I personally am very skeptical of the claims made as to the "53yr-old" terr. There is the tendency to accept anything found on the internet as "true", but that is neither here nor there with regards to your post. Is the terr your daughter won also 8" tall or is that just the width? None of those plants will survive in an enclosed terr long term. Few plants, for that matter, will do well in the stagnant conditions of a sealed terr. Molds/fungi, however, will have an absolute "field day" under such conditions. The smaller the container, the more true this will be. Does your daughter currently have any interest in gardening? A small terr like that will not be maintenance free. If she currently does like gardening, this will fit in with that interest. If she does not, then perhaps this terr will provide a "spark" to jumpstart an interest in gardening. The majority of plants people generally use in terrs will -- if happy with the conditions -- quickly outgrow the space. This will then necessitate pruning from time to time. And because some plants send out 'runners' or because of 'volunteer' plants springing up from whatever media is used, occasional weeding will, in all likelihood, be needed. Nothing terribly laborious, but just a heads up on some maintenance aspects to be aware of. This is also something worth keeping in mind when choosing plants. Watering: Should be done sparingly (more frequent watering will be needed should you and your daughter decide to leave the top off of the terr -- which would be my recommendation, btw). Remember that it is always better to err on the side of caution and use too little water than to use too much -- you can always add more water if needed, but removing excess water is virtually impossible from a practical point of view. Only use rainwater, distilled water, or RO water. Tap water tends to contain too many minerals and other contaminants (like the fluoride many municipalities add to the water supply) which can quickly build up to lethal levels in the confines of a terr. Light: Bright indirect light is best though your kitchen table area will likely be far too dim from a plant's standpoint to be a "permanent" home. Avoid direct hot sun unless you wish to "cook" the terr's contents (and it doesn't take long for lethal temps to be reached -- especially in a sealed terr). Plants: Choose plants that will stay tiny. Even most of those will require pruning/weeding every so often but will be less of a headache than larger plants. Personally, I would advise you and your daughter to avoid cacti/succulents when you pick out the plants to use. Simply put, they do not make good long term terr plants. In providing for their high light requirements, one is likely to fry them. One overwatering mistake is all it takes to kill them off in most cases. For cheap plant sources, you can check at your local big box store, but keep in mind that the plants will not likely be truly tiny growers. Things like polka dot plants (Hypoestes) or fittonia are common at the BBSs but will quickly out grow a terr. (They do offer the advantages though of being very cheap, easily obtained, and grow pretty fast.) Ferns typically with completely overrun and outgrow such a small terr in no time. Ivies, IME, are MAJOR spidermite magnets, and in an enclosed terr are highly subject to powdery mildew. I would not recommend using them. There are a number of sources for mini plants -- unfortunately most are not truly mini enough for a terr that size. (In some cases they are sold while teeny but will get far too large over time.) Black Jungle Terrarium Supply and Josh's Frogs are probably two of the best known suppliers of terr plants. They can easily be found online by Googling. Again, be forewarned that most of the plants they offer will not stay mini in comparison to a terr as small as your daughter's. You might want to keep your eyes open in your search for plants for Epipremnum Pincushion or African Violet Blue Twinkle or Pink Twinkle. (The Twinkles will eventually try to take over a small terr like yours but they are easy enough to cut back.) The AVs mentioned aren't too terribly hard to find but the Epip. will likely be another story. I haven't seen it offered on any professional site. The link at the bottom of the page will take you to a page from my album. These are plants I sell from time to time. Most would be far too large for your daughter's terr, but you can see both photos of Pincushion and Blue Twinkle to see what they are like. Media: Don't use any of the garbage that has "fertilizer added". In the confines of a terr, one is likely to run into issues of mineral buildup. A "light", "airy" mix with a lot of large particulates like perlite would be a wise choice. The media should be lightly moist before added to the terr. (When the moisten media is squeezed in your hand as you make a fist, no water should come dripping out. If it does then it is likely too wet.) Don't bother with putting gravel or such in the bottom for a "drainage layer". The usefulness of such is a bunch of hokum in the majority of set-ups. Media should occupy about 1/3-1/2 of a container that size. (I know, unfortunately, that does not leave you with much 'headroom' to play with.) Hope this was helpful. Here is a link that might be useful: a couple plants

Here's what it looks like now.

Hi I visited that place many years ago and was so impressed at not only how beautiful it was but every plant had a tag and everyone was easily accessible. It was built specificly to house plants but he also kept birds and reptiles in it. I think i would like to use this as a model for my own attempt sort of combining a terrarium with a cage with a conservatory yet still have it adaptable to different growing conditions. Have been wanting to start a much larger terrarium for a long time.but maybe I should just redo my entire shadehouse rather than a separate unit. I need a place to house my orchid collection and my sugar birds would fit right in. My shadehouse was originally an attached screenroom and over the years I've kept adding plants unril it's turned into a "jungle" lol Since I had some hurricane damage and it's necessary to repair anyway.Thought it might be a good idea to combine everything into one area. It is now 12x25 but think I'd like to expand it to 25x25 with a 12 foot ceilng. Get rid of most of the yard plants and incorporate the lily pool into the structure.. One of the really tough questions is wall covering.Note that they use lexan on the outside walls.They use carbolite at the RPH at Fairchild. The MAIN drawback is heat gain. Even in winter this requires constant evacuation of the entire area as well as air in summer. Personally i think you could get by with only partial covering during winter and eliminate the need for air all together. I'm thinking along the line of maybe a climate controlled area within the main structure Sort of a terrarium within a greenhouse within a shadehouse lol. As to budget I think I can keep it under 1500 dollars with very limited maintenence costs. This doesn't seem to bad when you consider the costs of a large terrarium particularly the lights. I'm kind of excited about the idea as it would give me a central place for all my plants,cut way back on lawn maintenence,provide a fantastic cage for my birds and would allow me to convert the lily pool to tropical temps. I would give up all the aquariums in the house modify all exterior plantings to minimal care.. I think this would result in less maintenence than i do now. Glad you enjoyed the site .It's a handy reference for Bromelid ID and care. gary

mushrooms are fine. if you understand how they grow you'll be better at not worrying about them. short lifers. also, your false bottom set up is a bit old. if you have a drainage material IE the egg crate and pvc platforms, then you don't need leca. cover the egg crate with fiberglass window screen. be sure your egg crate isn't sitting too close to the water below. also, there are so many types of moss. some moss needs to die back others just grow like crazy. I've got tanks that have moss growing over the wood and rock (hardscape). you also need strong light, CF lights are great! the succes you have with moss is mostly in where you got it. some folks sell moss but it's from the northern US so it dies. also some moss has to spore out, by way of air flow or it won't breed new. the function of moss is to create soil. lichens grow on rocks, then moss, then a seed falls, a tree grows and so on. what type of water are you using? RO and distilled are best in terrariums : naturalistic vivariums especially with moss. out side, sure, we all use a garden hose, and still see moss but the light burns of chorine and such. inside, it's all differnt. also, you have moss sitting on moss. why? most doesn't grow like that. you should have a low Ph soil mix and since you want moss, add a little limestone to the soil, buy the right type of moss (moss from rocks won't grow on the ground, moss from trees won't grow on rocks. etc.)or species, and one that comes from the location that you're building the terrarium for. hair cap would be good. so, you need lot's of light, lower pH Soil, the right kind of moss, distilled water...and email me and i'll tell you how to transplant it...bonsia secrets you know... also, if you go to google.com and type in "Naturalistic Vivarium Plants" i'm sure the first site you see might have more specific instructions and types of moss to suit your needs.