Hands in the Dirt: from Aquarium to Terrarium

At one point we kept a fish tank.  Well actually we have two fish tanks.  I don't talk about them much ... and that's probably a good thing since all the fish in our large tank have passed on to fishie heaven.  We thought about starting the tank up again, it was a tough call after having one fish live with us for almost three years, but we decided not to.

So, what to do with a 29 gallon tank and stand?

First of all... I drained the water.  It was full to the top, I luckily remembered to take this picture mid-draining.

Then, I flattened out the rocks and cleaned the glass. 

I added about one inch of sphagnum moss (was surprised to find it at Home Depot of all places fairly cheap!) on top of the rocks.  Then, a bunch of potting soil.  Then, I started planting little indoor plants.  I also put the fish rocks and decor back in between some of the plants for added drama.

And voila!!

Here you can see (from left to right):

"Creeping Fig" Ficus, "Silver Tree" Pilea, Polka Dot plant, and Spider plant in the back right

On the left side we have (from left to right):

"Magenta" Dracaena, African Violet, and I have a bit of Christmas Cactus behind the horse 

After everything was planted I gave it a generous watering until I could start to see some of the water making it's way down to the rocks. 

I really think this is going to be a great transition for me to indoor gardening over the winter. 

I know, it's only August... I shouldn't be talking about winter.  But I am.  This should make those cold winter months more manageable.  I hope.

I am going to see how these plants make out for a bit.  Hoping they are all hardy and low light enough to thrive.  I was also thinking about adding a few aromatic plants like mint or oregano. 

And there you have it!  I now get to tend to my very own little terrarium -- we are only on day three, I'll be sure to let you know how it fairs.

Also, here is a shopping list in case you also have an old aquarium laying around that you want to set up as a terrarium:

• old aquarium - I used my old aquarium... doesn't mean a new one wouldn't work.  You can also look for other containers.  Really the sky is the limit on what can become a terrarium.small rocks/pebbles
• small rocks/pebbles - these are also used for drainage.  If you had a fish aquarium, then by all means use the same fish rocks.
• small indoor plants - I found "Angel Plants" to be good ones for low-medium light and the bonus is they purify air too!!  These ran me about $2-3 a plant.  I also looked around at my current house plants and clipped a few pieces of the spider plant and Christmas cactus to include.
• potting soil/dirt
• Sphagnum moss - this is optional; but seems to really help the plants from getting too dry.  I managed to cover the whole surface for about $4.
• decor - anything goes for this too.  I used a plastic horse, fish rocks from the aquarium I had previously kept, and that rad skull which also came from the aquarium.

 Do you keep a terrarium?  I'd love to hear about it!!  And if you set up a new one, I'd love to hear about your experiences as well! 

Let's go garden!! 





I will be adding to these parties:

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Aquarium, you make my heart sing!

I could spend 6 of the 7 days of the week at an aquarium! 

I have a deep need to connect with water creatures -- the habit is supported by two fish tanks at home.  Not sure where the need came from, (and boats make me sea sick) but I don't argue... I just go with it! 

We went to The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT... and had a blast! 

Not your typical aquarium exhibit.. but they had Meercats!!  We quickly found out that early morning and mid-week.... all the animals were still so sleepy. 

Imagine if you sleep like this.  Bet you would need a good stretch after!

They had a whole room full of frogs.  Big ones, little ones.  The poisonous kind.  The loud ones.  Some that were brightly colored. 

This guy stole the show for me!!

They have some gigantic tanks! 

This one towered over my head and went all the way to the ground.  As the sharks swam around it felt a bit like they would come right over and shake my hand.  Errr... um... ask me what's for lunch!

I can never get enough jellyfish either.  They had a dark room with a cylinder tank all light up which really made the jellyfish look like they were dancing! 

I can't get over how delicate and detailed they are. 

One of my other favorite are the clown fish.  It was probably the movie "Finding Nemo" that ignited that love affair. 

Bright and beautiful... I could watch these clowns all day too.  Wonder how often they hear that!?!

I think all the bubbling water relaxes me!  Tomorrow I will show you those silly harbor seals!!

Jellyfish

Ever seen jelly fish glowing in an aquarium? Something about seeing their effortless dance = happiness!

Plain and simple, I am an aquarium fanatic! This picture is from 2 years ago at the Boston Aquarium; which is a must see if you are in the vicinity. The jelly fish area was dark, with the exception of a tank taller than me full of these odd sqiushy glowing dancers. Making the experience all that much cooler, was a little dial you could turn to change the colors that the jelly fish glowed.

I couldn't have been any happier at that moment, when I was imagining what all the jelly fish were saying to each other as they danced along! Mr. Happy, thanks again for feeding my aquarium passion!

Bulga Whale

Seeing a smile and getting to interact with a beluga whale = happiness!

It's incredible how smart and full of personality these guys are! I enjoyed, watching them swim around, listening to the clicks and whistles they made, and seeing them just enjoying life. We can all take a lesson from the beluga whale!

Big Fish

Getting up close and personal with fish that are bigger than your head = happiness!

Keeping with the aquatic theme today... here are some gigantic fish I met; and man were they ever BIG! Even more amazing was the size of their tank. How can you resist smiling at the sight of big fishie lips?

Clown Fish

Seeing a clown fish up close and personal (it's Nemo!) = happiness!

Since it's raining today we will do all sorts of water creatures starting with this cute little clown fish. I snapped him at the aquarium in Mystic, CT. They had a whole incredible tank full of them! My favorite line from Finding Nemo, the movie that made clown fish so popular, is: "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."

Perfect quote to start another work day.

Lion Fish

Realizing their are some very incredible, delicate, and dangerous things that we share the world with = happiness!

Check out the fins on this guy! Looking at this guy in in his gigantic aquarium fluttering effortlessly in front of me... it made me wonder how a fish gets so incredible! And did you know these guys are venomous? So cool!