Very nice!! I have a lot of minis too and building a terrarium for them is on my list to do (whenever life decides to settle down).

Pleurothallis megalops ,bulbophylum commini ,haerella odorata ,scaphosepalum, going to add peporomias

The water is going to stay I am going to have a beta fish in there with some aquatic plants. Trying to clear the water it's murky ☹️


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It looks good! Adding a Beta? Hmmm, do they need filtration? I've kept a lot of fish through the years, never had a Beta. Hope that works out well, really will look nice.

You've been busy today! It looks great. Pattywack, bettas are good without filtration if the water is changed regularly.

Thanks it has taken me a month to build it from scratch to this point. Fastest part was planting the orchids lol. Good to know on the betas!


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Yay on the Beta! Thanks estacion seca, good to know and a beautiful colored Beta will look cool in there. I like the way this is coming along.

Bettas are in a group of fish that can survive (not thrive) in much nastier water than most others. They can suck air bubbles into their labyrinth organ and get oxygen this way in very oxygen-depleted water. They also tolerate much more nitrogenous waste in the water than do other fish, but again, this is not a good idea.

If you have some kind of plant with roots dangling into the water, the plant will absorb a lot of the nitrogenous wastes from the fish, and you will have to change the water less often.

In any case, people who keep fish really do need to do water testing on a regular basis, and adjust their water change regime accordingly. Many betta keepers get away with not testing because they change all the water weekly and the container is fairly large (say, 2 quarts / 2 liters.) Paper test strips are not accurate enough for this purpose, though they are commonly sold at pet shops. A test kit with liquid reagents and glass vials is necessary to be accurate. As a bonus, these liquid test kits can be used to test the pH, total hardness and nitrogen content of your orchid fertilizer solutions.

The purpose of the aquarium filter is to provide a large surface area to be colonized by a biofilm of bacteria, and draw water over the biofilm. Fish produce ammonia waste products. The bacteria break this down into nitrate and nitrite. Plants can all absorb nitrite through their roots, but not all plants can use ammonia nor nitrate.

A simple sponge filter of the proper size, powered by an aquarium air pump or a small submersible water pump, is as effective as an expensive canister filter with a built-in pump. Aquarists don't want to look at the sponge filter, so most use an external filter. A sponge filter small enough to work well in an Exo-Terra would not be very visible, and the constant bubbling would help keep the relative humidity very high in the terrarium.

I feel like I need to say this, but keep in mind that Bettas are tropical fish and also need a heater if the temps drop below 74-75F. It is a common misconception that they do not need one and will be fine in a glass vase without any form of heat. Often, fish kept like that will develop fungal and/or bacterial infections. I'm not sure how much room your exoterra has on the bottom since it is larger than mine (I have the 18X18X12''), but on mine, there is no way I would keep any fish in it... although you *might* find a species of killifish that are native to similar shallow/puddle-like habitats.

I will even go futher than estación seca. I personally wouldn't keep a betta in anything less than a 2 gallon tank with a heater and filter. You don't need a fancy filter, A bubble filter will work just fine for them, as he mentioned. In fact, many discus breeders (think the delicate, cloud forest orchids of the fish world... only they like it HOT) use bubble filters. They keep their tanks bare bottom and do partial water changes daily, however. I personally have a 38gal low-tech planted tank that I have had for years that is under-stocked fish wise and a 5gal cherry shrimp tank. I do weekly 40-50% water changes - something the animals and the plants seem to enjoy and I can see reflected in their health. For the past two months, I've had a plumbing issue in which I could not do proper water changes... I lost half my fish stock in that time and all my adult cherry shrimp.

Many, many bettas live in sub-optimal to very poor conditions and do so for years. That said, when you compare the behavior of a betta kept in a lower quality set up (no heater, no filter, no space) with one kept in a 2gal or better, a 5gal, you will see the difference. You can almost feel the joy pouring off a fish that has live in a tiny cup its whole life.

Ultimately, the decision is yours. If you do put one in there, make sure you read up on tank cycling and/or buy the bacteria required to break down ammonia and nitrite... you're lucky! When I started keeping fish over 15 years ago as a young teen, I had to do it the long, hard way. Store bought ammonia, test kits and lots of patience (6+ weeks before safe for fish! :shock:)

A side note (sorry, it's a pet peeve!), is that they are called "Betta" (pronounced 'bett-ah'), not beta (as in the letter in the Greek alphabet). This is actually their genus name, and there are many, many species of Betta. The most common ones (I.e., usually the only ones) seen in the cups at the fish store are the males of Betta splendens, also known as the Siamese Fighting Fish .

Also, I apologize that this is way off on a tangent... fish on an orchid board. Your terrarium looks very, very nice. You have done a beautiful job hardscaping it and adding the plants in :goodjob .

Wow it looks so good it's really coming along.

I just hate seeing them in those cups in the store. Makes me sick for them.