my future garter vivarium

[drache]

I was trying to find the thread, but that permalink is no longer working, so I'll briefly reiterate what I remember
a few years ago one of our members lost their snakes due to bacteria proliferating in a water feature
I really don't recall the details, but I do recall that a permanent, non-removable water feature was strongly discouraged
perhaps someone else here remembers more of the specifics

[MasSalvaje]

I was trying to find the thread, but that permalink is no longer working, so I'll briefly reiterate what I remember
a few years ago one of our members lost their snakes due to bacteria proliferating in a water feature
I really don't recall the details, but I do recall that a permanent, non-removable water feature was strongly discouraged
perhaps someone else here remembers more of the specifics

Unless you get a UV filter/purifier in addition to the fluval you could run into problems with bacteria build up. The greater the rate of exchange of water and the larger the resovoir seperate from the main aquarium, the smaller your chances of having problems.
As has been mentioned you can certainly run into problems and the more variables you have the chances you run into problems increase. It takes quite a bit more work to maintain an enclosure like this one but I don't think that means you shouldn't go for it.
-Thomas