what I've got so far

IMO too small to work with all you want to do. The wood will not last for sure with all the water planned and watering plants. anyother plants will take over the bonsai. Maybe opot some drawings of what you are planning. IMO this is the size of a small bed beside a front door so just not large enough .

It is a terrarium....you could have re-used an old fish tank for it. It would have had glass bottom, so no rotting wood from watering.

It could work if you plant small/slow growing plants. And definitely plants that are moisture-humidity lowers. Do not torture plants that do not like hose conditions. Even those will last for a while since your terrarium is 2.5x3.5', and open top, but not for an extended period of time.

Agreed. This will work, you can use the wood base as platform for the terrarium. You can install LED panel on top to light it. Make sure you sterilize the soil. A few recommended plants that will absolutely thrive in such a set up are episcias, mini-begonias (the big ones will rapidly take over, they're very hard to control), moss, some pepperomias but in my experience they also get very big.

My personal choice are episcias. There is a wide selection, they love the humidity and they can remain stable in a terrarium setting for literally years. I disassembled mine only because I got bored with it. Once you reach equilibrium, the thing doesn't do anything interesting anymore.

Nice build, btw. The dowel idea was a nice touch. It's even angled upwards a bit like I would have done (it will eventually just drop off from wear, unless gravity holds the panel in place as well).

Interesting - hope you post pictures when it is completed!

he wants fish , a bonsai and a waterfall please there is no way that will happen in this size unit this is not a terrarium at all.

You sure can have yourself a little garden with stream in that size space. People do it with amphibian habitats in that amount of space. Hermit crabs too. Few terrariums or tabletops I've seen too. I saw one a while back where the streams were made with soda bottles and the person had tetras swimming around in it.

You gotta keep it to small manageable fish, and small manageable plants.. and plan for a lot of upkeep and tending to keep it all nice.

The waterfall is tricky- either use a prefab one, like one meant for habitats... or mess around with DYI of pumping your tank into the waterfall system.

I would suggest as others have that you line or put something in that base to protect the wood. You are setting up a fairly moist environment there. Either premade, or get acrylic cut to fit and use aquarium silicone to put it together.

You could also cheat a bit and use pots in pots for your plants, and fill the spaces between with your whatever for fill... stones, sand, dirt with moss, etc.

I would be afraid of all the moisture (humidity) with the stream and so forth inside a house. Would be nice but you would be fighting all that humidity.

I'll post more pictures after the weekend. I have an adjustable water pump I was going to use for the pre-fab (modified) waterfall to use the aquarium water. the stream is going to be lined to separate the water from the soil obviously. Im creating a large fine strainer to hold the dirt and allow water to pass through so it falls into a tray underneath so no water stays on the wood. multiple layers of sealant/garden safe stain applied for wood exposed to soil. was thinking fancy guppies for the fish.

Fancy guppies? Like the little pretty ones with the floaty fan tails? Those are nice. And easy enough to replace if they die, sigh.

well they only get up to 2 inches, like moving water and don't require a large tank, why would they die? talking 3 MAYBE 4 tops

I love your drive and ingenuity! Can’t wait to see the outcome!

I have a 10 year old tank of guppies. They aren't long lived, but they are fecund. :) If you don't want more, remember to just get males. They are prettier anyway.

Do you have a plan for aquatic plants to combat algae?

Look up miniature or fairy garden plants for dinky plant ideas. I think a mini landscape would be pretty cool.

Is the cat well-behaved enough for this? I've only had one cat that would actively fish, but many that would test out something resembling a litter box... :)

the cats I have are a wild card hoping it won't be a problem but if it is I'm sure I can figure something out I have not thought of something to combat algae build up in the tank other than water filters.

you're not talking about those pretty Beta fish, are you? guppies, yes, the pretty blue/maroon fan tail betas, no. they will kill each other. (hence their other name, "fighting fish". )

have you had an aquarium? you're familiar w/filtration and aeration and all of that? if you have a filter, you won't have algae problems, but it will require maintenance.

A filter will not remove algae growing on the tank sides. You will absolutely have algae problems with a grow light over the thing. It's sort of how you make algae. :P

I do mean fancy guppies not bettas and I know I'm probably going to be having to clean the tank been many many years since I've had a small fish tank so I understand the upkeep basically. luckily the tank that I made this small enough to make cleaning the sides easy

I didn't mean to alarm with the dead fish comment. Like another has said, guppies aren't very long lived fish. Usually a year or two, though they can see about 5 if they are taken care of pristine. Tetras can live longer, about double the span- but they don't have that lovely fan tail action.

And you are just gonna have to clean your tank. Water+sun=algae. I've had it happen with a brand spanking new tank and bottled water, the green stuff is magic like that, lol. If you keep up on it with a algae squeegee and scrubber and your tank water changes, it should be OK. You plants will love getting watered with that tank water BTW, so the fish and algae are making you some great fertilizer.

I overwinter many pond plants in the sunroom (south facing, zone 7, no heating/air). They live in a 50 gallon livestock trough. I have kept a couple of goldfish in the trough a few years. The only negative is the amount of condensation on the windows. The sunroom is also filled with pots of annuals, herbs, tropicals and hanging baskets. It rarely gets below freezing and warms up during the day. Our cats love the area and cry for the door to be opened in midmorning. I do have to prevent them from 'fishing' in the trough even when there are no fish. It is a wonderful place to sit during the winter and lots of O2 from all of the plants. I have a small fountain pump but that would put too much humidity into the air for me. When I have had fish I used a bubbler. I say go for it!

Aren’t there some fish that are “algae eaters”? Sorry but I don’t know the proper name. Might those type of fish help with the algae issue?

Yes, I call them sucker fish. I had 2 in a 40 gallon tank and they kept it really clean. Plecostomus is what they are called. They look like catfish with big lips. They can grow pretty large, but only to the size of what they're in. I don't think they'll eat your guppies. Ask at a pet store where you will get your fish.

If you used plexiglass for your tank, your in for some big problems right away. Water has to be heated to keep at 70 degrees and I don't know what glue could hold that tight with out leaking and the plexiglass will start to bow. Hard to clean with out scratching. I would start with a large plastic tub and insert a ready make fish tank in it. Build your stream and water fall with fiberglass that will not leak out any water into the surrounding environment and can keep a succulent garden inside. Along with guppies, could add molleys and platies. They sell stuff to kill algae. A uv filter in the pump to feed the water fall. A little costly but worth it in the long run.

If you can't find a large flat tub to start with. Next best think is to build a frame and line it with pond liner. Check out all the stuff at a good large fish store. One that caters to pond fish keeping.

I think being indoors is a problem with high humidity and could encourage mold growing thru out your house.

Good luck and post some pictures.

It not having yet seen the completed project the cat in the first picture is thinking "Great! A huge new litter box!!"

"With a big feeding tray on the end!"

Bing Images - Indoor Water Garden Design

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Indoor+Water+Garden+Design&form=IRTRRL&first=1&scenario=ImageBasicHover

You sound clever. To save space could you adapt a faucet for the waterfall?

putting it in tomorrow, next step will be soil

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Bob How did you project turn out?

following.