Hi
As you've probably noticed this forum is dead !!lol
I'd suggest you cruise the internet there are bunches of very active forums . There are sooo many ways to setup terrariums you could write a book. Wait they have lol.
Probably the easiest to setup and maintain are "lowland tropical" either terrestrial or aquatic. Tropical plants and animals are far more adapted to average conditions in the home setup unless you keep your house in the 50's ??
Probably the BEST way is to decide what you want to keep.
Consider what conditions are necessary for those and design the entire setup around those parameters.
Anyway thanks for posting!! Glad there is still some interest!! gary

I'd suggest you cruise the internet there are bunches of very active forums .

Really, Gary? I honestly haven't seen any that are more active than this one. I think the problem is the same across the board ... While one is working on a terr or viv, one has tons of Q and pics to show off. After completion, unless they are having issues like die off in the terr or decide they have room in the house for another terr, people just run out of terr related topics to be involved in. So if you know of a "bunch" of "very active" terr forums, let me know, eh? (Either here or email me via GW.)

Cute terr, Jon! One mistake I do see right off the bat is the phal. Phals are not terrestrial plants and as such the one you have is not likely to survive there. Try mounting it on one of the branches. Also, less this is a mini Phal and not just a young plant, if it likes your terr it will outgrow it.

Ground covers & ferns often become 'thugs' in terrs if they survive to begin with. Just keep an eye on them.

What are you using as lightsource?

Paul thanks for the post! I'm pretty sure the phal is just a younger plant. You can't really tell in the picture but I do have it mounted on top of a mossy rock then i put some spag moss around the roots so it isn't actually in the soil. It does seem to like where it's at because the new growth has tripled in size. Kinda figured my choice in plants might come back and bite me down the road but I thought I would just go with it. I didn't pay more than $1 for any of these plants. I'm kinda a discount plant shopper so most of my plant collection overall is from "saved" plants, it's almost an obsession. I have a dual tube 2ft shop light with daylight bulbs for my light source.

Paul
My favs are "orchid board", ,mostly for orchids but is divided by culture method Huge section on vivarium, terrarium, orchidarium, setups.
Second is "Aquaria central" mostly centered on aquaria but has a huge section on paludariums, ripariums, aquatic and semiaquatic terrariums.
Only complaint about them is they are TOO busy lol
For example OB has had 40 new posts since midnightlol gary

Paul
Well, I particularly like the OB as i grow a lot of orchids but not in terrariums . The terrariums section is VERY useful in specie selection for all kinds of specialised setups I tried a couple of the "Seep" methods for wet/wet orchids but should have done this in a closed system rather than in the GH.
Aquaria central doesn't have much of a "dry setups " but I find it very useful for my favs.Paludariums or rivertanks another is Carniverous plants in true terrariums or riparium or emersed aquaeia. Lots of posts on these though i don't grow any in glass. Scroll down the list of subjects Terrariums is right below Marine setups.
I'll have to go through the site you posted Looks like a LOT of info.!! Thanks gary