>>1. When you build a tank with a waterfall, how do you hide the pump?



Most people build the tank so that the pump will be accessible somehow. Usually it's concealed inside a compartment made using pieces of cork bark or some other material. If you think about how to access your pump as you design and build your vivarium you should be able to incorporate it into a compartment that you can access once the vivarium is complete. Typically access is through a lift off panel or some other structure that conceals the compartment hiding the pump. I've also see it as simple as the pump being hidden behind a rock in a water feature or occasionally I've seen the pump hidden underneath an upturned ceramic pot which is then concealed artfully in the water feature. The key is using your imagination.





>>2. Where would I find a plastic/rubber strip to use as a hinge in a glass lid?



There are a number of sources for different hinge types. TAP Plastics sells an acrylic piano hinge that a lot of dart froggers use to build similar vivaria to what you're envisioning. You can see their hinges at:



http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/search.php?PHPSESSID=&search=hinges&searchform.x=0&searchform.y=0&searchform=Submit



These type of hinges have to be siliconed to the glass. I personally don't like that method as I have doubts about the long term security of the join between acrylic and glass. I know a bunch of people who've done cages this way and had no issues. For my own experiments I prefer a different type of hinge that actually holds the two edges of glass. You can find it at McMaster-Carr. You can see their hinges at:



http://www.mcmaster.com/



You have to type in 'hinges' and then scroll down until you find 'Plastic Piano Hinges'. The hinge I like is the 'Slip-over Plastic Piano Hinge.'



>>3. Vivarium plants! a) what's your favorite place to buy plants from?



I have a couple neat greenhouses near me where I can find some interesting plants but I also shop the home centers because you can find interesting stuff occasionally at Home Depot or Lowe's. However, for buying really cool obscure stuff I like Black Jungle as well as Tropiflora. Their site is:



http://www.tropiflora.com/



Tropiflora has lots of good deals and their pricing on cork bark in bulk is one of the best prices out there. Mosses can be kind of seasonal so you have to keep looking. It's a live product to supplies can fluctuate especially since no one really sells 'propagated' moss. Instead all the moss you see for sale is 'wild collected.'



>>b) What's the sturdiest type of vine I could get to grow in a tank that would be large enough to hold something along the lines of an ATB?



Sorry, but you're not going to find any vine sturdy enough to hold up an ATB that will at the same time grow well in a cage/vivarium environment. Your best bet would be to buy a decorative vine such as the ones sold by Black Jungle and then buy a vining plant like Ficus pumilla or some type of ivy, Pothos, or Philodendron species and train it to grow along the 'dead' vine. With time and some effort you can create a convincing alternative to trying to grow a live sturdy vine.
-----
Matt Campbell



"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

[ Hide Replies ]

• couple vivarium questions - redmoon, Tue Oct 2 23:48:38 2007
• RE: couple vivarium questions - Matt Campbell, Mon Oct 8 19:32:06 2007
• RE: couple vivarium questions - redmoon, Mon Oct 8 21:53:34 2007
• RE: couple vivarium questions - zach_whitman, Fri Oct 12 02:34:38 2007