Definitions

[taipan]

Question People
What are the differences between the following ( or correct me if I am wrong )
Vivarium: Enclosure for "specific animals & plants" - combined ?
Terrarium: Enclosure for plants only ?
Paludariums: partial water & land enclosure ?
I have viewed the Paludariums in "Aquaticcentral" forum where they have a yearly contest, should view it if you have not done so before - they have some brilliant setups. Some have housed both fish & land animals, would this make them a vivarium ??.

[Jason]

Terrarium

A small enclosure or closed container in which selected living plants and sometimes small land animals, These can be made to suit your needs and are often not subject to severe recreation of a natural environment. Some slack in environmental controls are afforded here. This is often the cheapest version of tank creation and relies on a the least amount of environmental controls.

Vivarium

A vivarium is an area, usually enclosed, for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Often, a portion of the ecosystem for a particular species is simulated on a smaller scale, with controls for environmental conditions. These are often duplicates of natural surroundings and are species specific setups in regards to plants and animals. This is often an expensive task more so then Terrariums but not as expensive and a Paludarium.


Paludarium

A paludarium is a cross between an aquarium and a terrarium, encasing a miniaturized world of unusual landscapes and plants in a tropical environment. Or Vivarium and aquarium. In my opinion the most expensive and hardest of the setups due to the required mechanics involved for not only Land maintenance but water maintenance as well, This set up will intorduce the most enviromental controls to your project.

I hope this helps ya out some.

[Evilwezal]

I guess by definition my setup is a Paludarium. I've a large pool of water in the middle of my tank flanked by land on both sides.

[taipan]

Thanks for the clarification, I tried to set up a small tank as a paludarium some time ago using natural materials but it was a complete disaster. I have a small tank that will be a terrarium but that project will have to wait as I have another 48" tank that will ( depending on pH & hardness test outcome ) be set up to house some more tentacled snakes. This time with aquatic plants & hopefully the water will have a lower pH than last time.