo have gotten very "close" It's downright unnatural and I'll have to take video of it one day but they will go face to face for long periods of time and for lack of a better word kiss. It's very weird.

Sounds like it'll be an intresting build. You could also do a diy water fall. using foam & cement to shape it as you like it. Heres a link to a customer background. You'd just carve it to your specs and add your own power head for the water fall source.

http://www.cichlid-f..._background.php

http://www.cichlid-f..._background.php

http://www.cichlid-f...ckground_ii.php

I am sure it will be a fun project! If you haven't already, do some searches for "paludarium" and "dart frog vivarium" to find lots of neat build threads using various techniques for built-up areas and water features.

Also, keep in mind that turtles are Destroyers of All They Survey, including foam or other soft materials, plants, and lesser tankmates. I highly recommend you keep your turtle tank and salamander/darter tank as two separate things.

I did a search for paludarium and I started drooling. I could make my own waterfall by simply stacking slate and other rocks and I could hide some planters in in them for planting terrestrial plants. The weight would fairly considerable but that could be a good plan B.

Scott, the thought of me trying to carve out a miniature mountain out of foam and then covering it with cement should fill everyone with fear. I have almost zero artistic ability. I'm either going to buy mine pre made or I'll build it out of rock.

Just be careful with stacked rock to secure it so it can't collapse and smush an animal or crack the glass. Expanding insulation foam, like Great Stuff or the more expensive black version made for ponds, works great to stick the rocks together and get the shape just right.

I have one of those "River System" tanks (40 tall) that I bought from a LFS, I remembered it from when I was younger....he had it in storage at the shop and sold it to me for 100 bucks when I asked about it. Might not hurt to ask some local shops.

Edited by HackAttack01, 02 June 2012 - 12:32 AM.

It's not that turtles eat stuff, they step on it. Fish are generally fast and have three dimensions to escape into. I promise salamanders will be smashed in a matter of days if made to share a confined space with a turtle.