So I just recently completed my first ever vivarium from scratch and I decided to document it here ( just in case anyone was interested in the process) so heres the steps i took along the way!
1.
I started with a 10 gal fish tank that I had found in my basement then painted part of it with black silicon sealant, once that had dried I used spray foam to create the background, sealed that with more silicon and put peat moss on the wet sealant.
2.
Once the background had been completed i filled it with the substrate and such:
drainage, mesh, abg, leaf litter,decorations
(the mister is running in the photo hence the fog)
After that the longest wait was for my plants I waited a bit to order them all , I had to do quite a bit of research to find how to do it all, NEHerp is where I got everything that made this posible and I recommended them highly to anyone trying to get into the hobby
3.
Once you get your plants you cant just put them into the viv right off the bat, you first have to process them you can do this with a bleach soultion (haha fuck no) Or with distilled water, bareroot the plants and let them sit in the water (or bleach) for an hour or several to hidrate them and get rid of any gnats or bugs they might have
Tillandsia (5 assorted), N. Lady Luck, Korean rock fern(blurry), Orchid (not pictured)
4.
After the processing ( and adding springs ) You’re ready to plant! Use floral wire to put the tillandsia into the foam background, moss goes on rocks, and everything else (should) plant as normal
~🌱happy planting🌱
That’s a moth orchid in the left. They are NOT terrestrial orchids! Like most orchids, they grow attached to trees. If they’re in pots, the pots should be full of a loose bark/moss mix, their roots will quickly suffocate and rot if planted in soil.
Also, nepenthes (pitcher plants) are carnivorous plants. Carnivorous plants cannot be planted in soil, it’ll kill them. They can’t stand the minerals in the soil, or in tap water. They need to be planted in peat or sphagnum moss and given rainwater, distilled, or RO water only. Venus flytraps aren’t mentioned here, but are bad for terrariums because they need a ton of drainage and a cold winter dormancy, in addition to the specific substrate and water.
Distilled water won’t kill pests. A mild bleach solution can be used in place of a quarantine, and can be totally removed by time and soaking.
Other than that, this is good. You can also tilt an aquarium onto its end, putting it up longways, and rig or buy a lid to attach to make a vertical terrarium.
@bettsplendens Thank you for your concern however, I did do my research and I did not use soil or tap water for these reasons, I used ABG mix for all of my plants here wich is a rather lose mix good for orchids, and my nepenthes’ roots are in some moist sphagnum as well so worry not! And in my mister I only use distilled water for these exact reasons.
~happy planting 🌱
Ah, cool, that’d work.
Personally, I wouldn’t plant a moth orchid in substrate in a terrarium. They need a lot of drainage and like to have their roots dry out a bit between waterings. That could potentially work, though, and kudos if it does.
I’d keep an eye on the Nepenthes for signs of mineral issues. I’m not sure what all is in ABG mix, but if it can grow regular plants it might be too rich for carnivorous plants. Nepenthes are way more tolerant of minerals and nutrients than most other CPs, and from the look of your other recent posts it’s doing well, but the mineral thing may be worth keeping in mind just in case.
If you want to add something in future, I like white rabbit’s foot fern. It can grow planted in substrate or creeping along solid surfaces, as long as it stays damp. It’s a pretty small fern, too, the fronds are only about 5 inches tall. I have one growing wrapped around a piece of driftwood with its roots tucked into some sphagnum, and it’s very happy. The newly growing fronds are brown for some reason, but turn green as they get bigger.
The Dendroboard forum is mostly dart frog vivariums, but they have good terrarium advice as well, and will happily give it if asked. Good resource for terrariums in general. Orchidboard is about 90% orchids, but some of them have general terrarium plant advice.
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