# Aquarium tank vs. Exo Terra or Zoo Med



## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

I have a serious question for you PDF mavens: 

What is the real advantage of a Zoo Med or Exo Terra "Terrarium" as opposed to an Aquarium tank? Wouldn't a a 20 High, 29 High or even 38 High give you enough height? 

1) I thought you, because your charges need very high humidity, that an aquarium tank with a glass canopy do the job; is this not the case? (And you only have to flip up the front half to do maintenance.)

2) Doesn't an aquarium tank have the advantage of an unobstructed viewing surface?

3) Or--is it the greather depth (front to back) in these terrariums?

3) OR--does the front opening panels really make it that much easier to do maintenance?

I am really curious--I have not tried an Exo Terra or Zoo Med, but I am certainly receptive if you guys feel there is a real, objective advantage.

Thanks!

G


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

The nice thing about the ZooMed (I haven't owned any other brand of terrarium) is the door you don't have to build. The kits offered online generally use very thin glass, so it is worthwhile to make your own and buy thicker glass if you build your own vert out of a 10/20G tank. 

Also, it has built-in ventilation on the door. The only alteration you need to make w/the ZooMed is to add a piece of glass sealed to the top in order to preserve high humidity.


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## rudukai13 (Jul 22, 2010)

I would imagine that the answer lies with maintanence of a heavily planted tank. A lot of the plants used in these vivs are what are called "air" plants, meaning they grow in the upper portions of the tank. If the only access that you have to the tank is through the top, it can be extremely difficult to get past these air plants to the bottom of the tank without removing them completely. Access via the front door makes it much easier to do maintanence on all levels of the tank without disrupting the plants.


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## bobzarry (Mar 2, 2005)

Plus they just plain look cool


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Tropical Ecos (Poison Dart Frogs for Sale | Buy Dart Frogs | Dart Frog Breeder) sells an all glass enclosure similar to the Zoomed with built-in ventilation. In addition, a company called Protean makes similar enclosures, even to the buyer's specifications. The main functional difference is that the Tropical Ecos vivs have a door that is held in place by magnets and can be removed completely, while the Protean tanks have sliding glass doors.

All my dart vivs are aquaria of various shapes and sizes. I have a trio of thumbnails in a 27-gal hex, which has good vertical space. Most are fine going in from the top. But, if I hadn't already had the 27 hex, I would probably have bought one of the two vivs mentioned above.

When you want to set up a bunch of tanks, it's hard to beat the price of aquariums when Petco has a $1/gallon sale. Unfortunately, a plain glass lid costs as much as the aquiarium, so that has to be figured into the price when comparing with pre-made vivs.


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

This how-to on building a viv 'front door' for a vertical tank is from Josh’s Frogs How-To Guides » Terrarium Construction .
My opinions are in italics (not including minor editorial changes I made):

Supplies:

1. Two pieces of glass or acrylic _*glass is better IMO*_

2. 100% silicone for glass or Weld-on #16 for acrylic

3. Hinge

4. Latch

5. Pull 

Measure the inside rim of the tank. You want the measurement as close as possible to avoid gaps. Measure to the nearest 1/4 inch.

Buy 2 sheets of 1/4 inch thick glass from your local glass shop. One sheet will be for the bottom of the door (I use 6″ for the bottom piece) Shop around for glass. The price of glass can vary greatly from shop to shop. *See if they can bevel the edges just barely to remove any sharp places. Too much bevel can alter the glass dimensions and make it unusable, so take care. If not, you will need to coat them thinly with silicone later to protect yourself and the frogs from cuts.*

Place the tank in its desired final vertical position and apply silicone where the black rim meets the tank at what will be the bottom of the tank. _*Take care not to overapply the silicone---a small amount will suffice. Have a plastic putty knife handy to remove any excess that exudes during application.*_

Place the tank back into its normal horizontal position and silicone the smaller piece of glass into the rim of the tank. Use plenty of silicone to make sure there are no leaks. 

Next, place the other sheet of glass into the frame. 
Silicone the hinge, latch, and pull in their desired locations. A 10-gallon is only 10″ wide, so use a 6″ hinge for a 10-gallon tank. I have had as big as a 20″ X 21″ door on a 12″ hinge. 

Let the silicone dry for at least 48 hours. _*I like to do a week at least, or until the acetone odor is undetectable.*_


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Front opening viv.....revolutionized herp keeping.

Esp for deep and high vivs. If you have to stretch your hand deep inside and worry about frogs jumoing up and out while you are doing mainatinance - sux.


