planning big terrarium

bluekrissyspike

bluekrissyspike

bwa-hahahahaha!!!!!
Mar 24, 2007
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so.... got myself a 250g tank last week. set it up, noticed a small chip in the corner. thought it was all good though. put my fish in. got rid of my 150g. woke up this morning to a broken seal. drained the tank. fish are gone to the lps where he is setting up a nice display tank to put the lungfish in. my heart is broken and i have a huge empty tank taking up half my livingroom. can't move it, it's too big. can't fix it. no space to work on it. so what else is there to do but set up a big terrarium. i'm looking for ideas/advice. the only thing i need for it is that it has to be asthetically pleasing so preferable lots of live plants...could go for cacti and succulents or a jungle look(which i think i'd prefer)

anyways, any suggestions on what can live in there with live plants and what type of plants would be appreciated. thanks. oh, and no snakes. bugs are okay though, and other lizards or frogs. anything but snakes.
 
I would do a jungle look with cypress knees and a lot of orchids and ferns. Are you planning on putting a water feature such as a small river, puddle, or waterfall?
 
i am thinking about it. i need some direction. i would not know where to begin building a water feature but the tank has a sump with it i could probably convert to create a waterfall and river.
 
also check out vivarium forum for some ideas, the forum is slow but but has alot of good thread with alot of info. personally i would good a big geckos colony in there or something maybe crested or gargoyles. if you want something active during the day you might consider some species of day gecko too.

Edit: yes i'm a geckos person lol
 
Dendroboard has been invaluable in researching for my planned vivarium. With a tank that big, you could do something really incredible. I'd suggest you check it out, and see some of the setups they have going over there. Really inspiring stuff.
 
alright so i am signed up for those two forums. i have yet to post on dendroboard but probably will tonight. i love the look of cypress knees, i had to google that as i have never seen them before.
so i have some ideas. i want to section off an area to make a waterfall/river. this should be relatively easy since the tank is already drilled with a sump installed. not sure how easy the sectioning off part will be. i may need to wait until spring to get this going since i will need to purchace my rocks/gravel/soil/moss from a garden center all of which are closed this time of year but you never know, i may be able to sniff some out. then i want to build up 2 or three levels of ground to add depth in different areas of the tank using rocks, then gravel, then a layer of window screen or polyester batting, then a mixture of unfertilized soil, sand, moss and those little wood peices whatever they are called.
i am hoping to keep more than one species in this tank. preferably some type of frog and some type of gecko, possibly some large species of stick insects. thought, suggestions?
 
You could get green anoles, tree frogs (green/whites are best), and bahama anoles easily in that size set-up.
 
user_name said:
You could get green anoles, tree frogs (green/whites are best), and bahama anoles easily in that size set-up.
Click to expand...

that seems like a pretty cool combo.

i finally got around to posting on the dendro board. hopefully they will have a lot of helpful info to share. i am looking forward to starting this project.
i have some more specific questions if anyone here wants to take a stab at them..
what kind of lighting would a terrarium this size require? i know i will need to get 3 4' fixtures of some sort but haven't found much info in the way of the amount of light that i would need to properly grow some nice plants, possibly some orchids, for sure bromiliads
how does one fill in the spaces underneath the ground where there has been quite a lot of height built up in the landscape? i want to make one area about 16" tall but that would be alot of rocks. there's gotta be an easier and lighter way.
thanks
 
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