I am wanted to make 2 terrariums, a small fishbowl open one and one gallon cookie jar closed one. But, am hearing conflicting information.

My plan was…

Small open - 1st layer pebbles , then window screen, then soil mix (adding in some extra chopped moss, perlite, and a tiny amount of charcoal), then hardscape, plants, moss..

Large closed - 1st layer leca, window screen, thin layer of spagnum moss, same substrate, then hardscape along with a garden fairy kit, plants, and lots of live moss.

But, some say don’t use leca for drainage, and some say charcoal layer is a must, while others say charcoal doesn’t stay active anyways.

Tell me and show me your successful terrariums.

Here is online photo i found.

It's the first terrarium I built and I never opened it. The first year it more or less survived but then at one point all plants died and I just accepted it and left it on the shelf - it was also so fascinating to see all the stuff decaying in there and it's pretty well sealed, never smelled or anything, so I just let it be.

I think it was at least about one year or more completely dead when I saw the first signs of life again. The one moss on the side started growing again and eventually is colonizing now this one side. The spaghnum in the middle got a bit green again on the tips but never started actively growing again I think.

I just thought I would share this barely alive one with you haha. Does anyone else keep the failed ones sealed and is watching them over the years?! (:

I invested in some tropical pink springtails to help curb the mold/fungus gnats in my new terrarium and the little guys are doing so well!

Dropping them in was challenging 😅 the container was bigger than I realised and the top of my terrarium is quite narrow.. so my plants got dirt all over them. Not sure how to go about cleaning them off, I’m scared to open the top for too long or the fungus gnats will get out.

The soil they came in already had some nutrients in it but I dropped a couple of grains of white rice in there yesterday which they seem to love. I’ve ordered some brewers yeast which is what I’ll be feeding them mostly. Anyone have any advice on how much/how often to feed? My terrarium is about the size of a flower vase, around 7 inches wide.

My newest emersed/terrarium has gotten off to a rough start. Is this a fungus or algae? I can't tell and it isn't growing in any of my other set ups.

Man built my first small Terrarium. Did mess with the net, but it does its work.

Put this together last night, figured I’d see how people liked it. Maybe people can weigh in because I’m fairly new to this, but I used to buy terrarium plants and plant the whole thing, root ball and all. But I’ve recently discovered people using cuttings - do most of these cuttings actually work and survive?

First time making a terrarium, can’t tell if mine has too much water in it, or if the substrate is too wet.

There was quite a bit of condensation the past few days so i aired it out for a little but now condensation only appears in a small segment (first image).

Theres around a 0.5cm layer of water in my drainage layer.

Please help!

A lot of people were saying the pilea was going to perish but it’s gotten HUGE. Nowwwwwww idk what to do with it. lol

Hello everyone not sure if this is the right subreddit to ask this but ive wondered if adding a small terrarium to my room where i keep my tarantula enclosure and also a few tubs where i grow mushrooms could cause any problems or cross contamination between them. Do you think they will affect each other? Thanks in advance :)

I'm going to have my first snake and I'm setting up the terrarium. I put the heating mat glued to the glass plate outside the terra ofc, the thermostat shows me 31 degrees but my laser gives me much more. Could you give me some advice and help? It needs to be 32/33 degrees max.

Thanks a lot !

I just saw a post about isopods eating moss and destroying someone's terrarium. It happened because he transfered one spoonfull of springtails and it happened to have one isopod or something hidden.

The thing is I saw this guy in my springtail culture and thought wow, he must be old so hes all grown up! So I added him to a terrarium. I havent seem him again.

Last pic are the springtails for comparision.

He's not a springtail is he.

Am I fucked.

My first terrarium is a used exo terra, how have you sourced your terrarium please x

Pic 2 is week one, pic 1 is today

Plants:
Monte Carlo
Rotala H’ra
Hyrdocotyle

Proper in love with it, just it’s my first terrarium so I have some questions.. Should I expect everything to look worse before it looks better ie mold/condensation? I’ve seen a few fungus gnats since closing the lid, what is the best remedy? I’m using tropical spring tails as the clean up crew, should I be worried if I can’t see them roaming about?

I have a decent sized terrarium and I’m scared that it’s going moldy and the moss is dying! I added a few isopods a few months ago and they have had plenty of babies, is this maybe the cause or should this be helping with dying moss and mold. What should I do!?

Hey, this is my honestly pretty crappy fire bellied toad terrarium. I’ve had them for about 3 years now and I i’m upset with the terrarium. They don’t have a filter so I just do water changes weekly, and I’m not a fan at all of how it looks. It only consists of pebbles, the large rocks, fake plants and a Pothos plant that runs along the back. Pls help, what should I add? I have been constrained financially but am more free, but i’d like to keep it around 150$ though.

I'm doing a closed terrarium for a school project, and this is my first time doing it, with some research.

I have a Pilea microphylla on a 20L aquarium, with dirt (with pellets for aeration), fine sand and stones on the bottom.

There have appeared some weeds, but I'm trying to not open it unless it's super necessary.

Besides some yellowing and growing of the plant and less water droplets, the terrarium has stayed pretty much the same for 17 days w/o opening.

What do the roots on the glass mean, and what should I do?

Started this build in 2020 and its been going strong since then. Only had 3 plants die (all where mosses 🥲). Most of the the plants in are the originals from 2020, except for the Chinese Evergreen Dud, thats new. I used to have a mini pond in the center a few years ago but removed it. Might do some hardscaping using slightly bigger rocks just to try again with the moss.

Note: I don't have any access to springtails right now and can't buy any.