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Plants
Alocasia: (sp. Black velvet)
 Right now this plant is relatively small;
however, it will grow quite large, and may possibly have to be moved
out of the tank. They are a broad leaved plant, making them suitable
for such creatures as tree frogs to sit on, and this particular variety
will grow to around 18” in height. There are several variations of Alocasia,
but I picked this one for the nice leaf/vein contrast and the fact it
is one of the smaller varieties.
Orchids:
In this tank I’m using several orchids.
I'm not sure if it's true for all orchids, but I believe a great majority
are epiphytic. This means they don't grow in the soil, they prefer being
anchored to something or growing in some sort of bark mixture. Four
species are used in this tank. I'm using a dendrobium and an oncidium
species (which are the two in the far right corner in the Pict). I don't
know a whole lot about them, but I got them for a dollar a piece at
Lowe's, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. The orchid to the left of
these two is a vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia). This is more of
a vine-like plant that will have off white flowers that smell of vanilla.
The last species is a jewel orchid which is covered below.
Jewel Orchid :
Jewel orchids are used more for their foliage
than their flowers. As you can see the foliage really is incredible.
This particular plant is a Ludisia discolor, a terrestrial orchid that
prefers low light and high humidity (and is therefore ideal for terrarium/vivarium
growing). You can see it's almost in bloom, and will have a spike of
several white flowers. NOTE: Although it looks like the orchids are
planted in soil, they are actually rooted in a mix of bark and spaghum
moss.
Sansevieria: AKA snake plant
This is yet another species I don't know
much about. I used it as a substitution for a bromeliad (discussed later).
I believe this plant may outgrow the tank, but until then it fits in
nicely. It's leaves are thick, and able to support frogs and small lizards.
It has a low light requirement and can survive the high humidity.
Cryptanthus bivittatus minor: AKA "earth star"
These are absolutely beautiful plants, and
some of my personal favorites. The larger of the two is around 5" wide,
and shouldn't grow much bigger. They come in this bright red, pink,
and also a black. They probably come in other colors, but these are
the only three I've seen. They too are epiphytic, and as you can see,
I've secured them to the cork backing. The outside of the leaves are
somewhat spiky, but not too bad. They should be misted regularly to
keep them from drying out.
Creeping fig:
This stuff is the easiest plant I've ever
kept. It grows extremely fast and is virtually unkillable. It can be
used as a groundcover, as a vine, and mine stays alive even when it
is in the water. It is pretty much an all purpose vivarium plant. The
only way to kill it is if you let it dry out. You must make sure it
gets misted if the humidity in the vivarium is very low.
Bromeliads:
These are epiphytic plants like the orchids.
They hold water in the center of their leaves, which many frogs, especially
poison dart frogs, use to lay their eggs in. Some are hardier than others,
but I've had trouble growing the ones found at Home Depot and other
stores difficult to keep under vivarium conditions. I'm assuming this
is due to low lighting. There are many varieties with various colored
foliage and flowers and also a great variety of sizes.
Ferns:
Ferns are great vivarium plants. You can
just go to your local garden shop and pick one up, and they're pretty
inexpensive. Just make sure they are a low to medium light variety that
can put up with tropical temperatures and humidity. There are tons of
different varieties with their own unique foliage. The following are
plants I've never kept, but I've heard make suitable vivarium plants,
in case you would like to do a little research...
Begonias
Calathea
Peperomia
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