I Made a Terrarium With a FLOWING STREAM, Here’s How!

in this video I'll be showing you how I made this terrarium that even has a flowing stream [Music] into the build I'll be using this 30 by 10 by 16. let's start with the drainage layer I needed something that would act as a filter and as a drainage layer at the same time this coarse filter foam was the perfect material to use I cut it to size off camera and then placed it inside the terrarium this would do a great job at keeping the water clean and keeping unwanted materials out of the pump it's also extremely lightweight talking about the pump here's the one I'll be using it's a low power adjustable aquarium pump to fit it inside I had to cut the wire the end would then fit through this small hole and then I'd reattach them together I'll show you how I do this later on in the build I then removed the filter foam and cut out a square which the pump can fit into to do this I simply used some scissors I then put the drainage layer back in and done a quick test fit with the pump it fits in perfectly so it's time to move on now I actually want to start making the stream I want it to run down from the top left corner all the way down to the bottom right and I want to make it look as if it carries on out the tank and not just end in a pool of water to build the stream I'm going to be using black lava rock I think their detailed and textured look will be perfect for this build I've got a decent amount that all range in size that I'm going to be using I firstly placed in some filter foam to build some height which will make it easier to build the stream this will help create a tapered slope which the water can naturally flow down as you can see it's taller on the left and gradually gets shorter now I'm going to take the black lava rock and start building this part did take some time and I did have to start over a fair few times but that's all part of the building process and it's definitely worthwhile when you finally come up with a decent layout slowly piece by piece the stream was starting to take shape here's the main structure of the black lava rock fully complete there's still a lot of work to do before it becomes a functioning stream but it's definitely getting closer shoe method to secure all the Rocks together these long glue nozzles really come in handy here I tear off small pieces of tissue wedge them in between the rocks and then soak them in glue this creates a strong bond that will dry quickly I went on to repeat this for the rest of the Rocks here's the front piece of the stream all glued together it's sturdy enough to be held which is great and I can cover up all the white glue marks later on I then repeat the same process for the back part of the stream I want to use expanding foam to hold these together and form the bottom part of the stream but before I can do this I need to create a temporary bond between the front and back part of the string this way I can remove the string from the tank and join it with expanding foam I join both halves together by attaching cocktail sticks with hot glue this actually worked out better than I expected as it held both halves in place really well before I can add the spray foam I need to add something to the bottom of the stream to stop it from expanding too much I had some leftover pieces of filter foam which would work great I wedge them in place between the rocks and tried not to leave any large gaps as the foam would find its way through here's all the filter foam in place [Music] now it's time to add the spray foam I gave it a good Shake applied the nozzle and then started to apply it when adding the foam it's important to apply less than you might think it does expand a lot I tried my best to do this as neatly as possible and only get it on the rocks that it needs to be foreign s after about 15 minutes as you can see it's expanded a lot and the filter foam has done a great job at stopping it expanding into the stream at this point whilst it's still soft I use my hands to press the foam down into place this helps create the basic shape so I haven't got to do any carving later on I then left it for another half hour and here's how it's looking it's definitely not completely cured yet but it's dried enough so we can move on whilst the foam was still relatively soft I pulled out all the filter foam down the center a lot of these didn't come out perfectly but that doesn't matter at all so long as the bottom is covered in foam and there's no massive holes it should work fine whilst the foam finishes up drying I'm going to cover up all the glue marks with super glue and crushed lava rock as you can see there's a fair few spots to cover up to do this I simply apply some super glue and then sprinkle on some crushed lava rock I pour off the excess and as you can see it creates a seamless bond between the two rocks I repeat this for every single glue joint with all the glue marks covered up the stream looks 10 times better all the joints look a lot more natural and it also helps improve the joint strength with the foam pretty much cured I then went on to remove the wooden braces I was a bit nervous at this point as I wasn't sure how well the foam would hold but to my surprise it held really well and the piece was extremely sturdy before moving on I gave it a quick test fit to see how it looked all is good so it's time for the next step now I need to cover the bottom of the stream to do this I'm going to use more crushed lava rock and hold it in place with silicone it's very important to use aquarium grade silicone or 100 silicone I applied the silicone in small sections at a time to avoid it curing before getting the Lava Rock in I applied a generous amount and then spread it out with my finger [Music] an old paintbrush came in handy to get the silicone into small gaps and cracks I then poured in a good amount of