[singfrograin]

I'm starting out on my first build and I'm pretty stumped on how to incorporate an access point for drainage.

I have a new tank that i'm using but I don't want to drill a hole for a bulkhead fitting. I don't have any tools and quite frankly I'm afraid I would just break the glass.

I've read some posts about using tubing and a syringe to siphon out any water. I feel like this would be my best option.... I'm using a false bottom made of egg crate and I was thinking I could lace aquarium airline tubing through the FB and secure it along the bottom of the tank. Then secure the tubing up the sides or corner of the tank when i create the bg with GS and try to make it discreet.

Has anyone done this with success or can offer any advice? I'm concerned that once the GS cures it might squeeze/press the tubing and make it difficult to siphon out the water, so I'm not sure if i should get PVC pipes and run the tubing through to protect it. Any thoughts on this idea or any better ones would be appreciated. Thanks all!

 

[SnakePaparazzi]

For all my vivs that don't have drains, I have a piece if PVC pipe that is notched at the bottom and capped at the top that runs from the bottom of the tank, through the false bottom and substrate. I usually hide them with leaf litter or a coco-hut.

To drain them, I use a bucket with a tube attached that I run through the pvc pip, into the water and hook up a vacuum to the lid of the bucket (see photo).

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.022654,-117.120841

 

[froggymike]

Snake has a good idea. I use thicker tubing through my fb and just hook my python drain system to it. I was a fish guy and already had a python to clean my tanks. You can also run the drain tubing through your background. To hide it better. Both options will work.

 

[dustin2012]

I don't have drainage either, my tanks do have the drainage layer, but if i notice the water level getting high, I use a homemade contraption that sucks up excess water. I guess the siphoning method that you mentioned. It's not the best, but it gets the job done.

Using a soda bottle I drilled a small hole into the cap, and stuck a piece of airline tubing into it so that it fits tight. You can probably seal it, but how i did it, it fits almost airtight. Screw the cap back onto the bottle and place the end of the tube below the waters surface, squeeze the bottle, and watch the water get sucked up. I usually have the best success pushing the tube down in the corner of the tank where i can get the water level back down to the drainage layer. The bigger the bottle the more you can get out at once, and if you use a standard size cap you don't have to drill new holes into more caps. The only tank I've had to use this one is my 55 gallon tank, Sometimes i mist it too much and don't realize it.

 

[kychris]

I'm starting out on my first build and I'm pretty stumped on how to incorporate an access point for drainage.

I have a new tank that i'm using but I don't want to drill a hole for a bulkhead fitting. I don't have any tools and quite frankly I'm afraid I would just break the glass.

I've read some posts about using tubing and a syringe to siphon out any water. I feel like this would be my best option.... I'm using a false bottom made of egg crate and I was thinking I could lace aquarium airline tubing through the FB and secure it along the bottom of the tank. Then secure the tubing up the sides or corner of the tank when i create the bg with GS and try to make it discreet.

Has anyone done this with success or can offer any advice? I'm concerned that once the GS cures it might squeeze/press the tubing and make it difficult to siphon out the water, so I'm not sure if i should get PVC pipes and run the tubing through to protect it. Any thoughts on this idea or any better ones would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Sounds like a good idea to me. If you use the blue can of GS you shouldn't have to worry about compression. It doesn't expand as much as the red can. I've just done two vivs with the blue can and I think it is much easier to control.

I would just start the siphon with your mouth and let it run into a bucket or jug below the level of the viv. Let the siphon do all of the work.

 

[kychris]

The more I think about it, I wish I would have done this. Sure, the aquarium tubing might be slow to drain but once you get the siphon going you can do something else. Aquarium tubing is cheap.

My only concern would be it clogging. A piece of coarse foam should work though with a slot cut to fit over the tubing. Or, to be extra safe, you could use a small pvc pipe from bottom to top and feed the tubing through it. That way you can clear clogs from the end of the tubing.

 

[ckays]

I would just start the siphon with your mouth and let it run into a bucket or jug below the level of the viv. Let the siphon do all of the work.

Watch yourself attempting this, especially if you have never done it before. You'll have a mouth full of nasty drainage water if you aren't careful.

Feel free to make a video on your first attempt..
I used to see the best faces in Chem lab when clowns attempted this. (I call them clowns because they were bad at it and is was A CHEM LAB, we had plenty better tools then our mouths to work with.)

It's not hard once you get the hang of it, but might want to practice with clean water first...

 

[kychris]

Watch yourself attempting this, especially if you have never done it before. You'll have a mouth full of nasty drainage water if you aren't careful.

Feel free to make a video on your first attempt..
I used to see the best faces in Chem lab when clowns attempted this. (I call them clowns because they were bad at it and is was A CHEM LAB, we had plenty better tools then our mouths to work with.)

It's not hard once you get the hang of it, but might want to practice with clean water first...

I agree, practice first unless you want to drink a big gulp of frog water. The key is to have a hose long enough that you can have the sucking end loop down at least about halfway to the bottom of the tank and then have it above the top of the tank so that the liquid will stop or slow before it gets to the end after you start sucking. You then just quickly put the end down in a container and the siphon will start.

 

[singfrograin]

Thanks everyone for the advice on this, it's really helpful stuff. I'm going to get started tomorrow night...I've already created my fb and tomorrow after i get home from work i'm starting on my bg. so excited.

oh and as for starting the siphon...I was going to get one of those 60cc tipped syringes to stick in the tubing to suction out the water...i'll avoid the possibility of ingesting frog water any way i can!!

 

[Judy S]

a "bulb" baster from the cooking department at Walmart type stores is another tool for sucking water out...and it is easier to find than a 60 mm syringe...