# Best way to attach palnts to the side of a vivarium



## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

*Best way to attach plants to the side of a vivarium*

Hello, me again lol. Whats the best way to attach plants to the side of a viv, i have a poly background on my exoterra but wanted to someone attach a creeping fig to one of the sides so it can grow down and give my (future) frogs something to hide in. I have seen some sort of clear perspex clear pot that someone has attached to the side in a book but can't find anywhere that says how they made it and stuck it on.


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## supernaturalfan (Jul 23, 2011)

bash_on_recce said:


> Hello, me again lol. Whats the best way to attach plants to the side of a viv, i have a poly background on my exoterra but wanted to someone attach a creeping fig to one of the sides so it can grow down and give my (future) frogs something to hide in. I have seen some sort of clear perspex clear pot that someone has attached to the side in a book but can't find anywhere that says how they made it and stuck it on.


Hm, can't say I've seen anything like that. Wouldn't a plastic tub with a planted fig or whatever taped to the side of the viv and placed through mesh not work? Could even hide the tub at the back of the viv?

Another thing is what about airplants? Apparently they grow on just about anything (wood, stone etc). In fact they apparently die if you plant them, odd kinda plant  

Anyway here's a link about them Tillandsia - Air Plants

Don't know enough to say which are suitable for frogs but I'm sure there's a toxic plant list in the forums somewhere.


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## supernaturalfan (Jul 23, 2011)

Duh!

Turns out there's a whole thread on airplants http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/737599-air-plants.html and the link I sent you is the site of a specialist on these forums and all her plants are froggie safe 

Also says in this thread that Jill is a horti specialist so would probably be able to help ya with the whole plant thing.


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## cobe (Nov 24, 2010)

i use platic coated wire hooked in place into the background. bromeliads, philodendrums and ficus are used mostly. you can use nepenthes to but as they produce pitchers it could eat any small animals.


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

You have a few choices, firstly you can get a plastic flower pot cover it with silicone on the front then push dry eco earth into it to make the pot look more natural then silicone the pot to the background, always better to do this in the corner so you can stick it to 2 walls. Then just put your plant in this or easier way is to plant either ficus pumila in the substrate and pin it to the background eventually it will root to any background. For larger frogs you could use pothos as it has bigger leaves and is tough. You could also get a cork bark tube and lean this against the backgroundl and plant in the top of this. Whatever you choose ficus pumila will soon attach itself to the background and cover it

cheers
Richie


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Ah didnt think about the hollow log idea, give my whites something to climb on too. I have seen a perspex box 10cm x 10cm, would this be ok to use, if i seal it to one of the sides? Silly question but perspex is ok to use in a tank?


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## supernaturalfan (Jul 23, 2011)

bash_on_recce said:


> Ah didnt think about the hollow log idea, give my whites something to climb on too.


Good idea, should post a pic of the finished project 



bash_on_recce said:


> I have seen a perspex box 10cm x 10cm, would this be ok to use, if i seal it to one of the sides? Silly question but perspex is ok to use in a tank?


Perspex is safe as a finished product as it is inert in normal usage. 

Only creates hazards when subject to very high heat, or when you cut the perspex creating dust and finally perspex is soluble in some organic solvents like acetone which you won't have in your viv anyway!

Just need to watch for any sharp bits which might pierce the WTF skin causing injury, otherwise should be fine.


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

A trick I used was to silicone a rounded piece of natural cork onto the back, then filled this with substrate and planted into the top of it with the plant hanging down.

You can buy clear transparant plastic pots though from orchid suppliers, they're orchid pots.

Ade


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Will have to look out for a piece of rounded cork, i like that idea.

Kind of stealing my own thread here but one last thing before i start putting it all together, im going to use zoomed eco-earth and line the bottem with zoomed hydroballs, do i need domething to split these two up? I've seen some with and some without? and if so whats best to use? I have seen egg crates etc used, i have some spare terram stuff, would that be any good?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

I use weed fabric bud, as it's cheap and easily obtained. Just don't let it dip into water as it acts like capillary matting if you do and wicks water into the substrate making it too wet.

Oh and just to illustrate the use of the natural cork bark:-










The one on the left is planted with a small growing variety of peace lilly, the one on the right I planted with wandering jew hanging down, which I later removed as it grows too fast and chokes the other plants out. I just filled them with my usual ABG based dart frog mix.

Ade


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

I will use that weed mat stuff since we have quite a bit of it left over from the gardening. The vivarium im setting up is for Whites tree frogs so hopefully it wont be too wet below the substrate. Look at some of the pictures, i wish i had made my own background  However its my first viv and i wasnt feeling brave enough so i have used an exo terra polystyrene background, does the job i guess. The tank was second hand so didnt come with one. Also going to have to buy a new lid because the one that came with it was damaged, seems a bit pricey to me but they only place i can get one is straight from exo terra.


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

bash_on_recce said:


> I will use that weed mat stuff since we have quite a bit of it left over from the gardening. The vivarium im setting up is for Whites tree frogs so hopefully it wont be too wet below the substrate. Look at some of the pictures, i wish i had made my own background  However its my first viv and i wasnt feeling brave enough so i have used an exo terra polystyrene background, does the job i guess. The tank was second hand so didnt come with one. Also going to have to buy a new lid because the one that came with it was damaged, seems a bit pricey to me but they only place i can get one is straight from exo terra.


 there is a thread on here just recently,excellantly done by KJ, about sorting an exo lid,also Andrew our friendly pollywog guru has stuff about exo lids on his site
Stu


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

No need to fix the lid for White's tree frogs, they do better with the air movement of a screen top. 