crushed lava rock onto the wet silicone and then use my finger to push it down into place [Music] I then poured out the excess into a tub as you can see the result looks great there's a few gaps and cracks which can easily be covered I repeated the same process for all the exposed foam if you wanted to try making something like this yourself I'll have links to all the materials I've used in the description below [Music] here's how it looks after I covered everything up and left it to dry for 24 hours I'm very happy with how it's looking so far and it was exactly what I was going for I used some filter foam to temporarily Elevate the stream inside the tank it's all looking good so I'm going to use some more black lava rock to build a wall on the front left part of the Stream I attached the pieces with super glue and tissue and covered them the same way I did before I also covered some of the expanded foam with crushed lava rock and super glue I'm really liking how it's looking so now I'm going to install the pump and do a test run I'm just using this small cheap pump that has an adjustable flow I'm going to use it on its weakest setting I feed the wires through the hole in the top of the tank install the pump and then put in the Stream I'll be able to easily hide the wire when it comes to planting with some tubing I created this Outlet I simply made a hole in the tube and then added a 90 degree joint I secured it with super glue and even sprinkled on some crushed lava rock to make the joint stronger to cover up the hole in the top I simply wedged in some fine filter foam I then installed the tubing and placed the stream back in place now I'm going to quickly show you how I join the wires back together I'm by no means an electrician but this is how I do it I simply Twisted the brown wires back together and then wrapped some electrical tape around them I then did the same with the blue wires I always like to individually wrap them before covering them both in more electrical tape here's the result and I've had no problems with this in the past next I went on to pour in some water so I can test the pump I made sure to pour enough in so the intake of the pump was underwater I then plugged the pump in and here's how it went [Music] it made a lot of noise at first but once all the air bubbles were out it was pretty much silent the flow is perfect and everything's really starting to come together after the test run I removed the stream and then siphoned out the water next I'm going to cover the pump and filter foam to help stop any unwanted materials getting inside I used some scissors to cut out the rough shape of the tubing and the wire this will also provide a platform that the stream can sit on I then placed the stream back in for the final time as it is the outlet for the pump is very exposed and although it could be hidden with plants I wanted to use some lava rock to create a structure around it here's what I came up with I'm not going to cover the glue marks as I can cover this with moss later I then took some small pieces of lava rock and filled in any holes in the front the hardscape's almost complete but I felt like it can do with something to contrast the Lava Rock these spiderwood branches would work perfectly I experimented with a few different pieces and layouts until I found something I was happy with Here's the final Hardscape I didn't go too overboard with the spiderwood and secured it in place with the super glue and tissue method I'm really liking how this terrarium is looking so far for the substrate of this terrarium I'm going to use Aqua soil this terrarium is going to have constant water flowing through the substrate so I need to choose something that wouldn't have a problem with this as Aqua soil is obviously primarily used in aquariums it won't have a problem with water running through it my regular terrarium substrate mix would not be suitable for this build I used a spoon to pour a good amount of aquasol throughout the terrarium and then gently patted it down into place here's how the terrariums look in with the substrate in as you can see I've got a decent amount of aquasil in the back which will make the plants sit higher and help them fill out the background with the substrate done it's finally time to bring this terrarium to life with plants I'm primarily going to be using immersed grown aquarium plants for this setup as I think they'll be best suited for the environment in this terrarium I've got a good variety of plants that all range in different Leaf shapes textures and sizes I'll put their names up on screen when it comes to adding them to the tank to start off I took the plants out their pots and removed all the Rockwell this high growth Wheeler's Roots had grown so much that I had to cut it out the pot after removing all the rockwool it was time to start planting I started with this bull bitus I split it up into a few separate plants which I can plant around the tank I primarily want to plant it up in the left corner this plant is an epithite and should not be planted into the substrate instead just wedge it in gaps and cracks I love the look of this plant and think it's done a great job at hiding the wire and the tubing to plant a few more small pieces on the inside of the stream to do this I simply used some super glue to glue them in place this won't hurt the plant but try not to use too much Super Glue even with just the bulbitis and the terrarium has already sprung to life next I'm going to plant this high growth feeder let me show you a quick tip that will help you get more plants than what you paid for simply cut or break the stem in half on the bottom half it's got these small baby shoots that will soon start growing and the top half will send out new roots from the stem in as little as a week this means you can get at least two independent plants from a single stem and