# what gauge stainless steel wire or are paperclips OK?



## LarryMac (Jun 24, 2020)

About to start on my 50gal vivarium build and need to order the wire for mounting epiphytes.


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## SpaceMan (Aug 25, 2013)

Make sure you use stainless steel, paperclips are very unlikely to be stainless steel. 

I use 22 gauge wire.


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## eMCRay (Mar 24, 2020)

Bonsai wire also works. Don't use paperclips.

You can also use superglue.


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

What is wrong with paper clips? A tiny amount of rust in the tank for a few months? I hardly see how that would cause an issue. 

If you have something better use it. But, if not paper clips are fine.


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## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

Regular paperclips are zinc coated -- that's a larger worry than iron rust. Whether it is enough of a worry to be concerned about, I don't know.

There are stainless steel paper clips available all over online.


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## gusgieg (Feb 24, 2020)

Toothpicks?


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## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

> Toothpicks?


+1 - that's all I ever use, if I need to push something into packed LFS (my preference). Just the raw-wood, flat toothpicks that come in a little paper box, about 500 for a buck or whatever. Cheap as sin, and absolutely harmless. If you leave them long enough, the embedded base rots and the part out in the air just falls down and disappears in the leaf litter. Literally, they are set-it-and-forget-it.

But maybe Larry is mounting to something more rigid??? So he feels the need for a slim bit o' steel? There's always those bamboo skewers too. Those are pretty sharp and rigid, and also very long - useful for bigger plants, or you can clip them to length.


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