Terrarium in a cracked tank

One cracked 60cm tank, cleaned. This is the plan, using materials and plants at hand

Layer 1: mix of pea gravel, Leca balls and river stones as false bottom (whatever I had lying around basically)

Layer 2: shade cloth

Layer 3: charcoal

Layer 4: mix of compost from the compost heap and seedling mix. Will probably add leaf litter from compost heap - many isopods, spring tails, perhaps earth worms?

 

I’ve watched a lot of Serpa Design so perhaps that rubbed off

 

I’m pretty happy with it!
Haven’t yet added the leaf litter

 

We’ve added some leaf litter and critters from the compost heap

 

So this is still running but has been moved to the bedroom.

I haven’t done anything except for the occasional watering. The foreground plants (pratia) simply disappeared overnight and quite frankly I think the son decided they were weeds. He denies this of course

Posting a few ‘before’ pics as I’m about to clean the glass for the first time, trim & move the purple plant to the back, and add another little fern.

Thinking some green Mondo grass might work well in foreground?

 

Thanks Gary. I forgot

 

So let me post the name of the new fern, for future reference

 

How about some moss for the foreground ?

 

Cools. I’ve also added a pepperomia Zorro, palm and miniature orchid

 

@A new day

Looks very good.
My only concern is the orchid. It’s epiphytic, so needs an open, bark based substrate to do well long term. In ordinary soil the roots gets smothered and end up rotting. It can even be tied onto some wood with some moss around it.

 

Thanks @Reedfish i created a hollow in the soil for it which I filled with this orchid mix. Do you think it would work?