will definitely help you save money on buying plants with some long tweezers I planted the high growthila in the background I used some scissors to cut off any damaged leaves I'm then going to plant more hydrophila all along the back of the stream I chose this plant as I love the shape of its leaves and think it would do a great job at covering up the background next I planted some Crypts I think they're more rounded Leaf shape helps bring a nice variety to the plants inside this terrarium as I briefly mentioned earlier I'm only going to be using immersed grown aquatic plants in this setup although I'm sure terrestrial terrarium plants would do well in here as well this terrarium provides ideal conditions for immersed aquatic plant growth it's going to be very humid with a constant stream of water flowing through and oxygenating the roots of the plants this will provide optimal growing conditions one downside to using aquatic plants is that they're prone to drying out so I had to constantly spray them down I'm going to plant this Monte Carlo in the front to carpet the foreground it's a small leafed fast growing plant all I did was place it on top of the substrate and gently press it down its roots will soon shoot down into the substrate and start spreading I also planted a little bit in the background and I'm hoping it'll creep down over the stream next I took some anubias and booster philandra and planted them throughout the terrarium I absolutely love both of these plant species and I think they'll do a great job at bringing some texture sure in detail to this scope similar to the bulbiters these are epithetes this means they should not be planted into the substrate but instead you can wedge them in gaps and cracks or even Mount them to a rock with the plants in it's now time to start planting the Moss for this terrarium I'm only going to be using this Java moss it's a fast-growing diverse species of moss that I think will be well suited to this tank I used some super glue to attach the Java moss to the lava rock this won't hurt the Moss at all but try not to use too much as it will leave white marks which don't exactly look too natural I use more Java moss to hide the output of the pump here's a quick tip that will help promote new and dense growth from the Moss take some scissors and trim the Moss up as small as you can and then simply place it where you want in the terrarium by trimming it up it stimulates new growth and multiple growth points to grow from at this point I primarily planted it on the Lava Rock trying my best to hide any glue marks the terrarium is almost complete and I'm extremely happy with how it's looking I went on to carefully fill up the terrarium with water I filled it up until the intake of the pump was fully submerged before turning the pump on I went on to add some springtails in case you didn't know these are tiny little bugs that will literally clean the terrarium 24 7. they eat things like mold and decaying matter which could be harmful to the Fine balance of the tarone's ecosystem if left unchecked now it's finally time to plug in the pump and let the Stream flow there was a lot of noise at first whilst the pump had some air in it but after about 10 minutes it was basically silent to my surprise the stream flowed perfectly and I think it does look like it flows beyond the tank before leaving it to grow in I attached the front piece of glass which is simply held on by a piece of tape this makes a super easy low budget hinge I then left the tank to grow for four weeks [Music] four weeks later and the flowing stream terrarium is thriving all the Moss and plants have started growing in really well and the stream is still flowing great you may have noticed I added some really fine sticks and twigs around the terrarium I think they add a great level of detail to the scape the Monte Carlo in the foreground has got a bunch of new growth points and will fill out the rest of the space in no time one of my favorite things about this terrarium has got to be the Java moss as you can see it's been grown really well and has done a great job at spreading over The Lava Rock I will give it a trim in a few weeks time to achieve a little more denser growth the booster for landra and anubias have all been doing really well and I even have some boost which is flowering which is great to see you may have noticed that there's a little bit of mold on some of the spiderwood this is completely normal and is being taken care of by the springtails the plants in the back have been growing really well and are doing a great job at filling out the empty space in the background the Monte Carlo that I planted in the back is creeping over the stream just like I wanted when spinning the terrarium round you can see that most of the plants have already established a healthy root system and when looking a bit closer you can see some of the springtails which have been working hard keeping this terrarium clean and healthy I'm extremely happy with how this terrarium is doing and I can't wait to see how it looks in another month's time be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future builds or updates and thank you for watching why not check out this video for another terrarium build

Channel: Terrarium Designs

Views: 157,319

Keywords: Stream terrarium, Waterfall terrarium, River terrarium, How to make a terrarium, Terrarium tutorial, Terrarium build, Terrarium for beginners, Mini ecosystem, Ecosystem terrarium, Bioactive terrarium, Teranium, Tererium, Tararium, Paludarium, Nano terrarium, Step by step terrarium, How to make a ecosystem, Jungle terrarium, Mini terrarium, Terrarium with a real stream, Live terrarium, Terrariums for beginners, Beginner terrarium, Emerged aquatic plants, Emerged aquarium plants

Id: _DqEB0zUdO4

Length: 15min 56sec (956 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023