# Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Waterfall Kit ...



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 10, 2016)

*So i was curious about the Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium Waterfall Kit. I've noticed that most "fountains" seem to be utterly useless for a tortoise enclosure, and get tons of negative reviews to boot. But I keep thinking about the possibility of using this kit to make my own....*
*Anyone ever used it ?*
*Suggestions?*
*I also have past experience making indoor self contained aquaponics systems. So I guess I was comparing a little waterfall/fountain build to that.*


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 10, 2016)

Alright , so I weakened and ordered myself one, since it was on sale, and I had a black Friday coupon....
Oh well!
I think I can use something like this to build a really nice reservoir in my new enclosure. Hopefully I'm not wrong there. 
Anyone ever made a circulating water system for there tort? I'm really tantalized by the idea of making a small waterfall. 
I would LOVE some pics of someone else's DIY system!
Thank you!


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 10, 2016)

Someone in England did something like that. Was is @Anyfoot ? They had an outbuilding they made into a tortoise house and there was a water feature. I'll see if I can find it.


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 10, 2016)

Yes, it was anyfoot. Check this out. the water feature is towards the end:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/indoor-enclosure.130200/


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 10, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Yes, it was anyfoot. Check this out. the water feature is towards the end:
> 
> http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/indoor-enclosure.130200/



Amazing job!
More than I could have ever imagined in a build off! Extremely impressive.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 10, 2016)

So in the description of the kit, it says that you need a cork wood background and/or mopani wood to complete this water feature.

Well unless, I use rocks instead I guess.

But are "cork wood backgrounds" and "mopani wood" safe for use in my red foot's waterfall feature?
I really don't know anything about this material...
And is there a problem with using driftwood for the same thing?
(From the Oregon coast) Is it tortoise safe?


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 11, 2016)

Geez! One more question!

Instead of using Eco Earth for this kit, could I just use sphagnum moss?
I don't think I can have Eco Earth in a red foot enclosure.


----------



## JoesMum (Dec 11, 2016)

Beasty_Artemis said:


> Geez! One more question!
> 
> Instead of using Eco Earth for this kit, could I just use sphagnum moss?
> I don't think I can have Eco Earth in a red foot enclosure.


You need an earthy type substrate. The floor should not be entirely sphagnum moss.


----------



## Yvonne G (Dec 11, 2016)

Eco earth is fine for RF substrate. Many members use it.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 11, 2016)

Yvonne G said:


> Eco earth is fine for RF substrate. Many members use it.



Oh! I thought coco coir was a no-no!
Thanks for the head up!


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 11, 2016)

So I'm planning on having a plastic tray as the base for my waterfall, so that I can keep the layered media contained in one area. I was also thinking it would make it easier to clean out the water periodically. I was thinking of using a paint tray, since the pump could be submerged underwater and covered in media in the deep end. I would still have her ceramic plant dish as her primary body of water; but it will overflow and recirculate through the filter balls, and back down my (still not designed yet) waterfall feature.
Not really wanting to flood my substrate, like some tutorial videos I watched.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 14, 2016)

I'm using one of those clear refrigerator trays as the base for my water feature.

I'm soaking my driftwood in there for now.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 14, 2016)

I found some cheap aquarium plants to use on my background and waterfall. I wanted something that I wouldn't mind cutting into smaller bits to use as art material!



On some of these, the 3D leaf design is only on the backs of the leaves, so they look very unrealistic when viewed from above.
But when cascading upside down over the rocky background or with my waterfall design, I think they will look good.


----------



## kelii (Dec 16, 2016)

Im going to be following this. It looks interesting.


----------



## Rylatts (Dec 30, 2016)

Excited about this!!!!! Update?


----------



## theguy67 (Dec 30, 2016)

I have a fountain in my outdoor enclosure, but always had issues doing one inside. This should be interesting.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 31, 2016)

I've been working on my tortoise table alot lately, but not as much on my waterfall. I'm starting to have my doubts about this driftwood... It's already splitting in a few places.
Once I cut an angle off of a second smaller piece, I will attach it as the second tier on my waterfall. I'm not going to hide the tubing behind the background because I want easy access to it. I'll trim it once I get the waterfall put together . My parents are at the beach for the weekend, and hopefully my mom will bring me some beach rocks! Keeping my fingers crossed!


