# General Topics > Plants, Plant Care & Plant Identification >  Native Plants All Year in Vivarium

## AAron

I am making this to share with everyone my experiences working with one of the most wild and native vivariums on here. I am using Myrtle/Perriwinkle 
Dragon's Tail Ferns
Blue Fescue Grass
Water Lettuce
English Daisy
And leaf litter. 
I am going to see how these plants will do over the fall and winter months. This is a side thread of the 
75 Gallon PA Woods Vivarium thread I have going on here. I will answer questions hopefully if there are some, give updates on plants and the cultured insects. To hear about the American Toads & 
Northern Leopard Frogs you'll have to see the thread below. Now for the insects, I have a few groups in here as well. Woodlice, Crickets, & Night crawlers. I am hoping to keep them in the tank and breed. Some people feel the crickets could get out of control. There are 4 Amphibs in this enclosure, some evasive stone centipedes (I think one was pregnant and had some babies), and not to mention the larger crickets will eat them if they are hungry. I have not seen the crickets go after the Woodlice or any plants. I have a seed for birds called Millet Spray which the crickets have been eating. If they would get bad I'd give some to my WTF tank with a pair of hungry tree frogs, it wouldn't be too bad. So far both plants & insects meaning all 3 insects and the water lettuce and Myrtle are reproducing like crazy. I'm hoping this keeps up and in the spring it will get the frogs & toads to mate. I feel the plants and animals are perfect for this setup. If I want to chill the tank and make an "artificial winter" I can. Everything can take it. All of the insects but the crickets can as well. I am going to attempt this in the early spring. Maybe all of march to mid april chill the tank and then see how everything does. I wouldn't let it go down past 40's for fear it's too cold in my house haha, since it's in an attic I can make it get lower than any part of the house. Might only be able to get it to 50's but it is worth a shot. Hopefully the plants will continue to grow and they will stay healthy in this enclosure. I am using untreated topsoil and eco earth as substrate. Topsoil is beneath Eco Earth. Below them are large river rocks. So good drainage and good soil for plants. In the upcoming months I will be breaking down parts of the Viv on here an on the other thread. 


Here is the main thread
75 Gallon PA Woods Vivarium 
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread.php?t=34251

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Cliygh and Mia 2, Krispy

----------


## AAron

So months later, the best plants are Myrtle and the Dragon's Tail Fern. The English daisy parished due to the drought I put my tank through in September. The fescue grass fell victim to it as well. The Ferns did, but the drought is not going to happen again due to a soon update. The myrtle all survived. None of it died. This is probably the most hardy of the plants I have used. I would recommend it outright. I am going to use bunches of myrtle in the updated enclosure with the ferns. I introduced Pakasandra to the Viv also. It seems to be content. The water lettuce was eaten by the fish in tr water. The water hyacinths I introduced are still alive from august. I am not sure what I want a permenant water plant to be. Must be a native that can live in a confined space. Perhaps a water Lilly or lotice. The insects all survived but the crickets. They were hunted to extinction in the tank. The Woodlice seem to have hybridized into an orange color. I put just 3 in out of hundreds and now I mostly have orange woodlice. They are breeding like crazy. They are through the dirt, the night crawlers have survived as well. I have noticed red wriggles have survived and reproduced. I found springtails through the dirt as well. The evasive insects and pond fish have survived as well. The Centipedes have done the best with reproducing because I have seen almost 10 now. There are few slugs left, but they are there. I have found grey millipedes recently and I don't know where they came from but they have about 12-15 in numbers. Lastly, the pond fish are alive. There are 5 fish that are in the bin. I will eventually be replacing the evasive pests with mosquito  fish and eliminating the millipedes and slugs from the tank. It stays in to low 80-upper 60 temp. This has made everything boom in the tank. The greenery and the animals are a lot more noticeable. The insects are too. I'll update after I get the update done next. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Krispy

----------


## Krispy

So. You should put some pics of your plants up. Im also a forager for plants. Should give me some ideas. Hows your moss do? Mi e doesnt brown per say, but it looks like **** in the winter

----------

Larry Wardog

----------


## AAron

> So. You should put some pics of your plants up. Im also a forager for plants. Should give me some ideas. Hows your moss do? Mi e doesnt brown per say, but it looks like **** in the winter




I am humble you are looking at this for ideas. I cannot use Moss because it causes death with Amphibs. My one toad ate it once and pooped out an organ. She saw a vet and is ok. We got the organ back in her.  I have moss but the moss is stuck on metal and something else. I couldn't even rip it off with my bare hands. My animals are clumsy at times so I feel it could affect them. I will try to get pics, the Myrtle and Pakasandra are the only 2 plants I have right now so you might get bored. The Myrtle/Perriwinkle is very tough and a good house plant surprisingly. I reccomend it if you have native animals. If you check on the main thread I have 2 videos that are of the night, but you can see everything. I will try to get some pics of them soon. I might wait until I change the tank for that because I will have more variety and it will be settled in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

