# Setting up a fern terrarium



## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

So I have an ExoTerra on the way, and that means I'll be moving my miniature orchids from my 12x16x30 fishtank into their new home. However, I'd like to fill my old tank with small ferns. I've currently got a large assortment of miniature ferns including Microgramma, Microsorum, Salvinia, Polypodium, Hemionitis, and Adiantum. However, I also have a Bolbotis heteroclita and a Trichomanes javanicum that need much higher humidities. Is there any way to keep these in the same tank as the others? I thought that maybe I could put them directly under the mister.


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## BonnieLorraine (Jan 23, 2011)

I keep most of those, including several species of african fern and Trichomanes, in the same tank with no problem, and maybe water it once a month with no spraying in between. How sealed up is your tank?


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## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

BonnieLorraine said:


> I keep most of those, including several species of african fern and Trichomanes, in the same tank with no problem, and maybe water it once a month with no spraying in between. How sealed up is your tank?


What kinds of African fern? And right now it's not sealed at all, just keeps the humidity high, but I'd like to seal it most of the way up once I get the ferns in there. 

Do you have any pictures of your tank on here?


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## BonnieLorraine (Jan 23, 2011)

it's just a plant grow out tank, so solid glass with glass sliding doors, there are some older pics up somewhere but no current ones. I have Bolbitis heteroclita, Bolbitis heteroclita tenuissima, Bolbitis simplicifolia, and Bolbitis heudelotii. Filmy ferns I have Trichomanes davallioides, Trichomanes javanicum, and Gonocormus sp.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Wow Bonnie you really have a lot of different _Bolbitis_!

Like Bonnie said those _Bolbitis_ should do fine in just regular humid viv conditions. One important note about the _B. heteroclita_ is that that one is actually a semi-aquatic plant. You should plant it down in the bottom of the enclosure in substrate that is always moist, not mounted up higher. The fern's rhizome should be on top of the substrate with the roots growing down into the substrate. If you bury the rhizome it will rot.


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## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

I have it sealed in a large glass kitchen jar with The trichomanes. The substrate is just sphagnum and lave rocks. The Trichomanes have their roots in it but the Bolbitis is just sitting on top of it. The Trichimanes aren't as green as I would expect, but they're not molding and are sporadically putting out new fronds, so I'm going to leave them for now.


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## KarmaPolice (Apr 25, 2012)

Not to divert the thread, but where is a place for miniature fern sales? I would also like to start a fern tank build eventually.


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## theroc1217 (Jun 5, 2012)

I collected my Polypodium virginianum from the wild. My Microgramma's were a gift from the conservatory at school, as well as my Salvinia. Bolbitis and Trichomanes and Microsorum I got from pet stores as aquatic plants. Some other varieties I found at Home Depot and Lowes. I got Ressurection Fern from someone on here, and a few more on eBay as well. 

Short answer: all over.


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