I saw an DOOA advertisement in the latest AGA clippings magazine for a tiny glass jar with a light on top. Basically a tiny place to keep an aquatic plant in emersed conditions. Specifically, this guy:
I was somewhat entranced, but then significantly less so once I saw the price they wanted for that little light. Plus the light has a cord which has been removed for photography purposes.
I basically wanted to do something just like this, but not pay ADA prices.
Some searching on amazon turned up some tiny 'terrariums' and one of those generic plant or aquarium lights that comes attached to a wooden base.
When everything came in I took the base of the new terrarium out back and spray painted it gray (gray because that's what I had lying around). This is what that looked like:
Why do this? Well, I am pretty sure that given a long enough time the 'soil' area will eventually be covered in algae up against the glass, and I it will also be impossible to clean. So rather then live with that look, I can just make the base opaque right up front.
The specific terrarium I bought was not perfectly sealed on the lid. It had a very small hole in the top for ventilation. But I don't want ventilation, so I used a dab of silicone on a toothpick to fill that in.
After that it was a simple matter of filling the base with aquasoil type substrate and add a plant. I then added water until the base was full and tada. All done.
The plant of choice for this first one is Crypt Flamingo (because I had an extra one already). I found a temporary home for the whole thing, and we will see how it does! If it goes well, I actually have a second one of these things already and will likely try a buce in it.