So I thought I would mention the updates to the 75 Gallon Woods Vivarium. 
Of course the stream flowing from the top to the runoff at the bottom is what many are waiting for, but there will also be 8-9 Sprayers instead of 5. 2 Foggers will be placed where they can cover the whole enclosure in fog. A maidenhair fern will be placed in the tank. The mister will spray for a minute every four hours. More Periwinkle and Pakasandra will be added. I will try to get the crickets to reproduce in the enclosure this winter into next, same with the continuous number of Woodlice, Wrigglers, and Earthworms. Mosquitofish will be added this spring/summer to the water feature to make it come even more to life. A water Lilly or parrots feather will be the main plant in the water feature. I will try to bring the English Daisy back to the tank all year. A warm spot for the winter is being installed as the Ceramic Heat Emitter 100W will be installed. A smaller light is also currently installed. A female leopard frog will be introduced as the final terrestrial animal to the Enclosure. As you can see, much to update. Lots to post, I will try to keep you up to date. 2-3 weeks from the remodel of the Tank. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

So I thought I would mention the updates to the 75 Gallon Woods Vivarium. 
Of course the stream flowing from the top to the runoff at the bottom is what many are waiting for, but there will also be 8-9 Sprayers instead of 5. 2 Foggers will be placed where they can cover the whole enclosure in fog. A maidenhair fern will be placed in the tank. The mister will spray for a minute every four hours. More Periwinkle and Pakasandra will be added. I will try to get the crickets to reproduce in the enclosure this winter into next, same with the continuous number of Woodlice, Wrigglers, and Earthworms. Mosquitofish will be added this spring/summer to the water feature to make it come even more to life. A water Lilly or parrots feather will be the main plant in the water feature. I will try to bring the English Daisy back to the tank all year. A warm spot for the winter is being installed as the Ceramic Heat Emitter 100W will be installed. A smaller light is also currently installed. A female leopard frog will be introduced as the final terrestrial animal to the Enclosure. As you can see, much to update. Lots to post, I will try to keep you up to date. 2-3 weeks from the remodel of the Tank. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Krispy

----------


## Krispy

Picture?

----------

Larry Wardog

----------


## AAron

> Picture?


I will get a picture tomorrow and upload it. I have found a place where I can get a lot of native plants, insects, and even the mosquito fish. It will be a lot easier than expected


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

I will e getting it today, I am so far behind I apologize. I will get it on here


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

Here are the pictures I promised


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## Krispy

Nice. I recognize alot of your ground cover. Ill be pilfering a few local yards, with permission of course. What are the tall pair in the last pic?

----------


## AAron

The tall ones are Pakasandra. It loses leaves like crazy but replaces pretty fast as well. The Myrtle just takes of in temperatures of low 70 to 60's


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Krispy

----------


## AAron

Now that the 75 gallon is back on top, I am already pondering on plants for it. An English Daisy and a Maidenhair Fern along with Pakasandra and Myrtle will be added. For the water part, I like parrots feather and I will be looking for something else. Any suggestions? I want to still be able to see the Mosquito Fish when they arrive as well. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

I have decided that I will buy a bunch of Dragon's Tail Fernss because I thought about it and I just want something manageable. The Myrtle is doing well, some died in certain spots but it is fine. More will be coming in the next 2 months. I am excited for the English Daisies as well. So a total of around 12-25 Myrtle, 5 Dragon's Tail Ferns, 2-3 English Daisies, 5-10 Pakasandra, and a water plant. So possibly 43 plants to add along with the female leopard frog and mosquito fish. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## bill

I probably have mentioned this before, but you are aware English daisies are an invasive species, and not native, right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Larry Wardog

----------


## AAron

What about the little white daisies in the woods that stay small? What are they called then?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## bill

Oooo, I'm not so sure about those. These are English daisies. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

I checked names and the little white daisies came up the same name so I was unsure. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## bill

See, that's why using common names is one of my pet peeves, especially with plants. There are so many species that are actually different, but look similar, that get grouped into one common name. Take 'baby tears' for example. I currently know of 4 different species of plants that are commonly called baby tears. They all have different Latin names, but share a common name. Daisies are similar. It's very frustrating, to say the least lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

Larry Wardog

----------


## AAron

So an update on the plants I will be using: Myrtle or Perriwinkle, Dragon's Tail Ferns, Pakasandra, a type of grass that I do not know the name of, wild moss, wild daisies, an Iris, Duckweed, and possibly one or two other plants. The tank will be tall enough for the Iris so it is do able. I will be trimming the size of the water bin as well to increase the odds the toads will be interested in it. I found my local Petco has Waxworms so I'm hoping they do all year. That would be cheaper and less time consuming than to buy online. I will be using medium size crickets as the staple and Waxworms as a secondary. When I figure out how and what is going on with earthworms, they will be the staple diet at times. I'm having a hard time getting them.  I will be using mealworms for a snack but not often. My animals love wax moths so they are an added bonus with the Waxworms. With this, I have made the decision to have 3 American Toads and 2 Northern Leopard Frogs. 3 females and 2 males. King II (Male Toad) and Spot (Male Leopard Frog) will hopefully want to mate at some point. No fish. 3-4 months from the build. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------


## AAron

I am going to use the main thread of the 75 Gallon Vivarium to inform everyone about the status of the plants and etc. you can find the build going on here

75 Gallon Vivarium build

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...8&share_type=t


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

----------

