New terrarium

[Takahashi]

Hey everyone, im new to these forums but iv been browsing the past couple days and it seems like a good place. My names chris takahashi so helloo.

On to business.. I'm building a terrarium but i have NO EXPERIENCE OR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE with growing any kind of plants or anything of this sort. I just became really interested recently and iv been reading up about terrariums so I now have a tall 18-gallon aquarium tank, a fixture with two 20v flourescent "natural sunshine" bulbs, and some other miscellenous supplies. (i could take pics but i didnt think this would be necessary yet)

ANY advice or comments as to how i would go about selecting, growing and caring for my first plants EVER and my first terrarium ever would be grrrrreatly appreciated. Ill reply quickly to any questions on my future set up so feel free to just post ur thoughts.

Thank you.

 

[CopcarFC]

Welcome to the forums!!

Line 3 sides of it with something REALLY reflective. I recommend the "heat blanket" you get from Target for about 2 bucks. Also make sure you have a glass or plastic top to protect the plants from burning under the light and to increase humidity. I'm not sure if 2 20v flourescent lights is enough, but others will prolly comment. Are you going to terraform it or pot your plants?

-Rail

 

[Takahashi]

Im going for the completely natural micro-ecosystem kind of look, so yea ill be putting my plants right into the soil.  I have enough space on the top of my tank for perhaps twice the amount of lights. Ill probably cover two sides with reflective material (as you said), but the rear will be a natural background. (the substrate will climb halfway to the top and then cork bark will cover the rest).

Oh and thanks very much for the advice and the welcoming comments! im loved

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Welcome to the forums!

First of all, you're going to need to choose plants that don't require a winter dormancy, since you don't want to be sticking your entire 18 gallon tank into the fridge

 You'll want tropical carnivorous plants, which include (but aren't limited to) many different kinds of sundews and nepenthes like:

-Drosera spatulata (Spoonleaf Sundew)
-Drosera aliciae (Alice Sundew)
-Drosera capensis (Cape Sundew)
-Drosera adelae (Lance Leaf Sundew)
-Nepenthes sanguina (Asian Pitcher Plant)

All of these plants are very tough and I've been growing them for a long time with no problems at all. If you'd like you can check out my website Mitch's Carnivores to see how I grow all my plants. My site isn't finished quite yet, but I'm sure you'll find some useful info in the Terrariums section.

Hope this helps!

 

[CopcarFC]

If your gonna terriform it I would put about 1 or 2 inches of gravel right on the bottom and then maybe some activated charcol ( charcol is purly optional ), then put LFS on top of that and then your soil of choice. I would get a temp. and humidity gauge then water it. After everything is nice and wet, leave it there and ajust the opining on top to get the temp and humidity you want. After a few days if you like the conditions then you can add plants. Make sure you either don't water it too much, or run a hose into the gravel layer an siphon out excess water. Like LLeopardGGecko said most sundews and Nep's will be fine in there. Good luck!!

-Rail

 

[CopcarFC]

Oh yeah, you WILL need more light than that. My setup is like the one you are making and I have two 90cri 40w tubes and 2 30w compact flourecents giving off 2000 lumens a piece. I know others on this site have FAR more powerfull lighting setups, but this works. I get good growth and coloration also.

-Rail

 

[Takahashi]

LLeopardGgeckooooooo a.k.a. Mitch, thank you very much for the crucial feedback. I liked the CP species suggestions, this is the kind of stuff im looking for, but i dont plan on limiting the tank to CPs. most likely i will have a few of the same species of CP and the rest of the tank non-carnivorous species. Because remember, this is kind of like a "o0o0o aaaah, thats a super cool looking terrarium that just hopped outta the wilderness" terrarium effect im going for.

Also, thank you again copcarFC, you are my own personal jesus cristo. Thanks for the lighting advice and example of ur own personal lighting set up. As for the drainage layer and such, i have that kind of information but ur confirmation was awesome and i didnt think i needed the temp n humidity gauges but illl definitely get that then, thanks!

PS: Do you guys keep crickets or something for ur CPs in a seperate container?

PPS: My friends cousin that i talked to today from england has a 60-gal terrarium with red-eyed tree frogs! woot!

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

As far as food for my CPs, I go to my local reptile store about once every two weeks to get a bag of small crickets. I also buy a container of flightless fruit flies about once every two months. The flies are the perfect size for my younger plants and smaller sundew/butterwort species. I also catch bugs around the house for my plants every once in a while.