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Dec 31, 2016)

Looks nice


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Dec 31, 2016)

I used the last of my aquarium sealant to glue the parts together. Not the most realistic....but I like the fake plants that i stuck on so far. I'm going to add a couple more once im done waiting for this stuff to set up.

Here is my disorganized work space, with kitty off in the right corner.


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 3, 2017)

Did u finish


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 4, 2017)

So I used aquarium sealant to add another clump of fake plant fronds to the other side. Have to leave the stuff to set up forever it feels like.... Finally decided to give the pump + waterfall a test before attaching the tubing.
I was happy with my results so far! I wasn't sure I was going to get my cascading effect on such a small scale.
But then I had to leave it alone again to dry out for a day.
So today I used sealant to affix the l-joint to the back of the waterfall before I attach the tubing for the pump. Sealed some weak spots where water was spraying out the back.
And now, I have to wait (yet again) for 24 hours so that the aquarium sealant can set up completely. I think its only 24 hours...mabey 48, sheesh!


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 4, 2017)

Looking forwad to the final product


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 7, 2017)

So I let my driftwood waterfall sit for the whole 48 hours. It was kind of top heavy, so I masking taped it to a plate to keep it steady.
I was a little worried that I was just going to rip the plastic elbow out of the driftwood trying to get the tubing for the pump into it.
But the aquarium sealant held it in there pretty well. I decided not to put the tubing behind the background so that it would be easier to work with. Then i put a large zip tie around the tube. Then i bent the zipper part, and shoved it into the seem between two pieces of background material, so that it would get held in place by tension behind the background. The texture of the zip tie makes it easy to adjust the angle of the tubing so that it wont put too much pressure on the plastic elbow by pushing / pulling the thing in and out. I put a little rubber band on the driftwood to hold the tubing in place. Oh yeah, I also put a piece of foam as a filter on the pump, since I read several reviews that suggested that.
The first time I fired it up , I had it set to the max setting. Um....not a good idea. It shot water all over the place full blast! Turning it all way down to the lowest minimum setting produced a steady drip. So I turned it just above the minimum setting and got a perfect cascade effect.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 7, 2017)

Artemis seemed interested in watching me work on installing the water feature. But when I turned it on she seemed completely uninterested and just buried herself again.
Bratty girl.
So later, after obsessively fussing with the thing for a few hours, i got her out and set her on the opposite side of the table from the waterfall. She seemed a little nervous at first. The occasional spray from the water got her attention though. Then she walked over and cutely licked water droplets off of all the beach rocks before climbing under the water stream and hanging out for a while!


----------



## Rylatts (Jan 7, 2017)

Beasty_Artemis said:


> Artemis seemed interested in watching me work on installing the water feature. But when I turned it on she seemed completely uninterested and just buried herself again.
> Bratty girl.
> So later, after obsessively fussing with the thing for a few hours, i got her out and set her on the opposite side of the table from the waterfall. She seemed a little nervous at first. The occasional spray from the water got her attention though. Then she walked over and cutely licked water droplets off of all the beach rocks before climbing under the water stream and hanging out for a while!
> 
> View attachment 196588



Looks great!!

Just out of curiosity is the water being circulated or are you just topping the water up now and then?

This has given me a really good idea for when I build my bigger enclosure. Thinking about making a waterfall at one end and having a stream leading down to a small pond type thing at the other end


----------



## Linhdan Nguyen (Jan 7, 2017)

wow that looks great !


