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Articles: Terrarium Setup

Below is a step by step guide to how I set up a terrarium for a customer to keep some Blue Poison-arrow Frogs (Dendrobates azureus). Hopefully it will give you some ideas on how to setup a terrarium of your own. If you would like us to quote you for a setup please send us an e-mail at sales@pollywog.co.uk

Started out with a standard 24x18x18 Exo-terra glass terrarium:

Background coco-panel cut and siliconed into place:

The terrarium was then left for the silicon to cure. In the mean time I started to carve the wood for the water feature:

Once the silicon holding the coco-panel in place had cured the terrarium was sat up and work recommenced, the water heater and pump for the water feature were added, the heater will be used only for background heating. The pump is a ZooMed micro pump, I would have normally gone for something with a filter attachment but this was supplied by the customer so I made a housing for the pump and packed with filter wool to stop the pump from clogging up:

The cables from the pump and heater are pushed up the side of the cocopanel and escape through the top of the terrarium:

Next the hydroleca was added to form the drainage and water area in the base, pebbles were used to hold the leca back to form a pool area at the front of the terrarium:

A layer of membrane was next placed ontop of the hydroleca to form a barrier to stop the soil from washing into the hydroleca:

The first bit of soil was then put in to hold the membrane in position, fine gravel is also added to the pool area:

The tubing was then installed for the water feature, note the notch in the background to allow the water feature to sit flush:

The wood that forms the waterfall is then glued into place with silicon, and allowed to cure before the next stage:

Once cured the planting & landscaping begins, the plastic channel for the stream is also put in place:

The customer asked me to put a pot in to the terrarium for his wife to use for her orchids so she can take them in and out and change them as and when she wishes:

Major landscaping finished:

Close up of the plastic channeling at the base of the watefall:

Quick over view of terrarium so far:

Clump Moss then added:

Followed by the Sheet Moss:

Gravel is added to the stream and everything is watered in well:

View of water area:

The outflow from the pump is covered with moss, this hides the plastic elbow as well as slowing and spreading the output:

Planting then starts on the background, a knife is used to slit and open a pocket in the cocopanel:

The stem and roots of the Bromeliad are inserted into the pocket and Epithyte Planting Sticks are used to hold in place, moss is added to help retain moisture and encourage the Bromeliad to root quickly:

The other Bromeliads are affixed in the same way:

Ficus pumila 'Sunny' is planted against the backwall and trained to climb this will spread quickly to cover the cocopanel:

Final overview of the terrarium:

Now it just needs time to grow in and get established.