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Newbie.. have some questions

Hello, I am Milky..

I have a 10g fish tank that got a crack in the top corner.. so i am goign to drain it and turn it into a terrarium..

well it has 2 regular 25watt incandessnt bulbs in the hood, and the hood covers the entire top but it isnt air tight..

I have 1" of fish gravel on the floor of it and figured that i could use that as a drainage thing.. (plus even though i will vaccum out as much gunk as i can, there will be some fish fertilizer in it)

I just want something kinda small.. and simple easy to find plants... i kind a like flowers a bit..

SO what can i really add to it to make it perty? I would liek plants, no live critters, and the sealed humidity thing doesnt really appeal to me..

so what do you think what would be the best way to go about this?

Thank you !!
 
Welcome to the forums, Milky.
With that size of a fish tank, you're best bet will be some of the smaller, more managable plants like Drosera, Pinguicula, and the smaller Utricularia. You should go over the carnivorous plant FAQ by Barry Rice for a description of these plants and their needs.
However, a few things stand out, as far as your setup goes.
First, incandescant lights just won't cut it. They produce way too much heat and not nearly enough light. If the hood is the right size, replace the bulbs with some compact fluorescents (you can get compact fluorescents specifically for plants at home improvement stores and such, but grow-bulbs aren't strictly necessary. If the hood can't accomodate compact fluorescents, you'll either need to replace it with a fluorescent hood or get some gooseneck desk lamps and stick some compact fluorescents in them. I suppose you could also get a small fluorescent strip light, but with a 10 gallon tank, it might not be cost effective.
Second - wash that gravel! Carnivorous plants eat bugs because they occur naturally in substrate with almost no nutrients. The roots of most CPs are very sensitive and will burn when exposed to any fertilizer for very long. If you have some conventional houseplants around, give them the fish emulsion - they'll be very thankful for it. CPs, unfortunately, will not.
That gravel in the bottom of the tank may not be entirely necessary, either. A planted terrarium is hard to set up; all the plants must like the same type of watering, light, soil, and climate conditions. It's also hard to maintain; some plants are more aggressive than others and will quickly overgrow the container, and if a disease or pest gets loose, the whole terrarium must be treated. A less maintenance-intensive route is to grow your plants in pots inside the terrarium. The simplest way to do this is just use the terrarium as a giant drip tray, with the pots resting on the bottom (or propped above the water table if necessary.) A more attractive variant on this method is to bury the pots in a managable substrate (like aquarium gravel) or disguise the pots with rocks, pottery, pieces of wood, plants (Spanish moss and Sphagnum moss are good choices,) etc. This way, each plant can have the soil and water it likes best, and you only have to worry about choosing plants that like the same temperature and light.
As far as plants go, the sundews (Drosera,) butterworts (Pinguicula,) and bladderworts (Utricularia) all have very charming flowers that come up seasonally (two times a year on many varieties.) An Asian Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes) makes a nice addition; it doesn't have very impressive flowers, but the traps (pitchers) are about as much fun to look at as any flower. The Sun Pitcher (Heliamphora) is another good terrarium plant, but I'm under the impression that they aren't the easiest carnivore to grow. Whatever plants you choose, research them first to make sure you get varieties that will succeed in your home - be especially sure not to make the tragic mistake of buying an outdoor plant such as a Venus Flytrap (Dionaea) or Trumpet Pitcher (Sarracenia) and having it waste away in the winter, when they demand cold to frosty temperatures.
You might want to have a few non-CPs too (watch the evil eyes on me from the CP purists.) Tillandsias, the air plants - including Spanish moss - make good companions to CPs, as they thrive on humid air rather than soil and water. Many orchids would also do nicely, provided with good air circulation. I'm sure there are many others, but that's what comes to mind immediately.
Here are some simple CPs for the terrarium:
Drosera adelae
Drosera aliciae
Drosera capensis
Drosera spatulata
Drosera hamiltonii
Drosera schizandra
Pygmy sundews (Drosera, too many to list)
Utricularia sandersonii
Utricularia livida
Utricularia longifolia
Nepenthes gracilis
Nepenthes ampullaria
Other lowland Nepenthes species and hybrids
Pinguicula moranensis
Pinguicula esseriana (very attractive, if you ask me)
I hope that helps!
~Joe
 
Seedjar, I am suprised that there is no mention of ye olde favourite, Dionaea muscipula, our Venus Flytrap. Another one fit for terrarium growing. Too bad you are in Nebraska, Milky. Here in the San Francisco Bay, we can grow ours outdoors year round.
 
I gues i am not sure if i would like carnivorous plants, i was slightly creeped out the first time i saw a venus fly trap plant.. to Little shop of Horrors for me..

I was thinking of something a little more .. immobile..

