Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i like ferns a lot and would like to make a terrarium with as much ferns as possible. i have not sen any pictures of fern only tanks however. its a blast seeing everyones pictures though. if anyone has ever made or tried one or has pictures of one thatd be appreciated. thanks. happy new years. peace.

-brad

I think that would be an interesting concept to try, but the problem is that so many ferns get pretty large . . . so you would have to have a larger terrarium. You could even take it a step further by utilizing only fern relatives (like the club mosses--different Selaginella's) as your base plant instead of moss.

Some ferns I have had good luck with in the terrarium are Nephrolepis cordifola 'duffi' (the lemon button fern), a small maidenhair fern (sorry, I have forgotten the name of this one), and the resurrection fern. I have also seen Nephrolepis exaltata 'Suzi Wong' do well in the terrarium. Of course, different Selaginella's commonly available include uncinata (rainbow or peacock club moss), plana, or kraussinea 'aurea' (gold tipped club moss). You really can't go wrong with these.

I know others have had good luck with other ferns, but I'll let them jump in. I know Alexander Stubbs has some interesting ferns . . . and I'd personally jump on the chance to trade for one of his.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

Hi,

My I usually post as astubbs but that username is not currently working. It is possible that I will be AlexanderStubbs from now on.

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Hi,

I have been using many ferns in my vivs but I primarily keep epiphytes. I keep 4 species of unidentified polypodium ferns, 2 unidentified pyorax species and a few that are identified (if you are really interested in their names I will look them up in my files but I do not have it easily accessible.) Some of them are established enough that I could feel comfortable taking cuttings in large (4-9) quantities, so if anyone wants to trade for other cool plants or frogs you can contact me off the list (homer). I also have 2 really cool plants that are not quite that established but they may be large enough to take one or two cuttings.

As for terrestrial ferns I really like the heart fern and silver dollar maiden hear fern from Peru (I only propagate the heart fern.) I also keep a few other species of maiden hairs in my tanks but their leaves are not as large so only my “panguana” lamasi can enjoy them (all my other thumbnails are to large.) If you have any reticulatus the regular maiden hair should be fine. The Selaginella species are great but plana tends to take over in short order. Also the ph of your soil can affect growth of some ferns. I suggest that you use the soil mix from t and c terrariums because it is much better for plant growth than the coco fiber mix that some people like. If anyone is very interested in these ferns you should contact black jungle or Ken Davenport at peace of the tropic, both are great.

As for fern only tanks I have created one but it dose not have any frogs in it. I just keep it to propagate cool plants.

Alexander Stubbs

I am having surprising success with Lecanopteris mirabilis. It is mounted high and dry, and has grown a new frond off an expanding rhizome in 3 months. You can see it here: http://www.frognet.org/gallery/album47/101_0124

Sorry about the mounting wire, it hasn't completely rooted to the background yet. It is mounted on a bed a sphagnum over the background.

A $15-$20 plant, but very interesting.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

3.0.1 D. imitator
3.2 D. leucomelas
1.2.1 P. terribilis (mint)
0.0.2 D. azureus
0.0.1 D. tinctorius (Alanis)
0.1 D. tinctorius (Brazilian cobalt)
0.0.4 D. auratus (Panamanian green and bronze)
1.1 M. madagascariensis
1.0 P. hypochondrialis

I was wondering if you have a picture of the fronds, as the only fronds I see in the pic are of Nephrolepis cordata 'duffi', although it looks like there is at least one stem of the mirabilis in the left hand side of the pic.

That is definitely one interesting fern . . . very exotic looking.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

You can see both fronds in this pic: http://www.frognet.org/gallery/album47/103_0349
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

3.0.1 D. imitator
3.2 D. leucomelas
1.2.1 P. terribilis (mint)
0.0.2 D. azureus
0.0.1 D. tinctorius (Alanis)
0.1 D. tinctorius (Brazilian cobalt)
0.0.4 D. auratus (Panamanian green and bronze)
1.1 M. madagascariensis
1.0 P. hypochondrialis