Drainage

[OliFC9]

Hey guys, so I’ve had a bioactive setup for my chameleon for a while now and I drain it mostly every day or every other day manually. I was thinking of switching to no substrate but I’m not sure how I would drain it as I don’t want a build up of water at the bottom. The bottom of the terrarium is glass so I don’t think I can properly drill through either. Any suggestions?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hey guys, so I’ve had a bioactive setup for my chameleon for a while now and I drain it mostly every day or every other day manually. I was thinking of switching to no substrate but I’m not sure how I would drain it as I don’t want a build up of water at the bottom. The bottom of the terrarium is glass so I don’t think I can properly drill through either. Any suggestions?

I did have a 100 gallon aquarium that a glass shop drilled a 2" hole in.
They used a diamond abrasive wheel.
And that was tempered glass...
Maybe make a few phone calls and see if its economically feasible.
Then you can attach a PVC bulkhead. Etc.
You could also remove the bottom glass and replace it with Lexan. But that even SOUNDS scary!

 

[OliFC9]

I did have a 100 gallon aquarium that a glass shop drilled a 2" hole in.
They used a diamond abrasive wheel.
And that was tempered glass...
Maybe make a few phone calls and see if its economically feasible.
Then you can attach a PVC bulkhead. Etc.
You could also remove the bottom glass and replace it with Lexan. But that even SOUNDS scary!

Yeah it does sound scary , yeah I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for the advice

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

If the bottom is removable, perhaps replace it with PVC or screen, and mount it on top of a drain pan.
It's not too difficult to install a bulkhead in a drain pan, and have it gravity drain, which is what I believe most enclosures do. (That or daily wet-dry vacuuming the water out.)

Either way, IDT you have to sacrifice bioactive unles you want to. Many here do bioactive and still provide gravity drainage.

Suggest you go through the Enclosure Picture Threads at the top of this forum, and/or serch the archives for threads with drainage in the title for ideas.