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Moss and glue

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rheann

Guest
What type of glue/paste can be used to glue moss to the back of the terrarium without killing it? I'm talking about like Pete Moss and pillow moss. I would like to make a background for a tank using tree bark, rocks, and pete moss and pillow moss.

Any suggestions will help me greatly. Thanks guys
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jennifer

Guest
I'm not sure exactly what you have in mind, but here are some random thoughts. If you are going to glue things onto the tank, it seems to me that they should be non-live things. Pillow moss is usually alive when you get it, but is likely to die no matter what kind of glue you use to stick it on. Peat moss is a dry brown powdery substance... i'm not sure this is really what you mean.

Could you glue on the cork bark and rocks and then hang some "drapey" looking dry moss or silk plants from it? Perhaps it wouldn't need to be glued in place. Live moss won't do well unless it's on a damp substrate, so I don't think that will work.

As for glue, aquarium silicone is the most easily available. You can use a hot glue gun, but it's not likely to hold as well. If you want to get really serious, you could use black expanding foam (or white expanding foam and paint it).

One other random thought... you can mix together aquarium silicone with peat moss or coco-fiber to make a natural looking substance to fill small spaces.
 

justin

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There are some methods that dart frog people use for something like this. You can use a brown or black silicone and apply a layer on the background and then put our peat into that. The other two are similar where you use an expanding foam and shape what you would like out of that for you background. Then you could use silicon over top of the foam, or use an adhesive mixed with your dirt and place that on to dry. I have used all of these methods in the past. If you just want a background like peat, I would use the cocos panels-- do a search online, I think there are now several vendors in the US now, like Black Jungle (it is originally from the Netherlands). The panels are a bit expensive, but they are really amazing.
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justin

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Sorry, I also wanted to mention the addition of live moss (I have used java moss) to grow on the peat medium on the background. If this is your goal (and depending on what species you are housing), you will need to keep it moist with either a spray bar, drip wall, or hand misting it.
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R

rheann

Guest
Oh my goodness gracious, thanks all for posting your replies
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. Wow, and Andy, thanks for the link! Now I know exactly what I am doing and I am looking forward to this set-up.

This set-up will be for a single Fire Salamander and I will start on the project possibly this week. I want to get a bit more research into making the terrarium first. I have the tank and the lighting.

Thanks again everyone
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R

rheann

Guest
I also have another question, forgot to post this.

I have read that grape wood is toxic for aquariums. Is it toxic for frogs and salamanders? There are some great pieces of grape wood here at my local petsmart that I would like to pic up to use with the background, but would like to make sure of the dangers first.

Thanks again guys
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edward

Guest
I doubt that grapewood in and of itself is toxic as I have been using collected vines in wet and aquatic enclosures for almost 15 years and it is a browse item (meaning that the stems and leaves can be fed to herbiverous animals with no effects). The problem is that in wet conditions it does breakdown quickly and depending on the time of year the wood was collected it can have a significant sugar content causing it to mold.

It is possible that the grape wood you are seeing in the stores is collect from vineyards and if so then it may contain pesticides that can leach when wet.

Ed
 
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rheann

Guest
lol Thanks edward, didn't see your post here, I posted the question about grapewood in another thread.

Thanks for letting me know about the grapewood. Before I purchase any grapewood I'll find out where it came from first if I can to avoid pesticides
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Thanks again ^__^.
 
A

andy

Guest
If you don't want to go to all that trouble though you could use cork tiles, they look great in Salamandra set ups and they just stick onto the inside back piece of glass with silicone.
 
R

rheann

Guest
Thanks Andy
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.

I saw some cork at the pet shop I like how it looks
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. I might try some of that if this project doesn't work for me.
 
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