Acronyms and General Info

[janelc]

I (Froggsong) have added a few things to this original post. Everything I have added is preceded by an asterisk (*), that way I don't have to keep typing out "*added by Froggsong".

What I Have Learned So Far….

Backgrounds
-are usually made of a combination of egg crate (actually fluorescent diffuser light panels *Also called Eggcrate Louvers), Great Stuff foam, silicone, and either coco fiber *(or milled sphagnum peat moss) or moss *(non-milled), or both.
-they can be attached to either the glass wall of the tank or to the egg crate
-can be sculpted any way you want
-can be planted with plants in small pots


Foam
-is called "Great Stuff" foam here in the U.S. (red can)
-is an expanding foam designed to insulate pipes, cracks, etc…
-is completely inert when cured
-can be carved with a simple serrated knife
-can be covered with grout or thin-set concrete (caution: needs to soak in vinegar for weeks to get pH just right) *or Habba-crete, which is said to have a neutral pH and does not require soaking.
*-can cause foaming of water when carved if it is not covered. I'm not sure if it has been established whether or not this is harmful.


Silicone
-preferred brand is "GE"
-debate still wages over I vs. II
-my observations after having used both:
Silicone I is much more odoriferous and takes longer to cure, generally has a thicker consistency, no "Bio Shield" to prevent mold

Silicone II does not seem to have the powerful odor that I has, takes less time to cure, has a somewhat thinner consistency, has "Bio Shield" to prevent mold (this is apparently a no-no is aquariums), is just as sticky and messy as Silicone 1 !!!!

*Type I WILL shrink after time (considerably), while type II will not.

*While the debate still rages over the safety of either one, there is much evidence that both types are completely safe, both above AND below the water line.

Planting
-the debate still wages whether to plant directly into substrate or leave in pots
-Waterkeeper has an excellent suggestion of enclosing the root ball in a mesh bag to keep the plant from growing too big (actually, Waterkeeper has A LOT of excellent suggestions-check out his blog!!!)
-many people also put plants on the background using small pots

Substrate
-dependent upon animal
-for good drainage should be layered as such (bottom to top order):
LECA or gravel
some sort of screening
sphagnum moss
coco fiber
potting soil (many different types-preferred is organic without any "sludge" components or chemical additives, no perlite or vermiculite)
-LECA stands for Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate (?) these really cool clay balls that are heavily used in hydroponics, makes vivarium weigh less than with traditional gravel

Posting
-one should really read the entire post before responding
-one should carefully word postings-it is extremely difficult to get nuances from words alone (that is why "smilies" are so great!)
-this is a great forum with tons and tons of knowledge
-people here are really great about sharing that knowledge
-it takes 30 posts to graduate from a junior member to a member
*While this forum is fairly informal, lets try to keep threads ON topic. If you have a question that is not directly related to the thread you want to post it on, make a new one. That way your question can receive the attention it deserves, and the original thread still gets the attention it deserves.

*Posting Pics TO a Thread
To post pics to a thread (where you actually see a full sized image), all you need to do is use a photo hosting site such as photobucket.com. You upload your pics to their site, and they give you a number of codes to choose from to use your pictures in different ways. The code you will need for this is the IMG code. All you do is copy the code (one click with photobucket), and then paste it into the thread in the appropriate place. The picture should automatically resize itself to fit in the thread properly. Hope that helps! I know it is a question I see alot from new members.


Acronyms
-GTF=green tree frog
-RETF=red eye tree frog
-PDF=poison dart frog
-CWD=Chinese water dragon
-AWD=Australian water dragon
*-GS=Great Stuff foam
*-FBT=fire-bellied toad
*-LFS= Local Fish Store
*-LPS= Local Pet Store
*-BG= BackGround
*-FB= False Bottom
*-CB= Captive Bred
*-WC= Wild Caught
*-FT or F/T= Frozen Thawed
*-PK= Pre-Killed
*-WT= Water Table (I'm not sure how often you will see this one)
*-DL= Drainage Layer
*-LECA= Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate
*-OP= Original Poster
*-FBN= Fire Belly Newt (can be used to describe a large variety of newts)

*Definitions
Herp refers to reptiles and amphibians.
Herper refers to people that keep reptiles and/or amphibians.
Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.
Terrarium refers to a tank with ONLY plants.
Vivarium refers to a tank with plants and animals.
Paludarium refers to a tank that is part land, part water.
(Some people also refer to a plain, unplanted tank as a terrarium, but that is inaccurate. Also, vivariums can have water areas, but for it to technically BE a vivarium, it would be a water dish, rather than a water feature or pond.)
Vive (sometimes viv) refers to a vivarium.
Vivaria refers to multiple vivariums.
Sling refers to a spiderling, a very young spider or tarantula.


Miscellany
-do a lot of research before buying your animal (it appears as thought a lot of people have had bad experiences with pet store employees)
-Waterkeeper has a really great blog and has been keeping us in suspense far too long
-beefcakemighty has a cool set up and even cooler tattoos
-tagobar has the coolest gecko set up ever-but his website is in Russian
-froggsong is a great source of readily available information
-alex1976 makes great rocks out of foam and his wife sells very interesting “tupperware”

Can you all tell I’m a teacher!!!! (There will be a quiz on this later….)

Please add or fill in what I have missed please!!!

[alex1976]

Don't forget FB (false bottom) acronym.

[froggsong]

Originally Posted by alex1976

Don't forget FB (false bottom) acronym.

and BG (or bg) for background (or am I the only one that does that?).

[froggsong]

This has been copied to save all relevant info into a sticky. If you have any more acronyms or relevant info to add, feel free. This is not the entire original thread, because some of it was way off topic. Let's try to keep it on topic this time, please.

[froggsong]

I would like to add:

CB = Captive Bread
WC = Wild Caught

It isn't an acronym, but it has been asked before:
Herp refers to reptiles and amphibians.
Herper refers to people that keep reptiles and/or amphibians.
Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.

[Fisherman 1991]

FT or F/T = frozen thawed (as in rats/mice)

Didnt see this on here, so I though I'd add it.

[froggsong]

Also PK for pre-killed. Good idea fisherman! I hadn't thought of those!

[sinflspeed]

"It isn't an acronym, but it has been asked before:
Herp refers to reptiles and amphibians.
Herper refers to people that keep reptiles and/or amphibians.
Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians."

Add Herpes the stuff you don't want to catch! He He

[Boozled]

Okay...too a teacher PK means Pre-Kindergarten. All though some might want to PK a PKer....get it?

[Rainfrog]

DL for Drainage layer. Sub= substrate, EC = egg crate WT= Water Table, WB Weed Barrier, CF coco fiber

I like to use a LECA DL with WB separating it from the sub. I place this in front of the GS BK (covered in GE and CF). unless of course I've used a FB made of EC and PVC over my WT in my VIV that houses some FBTs