Vivarium Drainage Layer Calculator

Drainage layer depth and media from enclosure dimensions.

Enclosure length (in)

Enclosure width (in)

Total substrate depth (in)

Drainage media (0-2)

Tab to move between fields

Drainage depth (in)

Media volume (liters)10.6

Media volume (quarts)11.2

Media weight (lbs)9.7

Mesh barrier (sq ft)4.5

Water capacity (gal)1.26

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Enclosure length (in), Enclosure width (in), and Total substrate depth (in).
Set Drainage media (0-2).
Review the Drainage depth (in) result.
Use Media volume (liters) and Media volume (quarts) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Total substrate depth (in)

Enclosure length (in): Interior length of your vivarium in inches.
Enclosure width (in): Interior width (front-to-back) in inches.
Total substrate depth (in): Total height of all substrate layers combined (drainage + soil + top dressing).
Drainage media (0-2): 0 = LECA (clay balls), 1 = lava rock, 2 = bio-balls.

Drainage depth (in): Recommended drainage layer depth.
Media volume (liters): Volume of drainage media needed.
Media volume (quarts): Volume of drainage media in dry quarts.
Media weight (lbs): Approximate weight of the drainage media.
Mesh barrier (sq ft): Area of mesh screen needed to separate drainage from substrate.
Water capacity (gal): How much excess water the drainage layer can hold before overflow.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Enclosure length (in) = 36, Enclosure width (in) = 18, Total substrate depth (in) = 5, Drainage media (0-2) = 0 = 4 input(s) provided
Calculate Drainage depth
Drainage depth = max(1, totalSubstrateDepthIn * 0.20)
1 = 1
Calculate Media volume
Media volume = drainageVolumeCuIn / 61.024
10.6 = 10.6
Calculate Media volume
Media volume = drainageVolumeCuIn / 57.75
11.2 = 11.2