Starting my first Terrarium: the research

[BowsertheTurtle]

i hope this is a good place to ask as i didn't initially plan on stocking my terrarium with any animals. mainly because i would like to establish a decent skill in construction and maintenance before introducing animals to it. the aquariums i have and have had are simple and aren't complex as i get the idea terrariums are or can be. im currently researching what kind of plants and landscape i would like to have and would work best. the basic idea is that i have an empty 10Gal aquarium; 20''x10''x12'' and i get the basic idea; rock/gravel, charcoal, moss, soil, plants, but I'm having trouble with the exact levels and amount of each i might need. any suggestions on levels of elements and or suggestions on what type of terrarium plants and scene would work well for a beginner would be greatly appreciated. :newbie: :help2: Thank you very much :headbang2:

[mellowvision]

you need to decide first how humid an environment it's going to be, and how you will be delivering the humidity.

if you're going to have a small pool of water and deliver most of the humidity with mist, you'd want a different build than if you were going to have a waterfall cascading over some of the terrain, or if you were going to have no terrestrial water delivery at all.

So let's say you go with no pond, and mist delivery of water. You're not going to need as much of a drainage layer as you would with a water feature. You'll still want somewhere to be able to drain it occasionally, whether that's a bulkhead or a stand pipe you can run a hose from to create a siphon. you can either build a false bottom, or use 1"-2" of hydroton, covered with screen, then an inch or two of lighter soil/gravel, topped with your moss or fiber substrate. The more you water, the more likely you are to fill up that drainage layer... the important part is that the collecting water is never as deep as the layer.

there's great a great page on brian's tropicals... http://www.brianstropicals.com/building.html

[BowsertheTurtle]

i was under the impression that most terrariums should only be watered very lightly. but i guess it really does depend on what you make. this is the hard part because i really don't know what i should do. it makes sense though, about the drainage. thanks for the input and the site, i've been looking at the same two sites since i started researching (other then researching plants) i guess the most simple thing would be best to start, i'm still trying to figure out what that means, i imagine no pond with a sort of moss ground cover, still it seems boring. i will see i guess. thanks though for the reply, ill give an update when i decide what to do.

[BowsertheTurtle]

OK, i have come up with three ideas, i came up with these with the understanding that i wanted to do the most traditional and simple form of a terrarium. if you would like i would appreciate input or opinions on what would be most interesting or best to do. i apologize for the crudity of the drawn models.

Idea one:
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this idea is the most ideological and complicated, i liked the concept because of the mix and novelty of the plants themselves still doing research to see the specifics in how it would be having them together, and having them in a 10gal terrarium, but i would like this experiment. incase the writing is too light the idea is to have a few lines of hops lining the back wall with a small patch of barley.

Idea two:
104365

this idea is a bonsai or small single plant in the middle of a patch of clover or moss ground cover, with a possible small mound/hill that the plant/tree is separated from the ground cover.

Idea three:
104366

This idea is the most simple and hopefully the idea that would be the fail-safe. the idea is to plant herbs in the different parts giving each enough room from each other, the plants i had in mind were a mint plant and possible one or two tea herb plants.

so there they are, I'm still researching and considering what is the best course of action. my hope is that if i am successful with this i could move on to more complicated projects. i don't want to rush into something with little experience, i don't want to kill whatever i put into the tank plant or animal. :read:

[mellowvision]

mint would take over the whole tank in a matter of months. I'm not so sure about barley and hops, but I believe they grow really tall. like 4 feet tall or higher. no? most bosai will be too tall for a 10 gallon as well. maybe you should consider doing a 10 vertical?

personally I'd be looking into more traditional terrarium plants.

[BowsertheTurtle]

yea i know, i get carried away when i research, a lot of them are just grandiose ideas. that's why i take my time. i've seen small enough bonsais though.. i dont know.. its why im still learning, i should probably look at books instead of the internet.