Regarding the backgrounds, I have them in our FBT viv and in our Asian golden tree frog viv, but the problem with them is that crickets eat em. lol Seriously, you end up with big areas of gray where crickets nom the surface clean off.

Ade


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

lol, new lid it is then.

Do you mean the polystyrene background Ade?


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## justairplants (Mar 2, 2010)

supernaturalfan said:


> Duh!
> 
> Turns out there's a whole thread on airplants http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/habitat/737599-air-plants.html and the link I sent you is the site of a specialist on these forums and all her plants are froggie safe
> 
> Also says in this thread that Jill is a horti specialist so would probably be able to help ya with the whole plant thing.


Well no Broms are known to be toxic and these includes Tillandsia, which most call "airplants" - however the majority of commonly sold tillies are not suitable for a high humidity environment contrary to common belief. It is also very important to plant these correctly as even those you can use in a humid environment, if incorrectly planted can rot. Generically, Broms have a lot of possible applications for vivs, but apart from the common mass produced stuff which are usually heavily treated with chemicals for the "mass market" it is safer to buy from a specialist...

In terms of "horti specialist" - I guess if you look from the commercial side of non mass-produced, as chemical free as possible, with chemicals only used to abide by DEFRA reg Bromeliads, and then care taken to make sure the plants are safe...then it is us....If you are looking for good quality plants at reasonable prices from a Chelsea Flower Show Medal Winner, not to mention other RHS Medals over the years including Gold....then I guess it is us....We use a lot of our foliage plants as "accent plants" on our RHS displays - we get judged on the quality of these too even though they are not what we are exhibiting so the foliage plants we grow also have to be of the best quality possible. We are working towards being a totally organic nursery - right now 90% of our Broms fulfill this criteria with approx 99% of those sold into the reptile trade already being there....we are now working on getting the foliaage stuff up to this level. This will mean that you can be assured of the safety of our plants.

We are always very happy to help out and advise on planting. To save time and get the best solution quickly, when we do the custom stuff it helps to know the size of viv, the inhabitants and the budget - just email [email protected] and I'll get back to you...

Cheers
www.justairplants.com


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

I picked up a guzmaina from a local supermarket, so would this be inadvisable to put in a Viv, even after washing and removing all compost in came in?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

bash_on_recce said:


> I will use that weed mat stuff since we have quite a bit of it left over from the gardening. The vivarium im setting up is for Whites tree frogs so hopefully it wont be too wet below the substrate. Look at some of the pictures, i wish i had made my own background  However its my first viv and i wasnt feeling brave enough so i have used an exo terra polystyrene background, does the job i guess. The tank was second hand so didnt come with one. Also going to have to buy a new lid because the one that came with it was damaged, seems a bit pricey to me but they only place i can get one is straight from exo terra.


 Nylon net curtain works well, too!


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## justairplants (Mar 2, 2010)

bash_on_recce said:


> I picked up a guzmaina from a local supermarket, so would this be inadvisable to put in a Viv, even after washing and removing all compost in came in?


Depends how long it has been in the supermarket :lol2:
To be a bit more serious, the problem is you just don't know what chemicals have been used on the plant. As a general rule, if you have thoroughly rinsed the plant and got rid of the compost it will most likely be OK....however the best bet is usually to keep the plant outside of the viv for a couple of weeks to make sure any chemicals have worked their way through. If you don't have any livestock in the viv yet then you would be fine to plant it straight in there and wait. The problem with the mass-produced stuff is you just don't know nor can find out, what has been used on the plant prior to you buying it. As a rule, most of the chemicals used would be low risk and probably no longer an issue by the time you buy the plant.

Guzmania are normally "forced" into flower before being sold - the chemical used is generally ethylene based and it takes at least 6-12 weeks after application to get the flower spike if not even longer. The plus side is that no ferts can be used prior to any treatment. Another issue with Guzmania, which is why we tend not to have the more common species, is that they will die after flowering (botanical term is monocarpic) - this may take many months or years as they offset after blooming. 

HTH
Gill


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Thanks Gill  At the moment im only setting the viv up slowly, dont expect to have the Whites for a few months, am determinded to do my research thoughly before evening thinking about getting any and getting the tank set up first, so as long as i remove the soil it came with and give it a darn good wash i will plant it in (likewise with the devils ivy) therefore giving it plenty of time before i get any frogs


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## bash_on_recce (Jul 31, 2011)

Still a little confused why you need to seperate the substate and the drainage level, im guessing basically its to stop the two mixing, or so its easier to replace the substrate. But what happens in a planted Viv when you need to change the substrate with all the plants rooted in it? Am i missing something? :lol2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

bash_on_recce said:


> Still a little confused why you need to seperate the substate and the drainage level, im guessing basically its to stop the two mixing, or so its easier to replace the substrate. But what happens in a planted Viv when you need to change the substrate with all the plants rooted in it? Am i missing something? :lol2:


Yep, it saves washing the substrate down into the drainage material and clogging it up. Ideally, you shouldn't have to change the substrate at all- maybe top it up a bit occasionally, but that's it. If you have the balance right with your plants and cleaner bugs etc it's pretty much self-cleaning.
If and when it comes to taking the viv apart, the soil and plants will come out together and the leca separately, but the system can run for years without needing to be changed.


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