Does anyone use false bottom covered with screen then your proper substrate on top? And how about charcoal? Anybody using it?
False bottom and charcoal
- Thread starter Pearly
- Start date
False bottom(it's the latest craze amongst celebrities). Ok ok ok back to torts. 
What do you mean pearly? Are you thinking for drainage.
What do you mean pearly? Are you thinking for drainage.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2012
- Messages
- 13,454
No it's for humidity . I've used this with my reds when they were small . Worked great and no shell rot .
What would the charcoal do? Usually from what I have ever heard/learn, the water has to run over it, not just sit in it, for the charcoal to do its job.
Yes! Plenty of false bottoms, false all kinds of body parts around here for sure yes, I read that some people put some coarse gritty stuff for drainage and humidity. I think I saw something on that in your new enclosure thread too, only on much bigger scaleFalse bottom(it's the latest craze amongst celebrities). Ok ok ok back to torts.
What do you mean pearly? Are you thinking for drainage.
For both, drainage and humidity. I was browsing the net the other day looking for some ideas on how to yet make my terrarium better for the babies (well, one baby, the other one's still missing") while working on the outdoor enclosure. I've decided that I might leave the terrarium going even after the torts no longer need it, or maybe get in touch with the local rescue and start fostering some tort babies... since I've become so comfortable on getting them through the infancy and giving them good healthy start... Will see, but the article that was talking about those "false bottoms" was about crested gecko habitat i think. They suggested coarse grit on the bottom, covered by some screen or mesh, then layer of charcoal on to of it covered with another mesh to prevent things from mixing, then the substrate. I liked the idea of good drainage, and charcoal in there, as those are essential for healthy plants and I love plants and have been determined to find some that will provide enrichment to my animals, sight barriers, help humidity, add more snack options, ground covers to give those little feet soft carpet to walk on as well as keep things a lot cleaner. Not to mention the esthetic value of live plants in the tank. Same goes for the outdoors habitate, for my torts it has to have lots of plants, colors and textures. I've seen that some people would use stuff that looks like Perlite for that "false bottom" then they cover it with mesh, then charcoal, then mesh again but I don't have any ideas how to affix that mesh to the tank walls so it doesn't start "leaking" Perlite into the substrate during consecutive substrate clean up and turning... Another article had what looked like those hydropnic balls. I am kinda interested in looking deeper into that one. Let me know if you have any thoughts ob that
Running water through charcoal is for the flitration. My purpouse for having charcoal in there is keeping chemical stability and healthy air for that babies and the plants. I'm hoping for the charcoal to become a "wick" for the toxic stuff and and bad smells that may be present when animal food is brought in from the outside into self contained little habitat. Mine doesn't smell bad at all, but I want to see if I can get it step further
I think I'll experiment for a while before settle into any routine. I will not be adding charcoal to the outdoor substrate. That's only for covered top systems. For the outside it's just plants, big and small and tons of ground covers
NDevon
Active Member
Did you take this any further Pearly, or find out anything else interesting? As I'm extending my vivarium I'm looking at what else I can do in there so I'd be interested to know your thoughts
Well, I found an activated charcoal but it's pricey! 10.99$ for little bag... I also found the "hydroballs" (they feel like lava rock), those 2 things would be awesome for water feature in the tank, you could put a water pump in there and make a little waterfall.
My substrate got too wet (the kids were running fogger for way too long and things got soggy) so I'm starting over (as much as I hate it). I put thin layer (thin, bcs that was all the charcoal I had) of charcoal on the bottom, then about 2" layer of reptibark, then about 3" layer of the old substrate, then about 1.5" orchid potting mix. I hate it!!!! The orchid mix was a mistake! I thought I was getting orchid bark. This thing has soil in it, it get things very dirty. Water bowl from getting cleaned once a day now needs attention several times per day and never stays clean. The babies seem to like digging in it though, so I'm still debating on what to do with the top dressing. I just really LOVED the moss cover! Might have to get back to it
One more thing, activated charcoal is supposed to take care of any potential odors by neutralizing toxins
NDevon
Active Member
Thanks for the updates. I have a topsoil base layer then soe of the enclosure has coco soil and the rest has moss. I find the coco soil dries out very quickly, the moss holds moisture for longer (obviously I suppose...).
Interesting you mention water feature, in my big extension to their vivarium I'm planning to add a pond, heated by a heaped under and a CHE above both connected to a thermostat, but I want to have the water filtered and circulated to keep it clean. I then wondered about adding a waterfall type feature, not one of the ready made things you can buy as they don't seem to last, I will make my own and add a much better pump. Was just debating the filter system, I wouldn't want to use a pumps own filter as it would clog too easily, so I was thinking of building a small dividing wall comprising of some kind of filter medium then the pump would be in this smaller section. That way the filter wouldn't block up ever 5 minutes. I don't need a waterfall, I just thought it would make things more interesting for them as they could sit under it. Just got to work out the logistics. I think I've worked out how to build the pond itself so it doesn't flood the rest of the vivarium, and it would be easy to remove to clean out.
Are you adding a water feature or just thinking about it?
Interesting you mention water feature, in my big extension to their vivarium I'm planning to add a pond, heated by a heaped under and a CHE above both connected to a thermostat, but I want to have the water filtered and circulated to keep it clean. I then wondered about adding a waterfall type feature, not one of the ready made things you can buy as they don't seem to last, I will make my own and add a much better pump. Was just debating the filter system, I wouldn't want to use a pumps own filter as it would clog too easily, so I was thinking of building a small dividing wall comprising of some kind of filter medium then the pump would be in this smaller section. That way the filter wouldn't block up ever 5 minutes. I don't need a waterfall, I just thought it would make things more interesting for them as they could sit under it. Just got to work out the logistics. I think I've worked out how to build the pond itself so it doesn't flood the rest of the vivarium, and it would be easy to remove to clean out.
Are you adding a water feature or just thinking about it?
There are some interesting dyi sites for vivaria waterfalls which utilize the false bottom and charcoal for water filtration. I don't intent to do one in the babies tank, but will definitely do a little wading pool for them in the Tortoise Garden. Will just have to figure out how to keep mosquitos out. I hate skeeters! (The females, bcs they bite)
Definitely adding water feature to the outside tort garden. It has to be "moving water" otherwise skeeters will eat us all alive. So some sort of a waterfall/stream kinda thing. On a side note, I am not handy! At all!!! It'll be very interesting!
