*help!* Planning plant only terrarium *help!*

[LadyBug]

I'd like to turn a eclipse system 12 by marineland fish tank into a plants only terrarium(if you saw my other thread a few months ago, i think i've decided FBT aren't going to work out), but i have loads of questions and am not having much luck finding answers!
-i still have the original light bulb(compact fluorescent) in the hood, will it work for plants? and if not, what can i screw into the fixture that would work?
-what kind of plants will look nice and hopefully colorful? i'd like some sort of moss or green plant on the bottom for 'grass' and a small tree(something like a (weeping?) willow or (Japanese?) maple), plus some flowering plants.
-what kind of soil should i use?
i'm sure i'll have more questions as i go on
any advice, websites, blogs, etc would be most appreciated!
thanks sooo much!

[Pavel]

So this is a 12 gal tank? Not to be a wet blanket but your options will be quite limited. Is the bulb a cfl or tube? Wattage? Lumens? Any lighting other than the bulb? How much maintenance are you planning for (regular pruning or little to no maintenance)?

You may need to rig something stronger lightwise. Plan on low light plants. Personally, I would lean toward small or fine leaved plants as they would be more in keeping perspective-wise with the tank size.

Mosses and Selaginella can provide the "grass" look and there is a form of Selag that forms nice bushy mounds.

There are also some ferns that will stay quite small -- 6-8 inches tall but most that I know of would get way too large for that tank.

Vining look -- Ficus pumila

For color, there are some nice Cryptanthus which remain a managable size. Also n a very moist terr, varigated pennywort would add some color and texture difference.

With sufficient light, you could grow and bloom a very mini African Violet.

Other plants of interest, there are some easily available sundews that you could possibly use.

Tree? Not happening, I would say, unless you plan on a lot of pruning on a regular basis and keep the tree potted. If you're willing to do the work, Ficus benjamina might be an option. Have you considered getting an interesting piece of driftwood and training something like F pumila to climb it and then drape down? (I've never tried this but it might be a way of meeting your desires.) Anyone have any other suggestions?

What are you looking at for air circulation?

For a media, you can use straight sphag a couple inches deep. I truly don't think that a "drainage layer" is going to be all that useful in a tank that size. (Matter of fact I have talked to several fellow terr folks who believe it's quite useless overall unless you have a water feature that might otherwise flood the tank.) You could also use peat moss mixed with large grade perlite. Avoid medias with fertilizer.

If you're interested, I have a number of plants I will be dividing to sell.