Designing a Biotope - Ecuador/Colombia
 

So, I am in the designing stages of a terrarium. And, I know that this is a bit "off topic" but, since it is primarily going to be to show off Pleuros from Ecuador and/or Colombia, I kind of decided to ask here.

I'll start with the basics. I am planning on using a 10 gallon aquarium and it will likely have a small aquatic section. There will be no fish. If I can find a dwarf shrimp species native to Ecuador or Colombia I might add it at some point, but the primary focus is on the orchids and plants in general. Lighting will be on the low end since I am going to have shade to bright shade orchids. Temps will be intermediate - warm.

Here is the list of orchids, which I either already own or have on order from Ecuagenera:
Dryadella cristata
D. clavatella
Masdevallia minuta
Masd. nidifica
Masd. pygmaea
Poroglossum muscosum
Scaphosepalum cimex
Scaph. rapax

Now, here is my conundrum. I am looking for other true miniature tropical plants native to Colombia and/or Ecuador to also compliment the 'chids. I haven't started looking for aquatic plants, but I am open to suggestions for them as well.

The problem I am running into is that terrarium plant growers and sellers just don't seem as organized as orchid people (or, I am looking in the wrong place). Many plants sold for terrarium will outgrow them in less than two months unless you consistently trim them, but, as you browse the section they make no mention of that. The other problem is that they don't often list where the plant is native to.

So far, in several hours of researching, I've come up with three-ish:
Peperomia velutina
Pilea microphila
Utricularia sp. (bladderworts, I've only narrowed down to the genus)

I'm looking for a few more options. The Pilea is likely a definite and will serve as a nice carpet plant for the ground area. Other than that, I feel so lost. Orchid peeps have spoiled me- I had my orchids picked out in less than an hour! It's been so bad, I've been considering just sticking with the 'chids and forgetting the other stuff, but I want something in the ground as well.

So if anybody has suggestions for plants, or vendors with complete info, I would love it!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, advice, etc.

Sounds like a fun project! I'll try to come up with ideas for "other plants" but one orchid I would recommend is Lepanthopsis astrophora Stalky, from Columbia. It is an absolute favorite of mine and could be the "star" of your tank. It can be difficult to find though there is one on eBay now.

Mountain Orchids has some interesting miniatures, I have a begonia in my terrarium that came from there but the plant is native to Africa. You might check there to see what he might have, he's extremely helpful.

Another vendor I've found with a lot of miniature, other plants is Glass Box Tropicals. They have a lot of terrarium plants and they too are very nice and helpful when looking for specific plants. I found a Platystele umbellata there after looking forever for one! It is huge compared to most I've seen pictures of and it bloomed for weeks. I would definitely look at Glass Box, I think they are overlooked, they have a nice selection.

---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 AM ----------

I bought my Dryadella cristata from Glass Box Tropicals too.

A bit of research on Google should be able to turn up the native range of any plant you're likely to encounter from commercial vendor. In the case of plants found in more than just your countries of interest the vendor might not be able to tell you where the plant actually came from. I guess it depends how nuts you want to be about this ;)

Thanks Patty for your suggestions!

I might email Mountain Orchids to see if he just knows if any of his plants meet my needs. I have also been looking on Glass Box Tropicals site, but run into the problem where many plants, outside of the orchids, need to be trimmed regularly to keep them terrarium sized. I'll keep looking through his site though as he does have great stuff.

The D. cristata is actually one of the ones I already have. I got a large clump (actually, it looks like three plants on one mount) that I picked up from Ecuagenera at the NH show in February. I have to admit, I kind of love them - never a bad experience and their plants have been very adaptable.

The google research is where most of my time has been dumped, about three hours last night and at least the same this morning (how I spend my days off, eh?). It kind of goes like this: Search Vendor, find plant that looks like it might be small, search google and either a. it gets too big, b. it's not even from South America or C. both.

I am going to be fairly particular about where the plants are from. They can be from a wider range than just those two countries but they should be able to be found in either country. I am even open to those that can be found in nearby locations, i.e. Peru, Venezuela and Brazil if they are otherwise perfect. I should also note that the actual, individual plant can come from anywhere. I am just looking for those that are native to Ecuador and/or Colombia.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm getting excited and I don't even have the tank yet.. but I ordered the light!

I assume you already did a search at Andy's and checked out J&L Orchids....

Have you tried this place?
Welcome! You have discovered Black Jungle Terrarium Supply - The Natural Choice!!

I have searched Andy's - he didn't seem to have much in the way of non-orchid minis. I have, of course, gotten some of the orchids for the terrarium from him because his plants are the best. J&L, I don't think, carriers non-orchids.

I had not seen Black Jungle, thank you for another source!

I suspect you're going to have to get used to trimming.

Probably no good as he's not in the US, but we came across this place: Bens Jungle - Terrarienpflanzen

If nothing else, browsing through his fern and plant catalogues may give you some ideas of species for which to google.

Also try NEHERP and Josh Frogs for terrarium plants. NEHERP is New England Herpetoculure, they are great for supplies too.

Thanks for the ideas! I was just on NEHERP and they have a few plants I could do with.

So far, my terrestrial list includes:
Tillandsia tectorum
Peperomia serpens
Peperomia caperata
Microgramma vacciniifolia
Micr. reptans
Micr. piloselloides.
Pilea microphyla
Selaginella erythropus

I already own the Selaginella and Peperomia caperata (yay!), they were random buys at a garden shop in the "fairy garden" section. I got them and a Begonia there, but these are the only two that seem to plan on remaining small.