paludarium waterfall filter

[Ej6hatchie]

Hello,

I am currently building a 20gal long paludarium with a built in waterfall formed with "touch n foam" spray foam. I just carved the surface of the foam and applied silicone and dried coco husk for a makeshift background mix.

Im having some trouble trying to filter the tank. I foamed a piece of PVC pipe into the background itself, but i was wondering if i could somehow make my waterfall into a fully functional filter? I was planning on adding a platform where the water meets land with eggcrate, layering the eggcrate with pollyfill, then putting gravel and lavarock on top of it, creating somewhat of a slope back to the water. Would this be sufficient enough? I was thinking of running a canister filter but i would rather hide as much tubing/wires as possible.

Any input? will this be sufficient? the tank should be half filled, and with gravel id suspect it to be roughly 8 gallons of water when said and done.

 

[Ej6hatchie]

I was planning on having the waterfall on the left side of the tank (where the built in PVC pipe is) and have it drain down the left corner into a pile of lava rock/gravel. then onto the eggcrate platform, which will also have a bit of gravel, then through the polyfill (filter floss) then back into the water. I assume the polyfill will turn brown over time and look more natural, i plan on having some plants and driftwood in the water section too so it looks less obvious