custom drainage system....

Last week I purchased a DIY 18x18x36 for the few cooler months here in Tampa. I also bought from DIY the matching "substrate tray". I spent a couple hours wondering around Home Depot yesterday in "design mode" to figure out my drainage system. I had just about everything figured out already in my head, with the exception of exactly what I was going to do w/ the transition of water thru the pan into the little 2 gallon bucket. After a couple of rotations thru the plumbing department I spotted the magical piece. I found a $6.95 universal sink drain kit. It had a nice little upper bezel that I thought would work perfectly. I drilled a 4" hole w/ a hole saw that I borrowed from a co-worker in the middle of the plastic DIY pan and installed the drain w/ the rubber gasket on the underside of the enclosure. I also had to clip out a few of the metal pieces on the wire shelving stand that everything is sitting on so the drain could be installed. I used an assortment of pvc parts and pieces, all w/ compression fit connections for ease of install (no glue), drilled a hole in the lid of the bucket, a couple of zip ties, and wa la I think its going to work. It came out perfect. With the weight of the schefflera that is actually placed in the center (unlike the picture), and the natural sag of the pan, all of the water wants to drain into the center. The bottom of the pot that I got for the schefflera also accommodated this design. It has raised ridges around about 75% of the circumference, and then little small openings letting the water drain right under it. No leaks, no standing water, only two trips to the Depot, and dry clean path into the bucket.

melble68 said:

I also bought from DIY the matching "substrate tray".

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Pardon my newbie-ness, but where did you get the tray from? We are also trying to figure out a drainage set up that we like for my 18x18x36 cage.

I'm pretty sure he got it from DIY cages (one of our sponsors), you might be able to get one from lll.

qdude46 said:

I'm pretty sure he got it from DIY cages (one of our sponsors), you might be able to get one from lll.

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Yep, absolutely. I needed a temporary indoor enclosure. I like what I'm working with from DIY so far. The LLL enclosures look nice and comparable too.

Yes X, you could figure out a way to hang a small vanda somehow. You have plenty to choose from. Do you have a custom 18x18x36, or did you buy it from someone? The DIY one worked out superbly for me.

btw, I still have the river stones to put in the plants. rocks and vines come tomorrow. panther comes on Tuesday am.

melble68 said:

Yep, absolutely. I needed a temporary indoor enclosure. I like what I'm working with from DIY so far. The LLL enclosures look nice and comparable too.

Yes X, you could figure out a way to hang a small vanda somehow. You have plenty to choose from. Do you have a custom 18x18x36, or did you buy it from someone? The DIY one worked out superbly for me.

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I just found them! I'm hoping to one day upgrade chief to a taller but longer cage too.... So all I'm looking at all drainage options yes I have the 18x18x36 reptibreeze

All my vandas are in my second bathrooms tub... Stupid winter. I'm still trying to figure out all the fine details of a chameleon owning me as far as setting his cage up for adequate lighting for plants. I have a bromeliad but not a lot of light gets to the bottom of the cage for the plants benefit.

Great idea, I will consider this on my next cage

Fantastic! Thanks for posting! Right now I just have an 18x18 tile and the water conveniently runs to 1 corner and drips down into a small container, but not always - which makes a mess. I really need to build something like this.

I've done a couple of additional tweeks to this since I did the original project in Nov.

1st mod: due to the wait of the plant, the tray vertical edges flexed in a bit and created a small gap between the edges and the screen. It gave space for "escapees". I fixed that real quick due to the wifey factor. Gotta love duct tape. I duct taped all 4 bottom edges of the screen frames to the bottom of the substrate tray. ZERO escapees since the addition of the duct tape.

2nd mod: this has to do w/ the custom made dripper that I try to have drip on a vine and then directly to the substrate tray bottom, instead of dripping into the schefflera. I was getting some knats due to the amount of moisture in the soil. The problem then with the drip hitting the bottom was the splash factor. I solved that with a couple custom cut pieces of plexiglass. One piece 18"s high is cut to the inside width w/ a little extra so it flex's between the two side screen frames and holds tight. I then have another piece that's 18"s high on the left side that only about 9-10" wide that is held in place by the back side plexi. No splashy outside the enclosure.

NitroRoo said:

Fantastic! Thanks for posting! Right now I just have an 18x18 tile and the water conveniently runs to 1 corner and drips down into a small container, but not always - which makes a mess. I really need to build something like this.

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Eventhough I was able to customize my DIY substrate tray to work perfectly fine for my set up, the LLL screen cage water trays might be better for some folks applications. I would think the LLL water tray would be great for enclosures that have the screen bottoms. One reasonable whole for drainage above a bucket, and wa la!!!!! LLL makes a 24x24, and an 18x18

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/-/24-x-24-x-48-screen-cage-water-tray/

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-cages/-/18-x-18-x-36-screen-cage-water-tray/

For my drainage I have a layer of lecker balls( sorry don't know how to spell it) it's also known as hydro balls. I have a layer in the bottom of the tank and In one corner I have to top of a bottle so I can use a bit of airline tube to suck it and syphone it out whenever it's needed. This also helps keep the plants alive so a good way if only a couple of cages.