Probably one of the first things that comes to my mind is that there’s a lot of whole bunch of different Ariums out there. They all have kind of a similar sounding name, like Torium Halirium, whatever Arium. I’m guessing the terminology is probably a bit confusing, especially if it’s the first time you’re seeing them. I know when I first saw these words, I was like, what’s going on here? And I want to focus in on that suffix, Arium. So that’s a Latin suffix that means container. And that kind of gives you a clue as to what all these different words mean. It’s basically saying it’s a container of something. These are all different containers that are meant to support some kind of life of some sort, whether that be plants or animals or insects. And each one has different purpose behind what it intends to grow and raise. And because their intents are different, the environmental conditions inside that container are going to be a little bit different. So you might see a little differences in lighting, the temperature, humidity, water levels, even the types of plants that go in there. So obviously there’s going to be a little bit of overlap between them. Sometimes different Ariums might have a similar purpose, but maybe they’re trying to grow plants rather than reptiles, and they’ll call it a Torium. So really the key difference here is what is the intent behind the container. And that’s really going to help you determine what you’re supposed to call that container that you’re using to raise something. And the other piece of the Arium words that you also want to look at is a prefix. And a prefix is what comes before the Arium. So you have terrarium, paludarium, oceanarium, aquarium. There’s even insectariums, which are intended to raise insects. And essentially that prefix is going to tell you exactly what that container is intending to do. And I’m going to get into that with a few examples.
So let’s start with the first one, which is what I’m all about is terrariums. Terrarium is essentially a sealed container that’s intended to grow plants of some sort. And basically the whole idea is you want to put some soil in there, maybe have a drainage layer in there, put some plants in there. And essentially you’re going to seal the container up and the water that’s already in the container is going to recycle itself by evaporating, condensing on the sides of the container and then trickling back down into the soil where the plants can absorb that only to restart the cycle over and over again in an endless loop. That’s kind of the idea behind a terrarium.
The next one I want to talk about is a vivarium. And that’s another one that you might see come across. If you’re ever Googling terrariums, you might see the word vivarium come up. And I think this one is a little bit more of a broad sweeping definition. Vivarium essentially means a container that’s meant to sustain living creatures or some kind of life, some kind of plant or animal. Sometimes you’ll see it in the context of for research purposes. But the reason I wanted to talk about vivariums is because it’s a really broad type of word, living creatures that could be pretty much anything. A boat’s a boat, but the mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat. And how I kind of view vivariums is that any sort ofarium that you see out there is kind of like a subset of vivarium. It’s a very special type of vivarium. Even a terrarium, you could think about that as a type of vivarium. One thing that I kind of notice while browsing the internet, doing my googling, is that vivarium usually refers to some kind of container that has a type of animal in there. So typically like reptiles of some sort. That’s kind of the context that I’ve seen the word used, but I think formally the word means to refer any type of living creature inside of the container.
Choosing between a terrarium and a vivarium depends on your interests and the level of care you can commit to. Terrariums are perfect for those who enjoy gardening and want a low-maintenance, plant-focused enclosure. Vivariums are ideal for individuals fascinated by both plant and animal life, willing to invest time and effort into maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Both options offer unique rewards and educational opportunities, enriching any space with their presence.