As for light the lil floresent bulbs that they seell at wallmart that fit into incandesant plugs fit into my tank hood..

as for the gravel.. i and goign to be cleanign it pretty good to seed my newest tank.. but i know i wont get it all.. i water my pregnaut plant with the fish water and they LOVE it..

would a pregnaut plant do good in a terrerim setting?

as for the kinds of plants.. i really dont care.. as long as they are all happy and arnt gunna bite me.. i am happy.. i mainly want a simple, cheap, easy to find, little assortment of plants.. ...

i just dont know anythign about plants.. i kinda tend to kill them if i am left babysitting.. i havent killed my pregnaut plant in about 18 months and i have a cactus that i think is still alive.. for over 3 years now..

Thank you for your responce..
 
Any of the plants Joe listed are pretty low maintenance. Neps can even tolerate fertilizer better than the other CPs. VFTs and Sarracenias have dormancy requirements. And the neps will eventually outgrow the terrarium. That would be a couple years down the road though.
 
There is one lowland nep that I can think of that stays small enough for a 10 gallon tank - N. campanulata. This a very small compared to other neps. I have a mature one that is only 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Very attrative plant, too.
 
camps are my favorite. you could make a species tank with utrics as a groundcover.
 
confused.gif
Im sorry but i really dont know what ANY of those species are *hangs head in shame*

soemthing that stays small and not very tall would be kewl..

somethign that woul dlike 2 floresent bulbs that fit into incandesent pits..

something that is fairly hardy (i tend to kill plants) so i can get someexperence with out having to worry about it to much..

something.. that is easy to find..

thank you for your help.. what about.. african violets?

and my 10g is really more a 12g tall.. it has teh same width and legnth of a 10g but it is about 3" taller.. it has a crack in the top left corner of the back, about 3" down from the top rim..
 
Welcome to the forums, Milky.
I understand your concerns, but why choose Terra Forums to get ideas? We appreciate you doing so, but you must realise we're CP nerds!
laugh.gif

All the species mentioned are easy to find and care for, if not interesting! One could say they tend to kill plants, but what plants in specifc? You'll never know until you try a variety of them, like myself. I can't keep a cactus for the life of me!
Good luck on your search, and take advantage of this wonderful learning opportunity with CP!

Amori
 
  • #10
because this was teh only forum i could find..*blushes*

anyways i have killed, small flowering plants. i killed a succulent anda cactus.. i am surprised that my lil cactus i have now is still alive..

i have killed sensative plants.. and mostly things like that..i have managed to keep my pregnaut plant alive.. and have many lil underlings growing int eh same pot as well..

i just dont know what to get to start a lil planted terarium..
 
  • #11
Milky, sounds like you need some Pings and Utrics. no movement from their trapping devises that you can see and thy have excellent flowers. what you need to find is U. sandersonii it produces masses of lil blooms. i would send yah some but its a lil cold to ship from way up here maybe someone closer to you has some they could spare. here is a pic of mine in mass bloom. it stays small and is simple to care for and to get to flower.

Click Here For Picture
 
  • #12
dont you have to feed canivorous plants?

the only ones i knwo of are venus fly traps and they slightly creep me out..
 
  • #13
no yah dont nessesarily have to. i have never actually fed my Utrics although i willing to bet there are micro critters living in the peat they are planted in that they are munching on. i dont actually feed any of mine. most do quite well on their own. my Drosera capensis's are quite accomplished fly catchers as is my Nepenthes ampullaria. my Pings usually have an assortment of flying gnats and such on their leaves. some of my sundews dont seem to ever catch anything but they look, and are growing just fine. if you dont want to catch bugs yah dont have too if thats what your getting at. Utrics especially do just fine with no help from yopu other than keeping them wet.
 
  • #14
hm.. ok now what is the best soil and such for the bottom? and how thick should it be?
 
  • #15
for soil i would use a peat and sand mix, you can grow a decent variety in that. as to depth, not sure, i grow all mine in pots. someone else is going to need to chime in but i would think 3-4 inches would work well.
 
  • #16
Hi Milky! I've got an idea for a low maintenance CP that is sessile, remains small, difficult to kill, easy to procure, and will flower for you in the summer: Drosera spatulata. When I get home I can post a picture for you - assuming someone else doesn't do it first.
 
  • #17
yeah thats a good one Jim, i prefer the variety from Hong Kong, mine is even sending up a flower scrape. not bad: seeds sown 5/29/04, seeds sprouted 6/24/04, first flower opened will prolly be on about 1/28/05
 
  • #18
You're doing better than me! My plants are growing but I haven't had any flowers yet. Sounds like some of Sundewrex' seeds. Right?
 
  • #19
yep. just noticed the scrape forming a day or two ago.
 
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