I really like your terrarium idea so far. I'm already excited about seeing it and it's just in its beginning stages

You'll definitely have to keep us posted on its progress once you get everything going. If you ever have any more questions, feel free to post again or PM me. Good luck!

 

[CopcarFC]

For smaller plants I feed them freeze dried bloodworms. Bigger guys get freeze dried crickets. I have found that if you feed them freeze dried food you reduce the amount of fungus in the terrarium. Also you don't have to worry about live bugs somehow escaping and running around your room. My terrarium is in my bedroom and after wakeing up a few times with crickets crawling in my bed I switched to freeze dried food. So what are you gonna plant in it?

-Rail

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

I'm all about the live food

 

[chloroplast]

Very artisitc and informative website, Mitch. Makes me wish I had a digital camera and more knowledge of webpage design.

 

[jimscott]

Hi Chris and welcome to the forums! As a possible issue someday, you will want to be cognizant of handling mold. But I'm sure the terrarium growers will help you along with air circulation, lighting, and troubleshooting.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Thanks for the compliment chloroplast

Like I said, it's not quite finished, but when it is, I'll post it here so everyone can take a look.

 

[Takahashi]

mitch, copcarfc, jimscott, thanks again for the advice. I guess knowing what to feed the CPs wont be the hardest part about this project... lol. Today i stopped at a local OSH (orchard supply house or something like that) and i bought a digital clock/thermometer/humidity-meter thing. It has a detachable cord with a little sensor at the end so i thought i wouldnt have to put the whole thing in my tank but it turns out the sensor only does temp lol so watever. Im still looking around for the best solution to the questions of base layer (drainage) material and substrate material. If you all have ever had a terrarium somewhat like iv described, what do you use?

Oh, and im still debating about which plants to use but most likely ill go with some bright nepenthes species as my feature plant, probably like two of the same kind. Maybe one of those sundews or whatever you call them (lol sorry im not an expert on this stuff). The rest of the tank would consist of bromelaids and more common-looking plants like creepers, maybe mosses near the bottom, who knows. Trust me, if you highly suggest planting something in my terrarium i will probably do it.

 

[Takahashi]

Also, about lighting, the fixture i bought for the two 20V 2ft flourescents was like 20 bucks. will this be necessary if i want to use two more bulbs? OH, and i havnt quite figured out how im going to turn this light ON.. lol.. it has to be wired.. suggestions will be accepted and in exchange you will receive my first born child.:laugh:

 

[CopcarFC]

Go to Lowes and you can get a big bag of gravel for like $3 bucks but make sure you wash it. As far as plants I would put live LFS in there because it will run crazy and cover the bottom. I think it looks cool too.

-Rail

 

[Takahashi]

LFS? remember, im a complete beginner with this growing plants thing.. lol..

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

LFS=Long Fibered Sphagnum moss. It's used for top dressing a lot of times with carnivorous plants and is great to use on the top of your terrarium soil.

Personally, I use a bottom layer of perlite on all of my "classic" terrariums (the one like you're doing with the plants planted directly into the bottom of the tank). It has worked great for me so far, so I recommend it.

You can buy bags of perlite and long fibered sphagnum moss at Home Depot or Lowe's. If you want LIVE sphagnum moss you'll probably have to order that online. Keep in mind that the live stuff will grow and cover your terrarium bottom pretty nicely, but it's much more expensive and harder to find. The not LIVE stuff is just as good for ground cover, but just don't expect too much growth out of it.

 

[Takahashi]

awesome now i know what LFS is hahah. i see, so perlite or pebbles or whatever as long as it has room for water and doesnt mold up is good for the base layer? I am still looking for answers about the soil itself. I want a soil that will keep my plants looking sexy but not overgrown (the glass tank doesnt grow lol). Oh and i have these awesome snails all around (outside) my house, do u think they would compliment a CP-having terrarium or would the snails/plants end up trying to eat each other?

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Yes, perlite or WASHED pebbles are fine. I did read somewhere that if you use any kind of rock other than perlite, you should check if it's ok for CPs by putting one of the rocks in vinegar and seeing if it fizzes. If it doesn't, you can use the pebbles. If it does, then you have to find something else. I'm sure if you buy them from a fish supply store or somewhere similar they'll be fine, but I'm not positive on that so maybe someone else can shed some light on it. I say just use perlite

A good soil mix for sundews is half perlite/half peat, and the mix for Nepenthes is one part perlite/one part sphagnum/one part peat. Not sure about your other plants, so you'll probably have to do pockets of different soil mixes in your terrarium.

As far as the snails go, I say no. The chances are good they'll just end up eating your plants, which is never a good thing.