Advice on Cleaning Waterfalls

[austin1125]

Hello all,

Kendrick is doing great it looks like, I installed his mistking system the other day and that has definitely already paid his dividends, Kendrick’s urates are the whitest I’ve seen thus far and the misting has seemed to help him hydrate properly and even poop easier. I think I have one happy little chameleon. I bought some aluminum plants too to try and test my botanic skills out and although it’s been two days, they haven’t died yet haha. I have that Zoo Med Repti Rapids Skull waterfall and I know they’re a pain to clean and need to be cleaned frequently, I cleaned it on Monday with a sponge and isopropyl alcohol on Monday; yet it seems that the mistking system keeping the humidity at 70% and misting whenever it drops down to 50% has already started to make my task of keeping the waterfall clean more difficult. I got home from work and the water was all bubbly and almost foamlike in the bottom pool. I was considering taking it out all together, but before that I was wondering if anyone who has waterfalls, has any good methods of thoroughly cleaning waterfalls to prolong the life of the water I put in, should I soak it in isopropyl, not use isopropyl and use another cleaning agent? I can’t seem to find any help on google either so I’m a bit perplexed. Here’s a picture of Kendrick this evening as soon as I got home from work too

 

[jamest0o0]

Honestly, I don't know of any experienced keepers that use them. You're best bet would be to just remove it. So much can go wrong, and now that you have a mistking there should be no reason for it.

 

[Carlton]

Save yourself the aggravation and remove it...put another nice live plant in its space in the cage. If YOU like to listen to the sound, you could always set it up in the room somewhere and let it run just for the effect.

 

[austin1125]

Honestly, I don't know of any experienced keepers that use them. You're best bet would be to just remove it. So much can go wrong, and now that you have a mistking there should be no reason for it.

I figured that was going to be the general response. It just looks so cool though so I figured I’d ask. Appreciate it!

 

[NickTide]

A waterfall is probably OK for occasional use. Like maybe 2 days with it and then clean then put it away. For instance, if your mistking breaks down and you can't get parts for two weeks.... though your cham would probably be ok with hand misting for 2 weeks, some people arent sure.

As for cleaning it... A little bit of bleach in some water. Maybe 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. Rinse it off in regular water making sure water runs through the pump and tubing. Let everything dry completely before using it again. There should be no bleach smell. If you are not sure, have someone else smell it to make sure.

 

[Grokthecube]

They look cool, but I imagine it'll turn into a septic system pretty quickly!

I think it's very important to keep practicality and cleanability in mind when setting up a cage. After all, these animals live for years, and will be in that cage for a long time to come. I've seen some visually beautiful cages that people have built on this site, but many times they also look like they'd be exceptionally laborious to keep sanitary.

I'd suggest making your life easier, and ditching the waterfall! These animals take enough time to care for without making your life harder than it needs to be.