Anyone using a portable toilet tank as a drainage reservoir?

[benjamindavis]

I keep a veiled chameleon in a screened enclosure in my Denver apartment, and the drainage situation has gotten old. Right now I have a plastic bin under the cage with a bulkhead fitting, but it fills fast and hauling it to the tub is a mess. I saw a portable RV toilet with a 5.8 gallon holding tank online, and the sealed tank and easy-empty design got me thinking it could work as a drainage reservoir instead of a toilet. My concern is whether the plastic is safe for the water that drains through the cage, since it's meant for waste, and whether the fittings would hold up to daily misting runoff without leaking. I also worry a tank like that could be overkill for one chameleon and harder to clean than a simple bucket. Has anyone here tried adapting an RV-style holding tank for drainage, or found a better sealed option for a small apartment setup? I'd like to hear what's worked for you.

 

[MissSkittles]

Can you post some pics of your enclosure? How often and for how long do you mist for? In all of the various set ups I’ve had, I’ve had zero issues with excess water drainage. I recently took down my bioactive set ups and now just have a few potted plants and a plastic substrate tray. I expected I would need to be pulling out my wet vac, but the water evaporates in between mistings.

 

[Carlton]

I used plastic storage bins under the cage to catch drainage. To empty, just used a squeeze pump and attached hose draining into a bucket. Something like the fuel siphon used to transfer fuel in/out of a boat's portable outboard motor gas tank. Even if there wasn't much elevation difference between drain bin and bucket, once you got the flow going it sort of ran itself.

Ideas that may be simpler than your toilet tank idea, plus easier to wrestle with.

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...4_Automotive-and-RV-and-Marine_All_All_All_v2

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-25309/Pail-Pumps/Siphon-Pail-Pump?pricode=WC4670&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=pla&utm_term=S-25309&utm_campaign=Drums,+Pails+&+Containers&utm_source=Bing&utm_medium=pla&utm_term=S-25309&utm_campaign=Drums,+Pails+&+Containers&ad_group_id=1249046516742422&msclkid=e7cebfbf20f517e85d85d54d61021c03

 

[BigSkyCham]

I looked at hundreds of water container designs…sizes, capacities, opening size etc. tried to find something that would fit two in the cabinet under my Vivarium. One for the mist king reservoir and the other for the overflow.

https://a.co/d/03IVijCN

This is what fit my cabinet. There are loads of tall skinny style containers. Only a few with a hole large enough to fit my hand into for proper cleaning.

I need to fill it about once a month. Not a drop has drained into my overflow tank in about 4 months. My Viv is glass and bioactive: a hydroton drainage layer and an elevated false bottom with an overflow bulkhead about 1.5” above the Viv bottom.