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 7, 2017)

The water is circulating. Once I can find one, I'll add a water hyacinth to increase filtration!
I didn't like how I had to have the plant saucer leaning over to allow one side to overflow back into the system.
So I went to the store and got a couple of slightly smaller saucers so I could practice breaking a notch out of the rim . They were all out of the same size I have right now. I would have sworn that it was the 6 " size, I guess its bigger.
By the way, I just soaked them in warm water for an hour or two. Then I took a pair of pliers and squeezed little chunks off of the edge until it formed the minimal overflow point.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 8, 2017)

I felt like adding a layer of moss over the screen was spunging up too much water from the system, and transfering it out into my sphagnum moss layer. It seemed like it was contributing too much moisture to my humid side. So i used the smaller tray, and replaced the moss layer with a gravel layer.
Seems to be working better. Not so much moisture getting absorbed into the moss. Unfortunately, now that I replaced the larger plant saucer, I'm in need of some more pretty rocks to fill in my water reservoir.
I threw the dollar store rocks I bought out into my flower pots. After struggling to get the varnish off of them, it was a huge waste of trouble! Just kept making the water in my bucket dirty no matter what!!!
So my boyfriend found my rock polisher that I left in storage, and there was still a good hand full of beach rocks that I don't remember polishing in the thing! Cool! So as soon as I can get some more polishing grit (roads are icy today) I will refill it and make Artemis some more pretty rocks to fill up her waterfall.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 8, 2017)

Those colorfull green and pink rocks are jade, moss agates, pink agates, and oregon sunstone from Garibaldi , and Rockaway Beach , on the Oregon coast. I wish i hadnt lost the rest of my beach rocks!


----------



## Linhdan Nguyen (Jan 8, 2017)

looks amazing !


----------



## Maro2Bear (Jan 8, 2017)

Looks great, the Venus Fly Trap looks nice and healthy.


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 8, 2017)

To make the notch us a file and it looks awesome


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 8, 2017)

BTW I was wondering if u tort eats the Venus fly trap???


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 8, 2017)

Maro2Bear said:


> Looks great, the Venus Fly Trap looks nice and healthy.



Oh no! I killed my last two living Venus flytraps! So when I saw a sturdy fake one, I wanted that bad boy for my jungle! Artemis ignores her only live edible landscape plant : an aloe plant. She never seems interterested in any fake plants once she sniffs them .


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 8, 2017)

Ya I was just wondering


----------



## Alex Z (Jan 12, 2017)

Beasty_Artemis said:


> Geez! One more question!
> 
> Instead of using Eco Earth for this kit, could I just use sphagnum moss?
> I don't think I can have Eco Earth in a red foot enclosure.




You need the moss for humidity.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 21, 2017)

Update!:

So i pulled some nice colorfull rocks out of my rock polisher for Artemis's waterfall! Some very nice colors so far!
....
But i broke the belt in my polisher, so i have to wait now until i buy a new replacement! Woke up to the the canister not spinning any more. Oh well, I'll have to get multiple extras just to be safe!


----------



## Oogway the russian tort (Jan 21, 2017)

that sucks hopefully your almost done


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jan 21, 2017)

Oogway the russian tort said:


> that sucks hopefully your almost done



Slow and steady win the race!
Oh well. It may take a few loads in the polisher before i can fill that tray up! I want to add at least one live aquatic plant (mabey 2) to the banks of the waterfall to add filtration.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jun 29, 2022)

My gosh, it has been so many years . I am actually thinking about making Artemis another water feature of this design!
This post is from 2016? It's 2022


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jun 29, 2022)

I'm currently trying to come up with a fun fountain idea .... mabey just a cool piece of drift wood again?


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jun 29, 2022)

My problems that I had over the years while I had this: it clogs easily if you aren't a very good, consistent tortoise mommy. You must definitely drain any waste practically every day without missing a beat.


----------



## Beasty_Artemis (Jun 30, 2022)

If you ever do a project like this, I highly recommend it! Adding the polished rocks over time really added alot of love to the red foot table. I will definitely get myself another rock polisher I guess. And don't forget to treat the drift wood for salts.


----------



## timmy2022 (Dec 10, 2022)

Beasty_Artemis said:


> My problems that I had over the years while I had this: it clogs easily if you aren't a very good, consistent tortoise mommy. You must definitely drain any waste practically every day without missing a beat.


drain what waste?


----------

