Tips and Tricks

[jclee]

I'll follow up the lemon juice w/ a vinegar solution tip. I've started using a spray bottle of 3:1 water:vingegar for small clean-ups around the house, or in animal areas where I just need to "clean", not "sterilize." (This is great for cleaning out cricket tanks if you're breeding them.) (a) no chemicals to kill your beasties or their food (b) cheaper than any other cleaning agent (c) although your house might smell vaguely like a salad for an hour, this is not as noxious to your olfactory or tactile senses as other cleaning products. (I do generally, dislike chemically smells, and I have birds, which are sensitive to airborne fumes.)

Of course, this will not fully sterilize. It's more for the quick spot clean. If you do need to sterilize with bleach, make sure there's no vinegar solution left anywhere that you are about to bleach.

[momerath]

Originally Posted by Zip

For those of us who culture fruit flies....Michael's and AC Moore sell Excelsior. I had a hell of a time finding it locally till I found out from a friend who crafts...

I use the plastic canvas mesh sheets in my fruit flies (used for cross-stitching and crafts - find a Walmart, Michael's, etc...). Cut it into 1" or wider strips, fold in half and place into jars for the flies to climb on. It is very cheap, and the best thing is that it can be cleaned/disinfected and reused. I have been using the same stuff for years, never buy excelsior again!

[momerath]

The fruit fly thing reminded me of a couple other feeder insect tricks.
If keeping feeder crickets or roaches:
Ground rabbit pellets make for excellent food (use a regular coffee grinder to crush them, otherwise its difficult for the insects to eat the pellets) instead of expensive commercial insect food.
Watering crystals sold for use with potted plants are the same as the water crystals marketed for use with crickets, only much cheaper and it comes in a larger package that lasts and lasts....

Okay, I think that's enough tips that DON'T have to do with vive construction, as this thread was intended for... oops!

[WarrenPaul]

The best advice I can think to give is to NEVER underestimate tank maintenance when constructing a vivarium. Allow room for your hand to access all areas of glass, filters and powerheads should be easily reached and removed, and contemplate the likelihood of spot cleaning and turning over your soil semi-regularly. I've personally wasted a lot of time and effort on beautiful tanks that I was unable to clean properly, and forced to start over...

P.S. don't use silicone, especially anything that's not GE II, in a closed in space. It'll smell worse than a freshly used old litterbox.

[froggsong]

The best advice I can think to give is to NEVER underestimate tank maintenance when constructing a vivarium. Allow room for your hand to access all areas of glass, filters and powerheads should be easily reached and removed, and contemplate the likelihood of spot cleaning and turning over your soil semi-regularly. I've personally wasted a lot of time and effort on beautiful tanks that I was unable to clean properly, and forced to start over...

And where the heck were you when I was creating my frog/toad tank?!? lmao... I have a branch in a great place for viewing critters, but it makes it IMPOSSIBLE to do anything in the tank without removing the water portion of the tank... I was just stapling some tree moss to that branch today and couldn't get the stapler in there so that I could staple it all the way around.

SO, I SECOND THAT TIP! THEN I THIRD IT!

Ok, I have a tip, lol...

If you want to use some tree branch type moss on a bare branch in your tank, sterilize with CO2, let it dry out completely, staple it to the branch, muss the area around the staples to hide them, then water it. It will turn out beautifully, and if you need to remove it later all you have to do is pull out the staples, rather than trying to remove glue.

[beckdg]

Originally Posted by viva la viv

just thought i'd throw this in here a good idea for barriers when you want water to flow through but no fish to get through is a plastic mesh called plastic canvas used for bead crafts it works perfect for seperating your filter in a false bottom tank also good for attaching moss for a moss wall you guys prob all knew this though..

thought this would fit well.

[Meesha]

Be sure to wear safety goggles or glasses when cutting egg crate. Ask me how I know....

[RudeReefer]

When making a pond on the ground with great stuff....
I also use a small section of a drinking straw placed through the great stuff area before the great stuff is applied, so it acts like a little pipe so water can flow through to the false bottom easier... this way if you have a strong pump, the pond will still drain faster, and not overflow... my creek on the 47 has no pipe like this so it's a higher water level then my floor water. Usually there will be a spot in the pond that wont be visible, and you can hide the straw there. Once the great stuff is dry, cut the straw flush with scissors... check out the pics of this small 10g pond/waterfall I made, you'll see the orange straws (this is a bottom view from under the false floor). I think I actually just pushed them right through the great stuff, then chopped off the ends that were clogged.

[paulrw]

i don't know if this has been said yet but it's a good idea to keep a clamp style lamp around. when i do maintenance on my aquariums i usually have to take the lighting system off so it's hard to see in the tank with a clamp dome lamp i can fix it to the side of the tank and see clearly.

[froggsong]

DO a search for eggcrate, we say pretty often where to buy it and what section it's in. Come now, you've got to do some legwork yourself! lol.

Best tool to cut it with would be diagonal pliers (snips). Just be careful and don't do it in a room where you could injure anyone with the flying pieces. And I'd recommend closing your eyes as you snip, lol... I've been saved by my eyeglasses more times than I can count.