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Waterfall from filter?

diamondlittle

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Hey everyone,
I am writing to get ideas about how to make a waterfall from my filter. I have a Tetra filter, where the water cascades down. I feel like this creates too much of a current for my chinese fire bellied newts, and I want to add something to the tank such that the water will flow down naturally without making too big a splash. I don't want to stack rocks, as I feel this woud be too heavy for the tank that I have. I have used wood in the tank before, only to find that it gets moldy VERY fast. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
One possibilty is to just use one rock that is slightly smaller than the filter. Position it in front of the filter so that the outflow pours onto it instead of making a big splash back into the main body of water. I'm not sure what kind of wood that you have tried however standard driftwood sold for freshwater aquaria should be fairly resistant to mold. The flip side however is that you may not know where the wood was collected from and there is a possibility of contaminants leaching into the water (I usually collect my own driftwood). Also, there are a number of synthetic rock and wood products on the market now which are generally very lightweight, this may be an option to explore as well.
Chip
 
Another idea would be one of those "turtle docks" that float, and usually have suction cups to anchor them to the glass where you want them. If you can find cork bark, it doesn't mold.

Regarding stacked rocks (or bricks), I doubt that they would be too heavy for your tank. And if they are too heavy for the tank, then the tank may not be strong enough to hold much water. Water itself is surprisingly heavy.

One other concern, however, is that you need to make the area around the filter absolutely escape-proof, and this is not easy with that kind of filter. See:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/escape.shtml
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/filters.shtml
 
Thanks for the input everyone. That's good to know about drift wood. I don't know what kind of wood I tried, it was this big tree thing that I got at a pet store, but I guess it wasn't meant for wet environments. As far as not wanting to put rocks in the tank, that is only because my mom asked me not too, she's afraid of the tanking breaking and making a huge mess. It is actually a brand new aquarium tank, so I know it's ok to hold water. I've completely redone my tank since I last posted, and this is the last thing I need to change. Thanks!
 
Funniest photo ever.

escape17.jpg
 
um...yes....very....

Um- Wouldnt it be best to either find or hollow out a rock, sort of so its a drain pine shape- except half- the words excaped me....then the water would flow......just ignore me lol...
 
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