*Front opening.*

*Done!*


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## pygmypiranha (Jan 1, 2009)

The cheap alternative that I love besides having to invest in Exo Terra or Zoo med is the lovely kits provided by Jungle Box. They are pretty easy to create and freaking awesome.

I have Exo Terra vivariums and do like them. I also have an aquarium with sliding doors and standard aquariums that have glass lids, but the best option I enjoy is the Jungle Box kit converted aquariums.


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Being able to reach in through the front for feeding, maintenance, possible frog catching, front glass cleaning, etc, is more of a benefit than you can imagine, unless you're already trying to do all that by reaching down through the top, then you already know.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

I switched from top opening to all front opening tanks earlier this year. The primary advantages (for me) are...

1. More tanks take less room because you can stack them in a rack.

2. They are a bit easier to install mist-heads in, no lid.

3. Maintenance is a bit easier.

That's about it.


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## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

I want to thank EVERYONE for their replies!

Hmnn...

See, I don't keep PDFs, Day Geckos or anything that moves too fast (Bad left knee; if you know who Carlos Beltran is, same thing, other knee 

All my boyz is trained to eat from my hands, etc. They're just not that flighty.



















Well, this clown is a bit jumpy:








But I can keep up with him...

I guess I need to research which is the best of the "front-openers."

Thank you again for the input!


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## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

Philsuma said:


> Front opening viv.....revolutionized herp keeping.
> 
> Esp for deep and high vivs. If you have to stretch your hand deep inside and worry about frogs jumoing up and out while you are doing mainatinance - sux.
> 
> ...



Phil:

I just don't worry about herps "jumping up and out:"

Alf & Plumpy:









Taz









Taz--where Alf can't reach him...









Okay, that's cheating--but my herps really are rather calm. no? Those who met me at the last NY Frog day know I play with my frogs--and Bruce (the Litoria) is over 12 years old. 

I will definitely have to consider your opinion though, cause I was contemplating a 20 High w hinged cover (for hylids and anoles).


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## bronz (Jul 29, 2008)

Also the zoo meds and exos are much less prone to condensation thanks to the passive ventilation built in.


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## Frogman8 (Sep 28, 2010)

Just got my first exo-terra terrarium, very cool looking very easy to manuever inside if need to change something. The only problem is the humidity level ,it has too many breathing slots in it. Id stick with the original fish tank


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## Groundhog (Dec 17, 2006)

Philsuma said:


> Front opening viv.....revolutionized herp keeping.
> 
> Esp for deep and high vivs. If you have to stretch your hand deep inside and worry about frogs jumping up and out while you are doing maintenance - sux.
> 
> ...



Gotcha, man. I have a serious question, though: 

I understand that if you have a few "Vertical" tanks side by side, you can simply light all of them with one fixture, e.g., four vert tanks under a 48" fixture w four strips (T8 or T5), or maybe a 48" Power compact double fixture.

But what about a stand-alone tank? Let's say you have a tank 18" wide and 30" tall--how do you get enough light to the floor of this tank?!? Will two of those Exo-Terra fixtures (that's four CFL bulbs) do the job?


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## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

sorry...can't help you with plants or lights. I suck at those aspects.

I rock about 26 wally mart special 48" relectors and T-12 (older big ones right? ) $12.00 each.

I have 4 bulbs (2 refelctors) per shelf and my plants go crazy.

The bulbs I use are the wal mart or Lowes "plant and aquarium" bulbs for $5.99 each.

Front openin viv all the way....you'll be glad you did.

I dunno what the problem was for the poster above with humidty issues but they are great for humidity free viewing and then cleaning. Try to deal with a deep 20 gallon high or one of those odd ball tanks with 90% humidity and serious plant growth and spraying / misting for a year and it will look like dagobah and you'll want to shoot yourself for choosing it instead of a front opener....


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I use the two-bulb fixtures and the 26-watt GE daylight (6500k) bulbs. They're about $5 each. I picked up four Exo-Terra fixtures at the Daytona show for $15 each! I know reef tank lighting and understand that the rule of thumb for plant vivs is at least 2 watts per gallon. I don't think you'll need two fixtures for a single Exo-Terra enclosure.


Groundhog said:


> Gotcha, man. I have a serious question, though:
> 
> I understand that if you have a few "Vertical" tanks side by side, you can simply light all of them with one fixture, e.g., four vert tanks under a 48" fixture w four strips (T8 or T5), or maybe a 48" Power compact double fixture.
> 
> But what about a stand-alone tank? Let's say you have a tank 18" wide and 30" tall--how do you get enough light to the floor of this tank?!? Will two of those Exo-Terra fixtures (that's four CFL bulbs) do the job?


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