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New terrarium for a newbie

hello all.
I am starting my first terrarium in a 29gal. aquarium. I would like to follow a tropical theme and stay away from any CPs. I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction as far as substrate and types of plants. I have read so much over the past few days and many of it seems to contradict. any information from the experinced would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
Bob Eckels
 
No cps
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Jerry
 
I'm with Jerry - so sad. Anyways, welcome to the forums! I noticed that you are from Allentown, PA. I am from Reading, PA. Just greeting a fellow Eastern Pennsylvanian. Check this website out:

Southeastern Pennsylvania Carnivorous Plant Society

Interested?
 
I am also from near Reading I am just in school in Allentown. I am actually from Birdsboro.

I dont want any CPs right away I dont know much about them. I do know what they need enviromentally but thats as far as my knowledge goes. How does one go about feeding them and can they live with other plants or must it be a strictly CP terrarium?
 
they can live with other plants...

but if you dont want cp's your at the wrong forum lol. if you make a terrarium that is going to house both cp's and non cp's, i'd be scared that minerals and fertilizer would poison the cp's.
 
are fertilizers a necessity for non CPs? I have read conflicting info on this?
 
i didn't say that. alot of non cp's grow alongside cp's.
 
ok, thats good news. what substrate would you recommend If I were to mix CPS and non CPs? Im sorry if I seem clueless **I AM**
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depends on what you mean by non cp's. you could want to grow wheat for all i know and that wouldn't work out well at all
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can you make a list of plants you'd lik to grow? things will be SO much easier, however, if you only put cp's and plants that are found with cp's in the terrarium.
 
  • #10
thats more the direction I am heading I want to make this as natural as I possibly can and if I go with CPs, I would only mix plants that are found with these in nature

some of the non CPs I like are: I dont know if they are compatible with CPs or not.

Caladium White
Basic Maiden Hair Fern
Jewel Orchid
Neanthebella Palm

just some of the plants I saw that caught my eye and seemed well suited for the terrarium
 
  • #11
well iono about any of those lol. i know that i used to grow jewel orchids with my cp's in cp soil without a problem untill i traded them away.
 
  • #12
Justlikeapill,
did you buy CP soil fro, jungle supply or mix your own? do you suggest buying soil from jungle supply? and thanks alot for answering all these questions. I am very excited about starting a terraium and I really want to do this right. once again thanks I appreciate it
 
  • #13
i've never bought my own soil premixed. it's much easier to make your own and save on shipping. you can pick of everything from homedepot or lowes or a similar store.

the majority of plants do well is 1/1 sand/peat mix, but other plants like sandier soil, others like a looser soil full of sphag like nepenthes.

you CAN buy soil online if youd rather be safer than sorry, but you don't have to.
 
  • #14
this may sound dumb but how do you feed a CP and which CPs do not require a dormancy period?
 
  • #15
some plants will eat human food, some plants will only eat live insects (like vfts, but you can massage the trap if it's dead), some will take foliar feeding well. for example, i fertilize all my nepenthes, but other than that i dont feed anything. all the temperate plants outside catch alot, and the plants in my terrarium feast upon springtails, ants, and fungis gnats.

cp's which do no require dormancy are all nepenthes, all heliamphora, cephalotus, drosophyllum (sp?). tropical drosera, most pings, genlisea, etc etc.

there are different kinds of dormanies too, some plants go dormant in winter, some plants go dormant in summer, some plants dont really go truely dormant, but rather slow down in growth or change growth habit (like mexican pings from succulent, noncarnivorous rosettes, for example)
 
  • #16
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I dont think I ever shared a pic of my old terrarium before, figured I would give it a go.... This terrarium is slightly bigger then your 29... its a 55 tall but you can do roughly the same thing easily! only problem was things grew like weeds
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substrate in the front was a peat/sand mix behind it on the bottom was a large layer of perlite for drainage with orchid bark, LFS, and other stuff on top of it to plant nepenthes and orchids in.

Lighting was provided by 2 65 watt 6500k power compacy florescent lights made by lights of america, $39.99 for bulbs and fixtures at home depot. I used bog wood (available at aquarium stores to create terraces. Also the tank was an acrylic tank with over flow boxes, which I could fill with water and run and aquarium air pump in to raise the humidity...

I would flood the bottom every few weeks with R/O water thats about the only maintnance the tank needed...

terrarium was lost due to contaminated water....

Hope this motivates you to use CP's
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  • #17
you lost it? no god no! thats the best natural style terrarium i've seen in a LONG time!
 
  • #18
Thank you.... and just to add perspective, that tank is 24" tall and 36" long....
 
  • #19
i see lil bunny rabbit flowers up front. very cool. my sandersonii is blooming right now. also coconut fiber based soils can work. it lasts longer than peat in a very damp/wet enviroment im told. im doing some expariments with it now.

Rattler
 
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